The Plug Was Destroyed

I'm not going to tell you how to do fiberglass, there are other resources on the web that can do that, and frankly, this was my first project. I will say it was harder than I thought it would be. The first few layers weren't very good as I was still trying to figure out how much resin to use.

Here you can see the tank shortly after I cut it into two pieces to remove the plug. I had tapered the sides slightly so that the top of the tank was wider than the bottom.

Unfortunately, all of the time spent on making the plug smooth was time wasted. It didn't "fall out". It didn't even come out in one piece. Quite the opposite. Where it came loose, it usually left drywall stuck to the fiberglass, as shown here on the inside of the lid. I often had to break the foam into small pieces to get them to come loose. I then used a chisel to get under the drywall and clean things up, as shown here in the bottom of the tank.

If I had to do this again, I would simply covered a solid foam plug with carefully laid down packing tape to protect the foam from the resin. I think it would have worked just as well, if not better. It certainly would have taken less time.

Reinforcements

The Pickup Tube

The plumbing outside of the tank dictated the location of the pickup tube. One of the reasons for the plywood is that I couldn't find anything resembling a bulkhead fitting. The hose fitting I used to go through the tank wall is the same one shown here on the other side of the elbow to attach the short piece of hose used as a pickup tube. The fitting was screwed through the wood and into the elbow. I coated everything with marine caulking to cement the fitting in place and to prevent leaks.

The pickup tube fits tightly, and is also held in place by three black nylon ties instead of the usual stainless hose clamp. I didn't want any metal inside the tank.

The end of the pickup tube touches the bottom corner of the tank, but it is also cut at an angle so there's about 1" of clearance to allow for solids to pass.