Grumman Livewell Plumbing Question

Last week I acquired a 16' Aluminum V-Hull and in it there are two welded boxes that sit above the wooden floor in the open part of the boat. They are welded on the sides and one of them is bolted through the box to the floor on the inside, this box is used for storage. The other one, on the port side, is welded to the side and is bolted to the floor with brackets on the sides of it. I do not know how to get the floor out from under it if the floor rots, looks like you have to grind the welds. Seems like the floor will rot with this livewell on it.

Well anyway, both boxes stick out only about 18 or 20 inches into the open space, and are about 12 inches tall and 12 inches wide. In this livewell and I use that term loosely, there is a outlet in the box, almost level with the bottom, that passes through the floor and has a hose attached that runs completely under the floor to the transom and the end of the hose is open near the bilge pump and has no valve or plug. So any water that you put in the box runs out immediately. Right near the end of this hose is a through hull, below water level outlet that has a 4" piece of hose attached that has been plugged made of another material. The boat drain is right next to this hole.

The bilge pump which is right next to the boat drain hole has a hose that empties out just below the rail on the starboard side of the boat very close to the transom. I would like to make this a functional livewell. Does anyone know what the configuration should be or how to make this an operational livewell?

Grandpa Chase

Grandpa Chase

I need pics Grandpa

It appears to simply be a drain at the moment. You could insert a pump (where the two hoses are not connected) with a "stand up" pvc pole sticking straight up from the hole in the livewell to just above the desired fill line in the livewell. The pump would be used to fill the livewell. This would also serve as an overflow drain (when the pump was not running). You would then need a seperate pump to aerate the livewell. Either one that sits in the livewell, or one that mounts through the side. In either case, I assume you would be using this as a baitwell, more than a keeping bass alive livewell, as the water capacity must be small.

Looks like the livewell gravity drain and fill was disconnected to make a dry storage area. Pull the red hose with the plug off and reconnect the hose, should be good to go, assuming the hose doesn't leak.