1984 step lift restored pictures

[reelapeelin]

Originally Posted by Zarkohl

Why did Wellcraft go with the seperate tiles, instead of just one big piece of wood? What type of wood did you use? (marine grade plywood?) Also what was the thickness of your new piece? Thanks, Jim

Jim...everybody sees those plywood tiles and thinks; "CHEAP"...I imagine they are cost efficient but they are used by many boat builders...the old timers have heard this before, but back in '07, me and two other V-20 members toured the Pursuit factory...they use them to core CURVED bow-decks and other non flat surfaces...like the bow-deck on our V-20s...I just figured Wellcraft used them in the flat fuel hatch-lid because they were already a purchased item and had them in constant stock...done to their spec and never wetted/soaked from H2o intrusion, they would continue to hold their strength indefinately...
I used solid ply cuz it's easier and readily available...went to Lowes and got regular 3/4" plywood...nothing special...whatever you use for coring needs to be DRY DRY DRY...never use treated and Marine grade is just over-kill...the fiberglass, done properly (not by me obviously) will encapsulate the ply, bond to it as the wet stuff penetrates the DRY wood surface and forms a structural "sandwich"..just make sure you use a plywood w/no VOIDS inside the sheet...hopefully the REAL glass gurus here will come along and fill in some details...

[Zarkohl]

Did you replace the tank in the above pics or just redo the tank cover?

[RWilson2526]

I had the wooden cross pieces on my 87 that looked exactly like Reel's so I'm saying it was factory. My theory is that they put those wood pieces in before foaming so they stop the tank from popping up while the foam expands.

Somebody on here in the past too (I think Spareparts) gave a good reason as to why little squares properly fiberglassed together is stronger than plywood....cant remember the exact explanation but it made alot of sense at the time. Less of a chance for the plywood layers delaminating themselves or something of that nature.

[reelapeelin]

Originally Posted by Zarkohl

Did you replace the tank in the above pics or just redo the tank cover?

Just the cover...so far I haven't had reason to replace the tank...the most gas I've had in it is only 30-35 gals or so...if it's still tight when I eventually fill it up, I'll really sigh some relief...