Repairing delaminated area on cuddy

Sea Turtle · #1 02-22-2009, 10:51 AM

Good morning to all,
I purchased a 1981 V20 with a 175 Evinrude in January with the intentions of refurbishing it and possibly selling it or selling my 21 foot Proline and keeping the Wellcraft. This is my second V20. My first being a 1977 with a 165 Mercruiser. I am a mechanic by trade so I have always done my own engine maintenance. One of my goals in refurbishing the V20 was to learn to do fiberglass repairs. When I bought the V20 I knew the deck had a soft area and the fuel tank cover was soft. I thought this would make a good learning experience repairing these areas.
With great anticipation of my new project and experience with other boating forums I discovered and joined this fine forum. I have been lurking around enjoying the posts and pictures.
Armed with my West Systems books, DVD, and a couple hundred dollars worth of West Systems startup supplies I removed the fuel tank cover, removed rotted plywood squares core, and proceeded to install a new core. Reveling in my newfound fiberglass experience I decided to get an accurate idea exactly how much of the deck I would need to repair. Tapping the entire deck with my trusty ballpeen I found the area of the deck that produced a thud was a little larger than I had anticipated. I don't think this will be a problem. From the deck I went to the cuddy. What I found has me a little apprehensive now. Most of the core in the top of the cuddy is very rotten. The the wood in the vertical partitions on the left and right side that seperate the cuddy from the outside are about two-thirds rotten.
This leads to my plight. After several hours of sitting on a 5-gallon bucket in my new project, consuming adult beverages, I have determined what I think is a viable repair procedure for this area. It would be helpful if one of this boards "V20 experts" could let me know if this repair is feasable or possibly suggest an alternative repair method.
I am thinking if I cut the cuddy cap in front of the windshields in an area that would be relatively easy to rebond I could remove the cap, invert it in my garage, and replace the rotted core with new material. Once the cap is repaired I could reinstall it on the boat and repair the cut. I have attempted to attach a picture of where I propose to cut the cuddy cap.

Thanks in advance for the advise

,
Sea Turtle

macojoe · #2 02-22-2009, 11:34 AM

You will need some help but the best way to do the cuddy is to remove off the boat!
You will need to remove the rub rail and all the screws, try to get all the sealer out that you can and lift till lose.
Then with the help of friends or Garage you will lift off, clean all wood out as you did deck cover and reglass, flip over reinstall and you good fior the rest of your life!!

phatdaddy · #3 02-22-2009, 11:40 AM

welcome, we love projects & pictures. i am not among the many fiberglass artist on the site, but i would think that would be a difficult place to repair. I replaced the deck behind the cuddy to the fishbox(under the seats) and now have to paint the deck on a regular basis. the top on my cuddy gets a lot of traffic and i think it will be a maintenance issue. could you laminate from the beneath the cuddy?

Steplift 72' · #4 02-22-2009, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phatdaddy

welcome, we love projects & pictures. i am not among the many fiberglass artist on the site, but i would think that would be a difficult place to repair. I replaced the deck behind the cuddy to the fishbox(under the seats) and now have to paint the deck on a regular basis. the top on my cuddy gets a lot of traffic and i think it will be a maintenance issue. could you laminate from the beneath the cuddy?

That sounds like quite a large area is involved....but expoxy will fix all. While the polyester resin will make a brittle fragile deck repair if you try to pour it, an and epoxy such as the WEST System you mention will make an easy strong repair of such areas if you can get the areas dry. If you can get the boat indoors and have time to dry it out there may be options to open up a few access pour points and allow the epoxy to soak in. I did such a repair on my Grady White cabin bulkhead and found it to be as solid as a rock. One problem, the epoxy cures very slowly and has a somewhat lower viscosity than the polyester resins wer're accustomed to working with. When poured to saturate a rotted core, it tends to find a way out. Make sure you have those sealed up or make a big mess of the rest of the boat, like I did. Remember that epoxy is expensive, but will adhere to polyester and not the other way around.

nymack66 · #5 02-22-2009, 07:19 PM

On the Deck why can't one remove the skin like I did on the Transom expose the rotten wood clean it re-ply and glass back on ? My thought is if I did it on my Transom why not on the rest of the Boat ?

randlemanboater · #6 02-22-2009, 09:48 PM

Welcome to the site Sea Turtle.

I know nothing about fiberglass work, but there are plenty here that do.

Good luck with the project.

Skools Out · #7 02-22-2009, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nymack66

On the Deck why can't one remove the skin like I did on the Transom expose the rotten wood clean it re-ply and glass back on ? My thought is if I did it on my Transom why not on the rest of the Boat ?

you can an it is the easiest way and cheapest way to fix it don't waste your money on west crap just get some resin from a boat builder and use that to repair the front

msbhammer · #8 02-23-2009, 08:48 AM

Welcome to our Cult. Just dont sniff the resin for to long or the V-20 spaceship will take you away. : )

Steplift 72' · #9 02-23-2009, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by msbhammer

Welcome to our Cult. Just dont sniff the resin for to long or the V-20 spaceship will take you away. : )

Very good point! Some folks don't realize how potent and flammable the resin fumes are, especially in a confined area like cuddy. It's about like playing with gasoline until the cure is complete. Check a MSDS on the web for your favorite resin.

cfelton · #10 02-23-2009, 07:09 PM

Im with MJ and Skools. If it were me, I would remove the entire top of the boat. Cabin top, gunnels and transom cap in one piece. Just remove the rubrail, unscrew the cap from the hull and flip it over onto some heavy supports covered with old carpet. Cut out all rotton wood and replace. When I rebuilt my transom, transom cap and stringers it took 10 gallons of resin. I bought two 5 gallon buckets of polyester resin and MEK hardener for 30.00 from Carolina Classic boat buliders. Great folks!! Looking at your pics I guess you could cut it there but it would take a lot of work to make it look right again