Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

If you ever do this again, put the more ridgid portion (the plywood) on the ground and the sheet of cured glass on top and then add weight. Thickened resin also helps ensure no gaps.

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

um hello that resin is thick and not that cheap crap from boaters world , if that hatch is like my 78 you can't put the wood side down the lip is thicker than the wood. Frayed you did good no issues now get on the water but pick me up inEI while out cruising ;D

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

Great job!! The only thing I have done before was toroll a coat of resin on the woood first, this way it sucked up, then do a thick coaty just like you did.

But like skools said you done good and I bet its going to be fine for years!

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

Well, I'm all set to reinstall the cover tomorrow. I spent $50 at Lowes getting some silicone and stainless hardware to do the phatdaddy method of hatch securing. I actually found the tee-nuts in stainless, but they ain't cheap, $4.97 for 2 :o I'm gonna use 4200 to stick the blocks in place ( cuz that's what I got ;) ) I figure I'll clamp them in place until the 4200 sets up a little then put the cover on and tighten the screws, that'll hold her down. I went all over New Bern looking for some self etching primer for the fuel tank. I finally found some at Auto Zone. It's a hideous green color, but who cares.

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

frayed, you might want to put the hatch on right after you goop the t nuts to the deck, that way you can wiggle them around and make sure they line up, *once you get them all started, tighten em up and let them set up.

west catalogue has the stainless 1/4 tnuts 2 for $3.79.

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

OK, sounds good, thanks phat.

Weird to say phat by the way, on every other non-boat board I'm on, I'm Phatpony :D

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

Hey MJ, I thought about pretreating the wood, but I just couldn't find the info to substantiate doing that first. Next time I will do just that, but I will start in the morning and apply the second coat and cloth (depending on what I'm building / repairing) after the first coat gets tacky. ;)

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

if you coat the wood first and it soaks in and dries your bond to the glass will be terrible and will come loose later, if you coat both heavily and bond together the resin soaks into the wood and cures to the glass as well and is bonded as 1 piece.

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

Frayed, I hear what Phat's sayin' about puttin' the screws in B4 the 4200 cures, and admittedly it's a "rock and hard place" thing, but if you try startin' those screws w/ the 42 still wet, it'll be REEL easy to push the block away from it's intended location B4 the screw starts threading the nut ...it'll take a LIGHT touch ...


...another thing to consider...those T-Nuts do their job REEL well and will allow LOTS of torque ... take 'er easy when tightening or that fiberglass'll go to crackin' on ya :o ...


...anyway, hope ya "geeter-dun" quick ;) ... it's time to SPLASH 8) ...

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

Gee you would think glass would stick to glass? Learn something new every day!! Thats why we call him Lord Skools!http://syncboard.com/albums/album02/whacky084.gif

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

If'n one was to pretreat, you would have to apply the second coat within a certain time period, before cured, to make a good chemical bond. That's why it would need to be a morning start. Have to sit there with a beerskie touching the goo every so often so as not to miss the window of opportunity ;)

So anyway, that's all water under the keel now. I'm done! I'm not the least bit happy with it though. Remember those unbonded pockets I referred to earlier? Well, they sound like I'm going to break the dang thing as I walk on it, snap crackle pop. Only where the bond isn't good. It seems plenty strong though, I can walk on it without it sagging. So that's good I guess. The Phatdaddy mod didn't work out so good for me either. Not what you would expect though. I went ahead and bonded the blocks of wood with the 4200, but instead of putting the lid on there, I eyeballed the alignment and drove the screws right in until it cured. That worked just fine. The problem came once I ran my bead of silicone all the way around the opening and set the lid in place. 3 out of the eight Tee nuts didn't stick into the wood!!!! As I put my screw in, they popped out the back side of the block. HOLY CRAP!!!! Well, I didn't pull the lid back up. Ta hell with it for now >:( I needed to get it back together to take the family out tomorrow, and it's done enough for that. I'll post my pics later on after I have a chance to cool down.

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

Just fish, you can revist it over the winter!!

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

Dat's what I'm talkin about! ;)

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

Bummer on the T-Nuts fallin' thru...happened to me B4, but I was able to get 'em...w/ no nut to hold 'em, just fill the hole w/4200 and seat the screw in there ... it'll look right and seal the hole ...that hatch-lid ain't goin' anywhere ;) ...


Can you tell exactly where the air-pockets are ... if so, drill 1/8th or so hole in the center of the pocket(this in the groove between non-skid), take a hypodermic syringe and inject the hole w/resin...let cure, then drill out just enough to hold some filler ... you'll never see 'em ...and the noise will go away 8) ...go enjoy the boat...ya did a good job ;) ;D ;D ;D ...


Do the above later on...take your family out and enjoy the weekend ;) ;D ...

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

sorry frayed, hope i didn't lead you astray. the tee nuts only get a grip when you sink them into the wood. i tapped mine in with a hammer to the blocks of wood about the size of a business card. gooped them with the 5200 and set them in place. then i lightly laid the deck plate on and got the screws started. once i got them all started i went around and tighten then like a head gasket. sorry if i messed you up

anyway, like mj & rap say, just go use it.......

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

Don't worry about it phat, it is a great idea and one that I will make work next time I have the lid off. I did tap them in with a hammer though, and they had pressure on them for a few hours. I have no idea why they did what they did. This winter I'll take those blocks back out and replace them with some blocks coated in resin. I'll make sure the tee nuts are resined in this time ;)

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

As promised, pics! :D

Here is the completed hatch cover. I had to replace the deck plates and could only find white ones. It works.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/100_0768.jpg

The fuel tank after it's new coat of primer
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/100_0769.jpg

The Tee nuts
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/100_0770.jpg
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/100_0771.jpg

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

Here is how I mounted them while waiting for the 4200 to setup
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/100_0772.jpg

The two at the very front I had problems with. The way the holes were drilled put them too close to the front bulkhead so the block of wood couldn't be mounted up there. Here you can see where the bulkhead is. I drilled 2 new holes and mounted the blocks farther aft.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/100_0773.jpg

Here is the completed ( ? ) project. The silicone was skinning up real quick, so I had to fill the cracks and smooth them out in sections.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/100_0774.jpg

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

looks great pick me up lets fish. ;D

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

Aiight!! ;D

There was a 17 lb striper caught in New Bern this week!!! Probably one of the biggest ever caught in the Neuse river.

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

we have a guy on another board that just caught a 51.1 pounder!
Man I have to start fishing soon!!!!!!!!! :-/

http://syncboard.com/albums/Fishing/...mama.sized.jpg

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

51 lbs :o ...that's a DAWG w/a HAWG ;) ;D ;D ;D ;D ...



Frayed believe it or not, when mountin' the elec. trollin' motor , I put a small screw on each side of the T-Nuts w/the screw-head's edge over the edge of the T-Nut so it WOULDN'T get pushed out ;) ... I had dropped a couple into the bottom of the anchor-locker B4 thinkin' of that ::) ...

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

I just started this project on my V20. I do not own a router and I was going to use my Dremel but I forgot to bring it to the shore. I used a circular saw to cut around the underside edges of the hatch to get at that nasty parkay plywood. What the &*$?#@ were they thinking back then? Anyway the fiberglass peeled off that soaked plywood like blisters off sunburnt skin. I took pics and i will post them next week. My question is what kind of fiberglas do I use, the neatly woven stuff or the stuff that looks chopped up? Since Wellcraft used the chopped up stuff the other stuff is probably best??????? Also what thickness of glass is best????

Thanks,

Billfish16

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

I used the neat stuff, I believe it's called cloth, not mat. I just got some of the cloth made by Elmer's I found at Wally World. Not all resin is created equal, I actually used the polyester resin Parker Boats uses (thanks Skools ;D ) so I know it was the right stuff to use. Don't bother with the resin you find at Wally World or Lowes, wrong stuff. You could spend the $$ and go with epoxy, very strong and durable and sticks to just about anything.

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

thx, I bought the Elmer's REsin at Lowes, I will be returning that based on your info. I have read on this Site that the Boater's or Boatyard resin at BW is not good. I quesss I will buy the MAS from BW or the West System.

How much resin did your hatch rebuild need?

thx

Bill

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

lol Well he didn't need near what i got him, he got almost 2 gallons of resin from Parker Boats lol

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

looking good Frayed........ ;D

I still wanna know why the hell Wellcraft used all those small squares instead of one big piece??????????? :-/

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

I guess they thought it would be stronger and more flexable?? You have to admit it lasted 20 years!!

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

Maybe half a gallon.

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

I have wondered the same thing every time I do a repair. My last conclusion was that they have a small amount of resin between each peice so if one get water intrusion it makes it tougher for it to spread. That idea seems weak with all the repairs I see people doing to their V's.

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

One thought of why they used them is that it is easier to create a crown in the cover/floor if it's made of a bunch of small pieces, instead of trying to bend 1 big piece.

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

they used the small pieces cause they have so much scrap wood alot of companies think it saving money to use it but it usually cost more after all the man hours to cut into squares and fit to the floors, it's only to save the scrap and save money no other reason.

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

Great information. I'm heading to the marina to snatch my tank with the lift. Not going to use foam on the install. Hatch is wasted. So once again V20 forum gives my brain a little slack time cause I won't have to think bout how I'm gonna fix it. Many thanks...

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

I'll be doing the same thing on my fuel hatch once the transom is done. ;)

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

Once you take the fuel hatch off,
you will understand one of my projects.

There is a big open space between the fuel tank and the cuddy.

Good storage area.

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

Hmmmm. ;D

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

heheh...I've done that imagining I'm out fishin'....convinced myself so well I almost got seasick.

When I replaced the floor of my Bonito I put resin only on the bottom side of marine plywood and then used mat and cloth on the top. I used the West System expoxy resin from WM. For attaching the ply to the stingers I used 2 part epoxy glue and SS wood screws.
Then I cut some relief holes and filled with the proper amount of foam. the job came out rock solid.

Sorry your not totally happy with it but, I think ya did a good job FK.

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

Thanks. It was a learning experience if nothing else. It is solid as a rock, it just makes a horrid crackling sound when you walk on it.

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

Frayed...so what type of goo did you use. ??? ???
West system ????

Re: Operation "Hatch Repair" underway
 

Nope, got some poly resin from Parker boats via Skools.