Operation "Hatch Repair" underway

[Stillrunning]

Looks good. Next time if you take a router and lower the bit about 1/4 inch and run it a round the edge of the wood then you can pull off the inner skin in one peice. Thats wht I have done and it seemed to work very well without all the grinding.

Does anyone know why Wellcraft uses these little 6x6 sections of plywood?

[Blue_Runner]

Does anyone know why Wellcraft uses these little 6x6 sections of plywood?

They must get it for free. But you'd think all the time to cut and place all the little squares would make it more costly.

Didn't they realize that was a bad idea? ::)

[frayed_knot]

Originally Posted by parishht

Just out of curiosity, how much will the completed project cost you?

Good question. Here goes...1) resin and hardener, $20.00 (thanks Skools and Parker Boats) 2) Fiberglass Mat $0.00, it's good to know people that work at Hatteras Yachts 3) plywood $46.00 at Lowes, 4) dust masks, brushes, measuring cup and other misc stuff, $20.00. So far the grand total is $86.00. Just add labor (free cuz I'm doing it for me) and that is a real reasonable price for a repair.

[frayed_knot]

Originally Posted by Stillrunning

Does anyone know why Wellcraft uses these little 6x6 sections of plywood?

I dunno, but that engineer needs his head examined. Every place that was cracked was right at a joint, go figure.

[frayed_knot]

There wood in that there foam!

I was contemplating the whole foam thing, so I went and sat in the boat staring at the mess. I thought there was some wood cross supports somewhere in there, I mean who would just want to put all the weight transfer directly to the tank? Sure enough, I caught a glimpse of some wood and started digging around. I found 2 cross supports. They were totally soaked. Aww hell, I might as well dig 'em out so they can dry off.



I removed at least 70 lbs of soaked foam. As you can see it took a good majority of the zinc chromate primer with it. I suppose I could clean it up real good and hit it with some other type of aluminum primer, being as zinc chromate is illegal nowadays. The good news is no sign of corrosion on the top of the tank ;D

[msbhammer]

Funny as hell when ya stated how you sat on the boat and stared at it. I do it all the time myself, hoping things might repair themselves. ;D

[frayed_knot]

LOL, yeah, I do it to contemplate my next move. I like to think things through first. I am waiting to borrow a jigsaw from a buddy, that's why I didn't do anymore work on the hatch cover. I felt like I needed to do something for an hour. This fit the bill nicely.

[Skools Out]

Originally Posted by Stillrunning

Does anyone know why Wellcraft uses these little 6x6 sections of plywood?

Most boat builders back then bought scrap wood at yards and used them to build the caps and decks. it was cheapest way to build them. Also they had alot of scrap wood laying around back then from their molds frames. most all your 1973 to 1985 boats had that in the floors it slowly change over in alot of lines over the years to now but astill some do that to their caps and decks.

[Sean]

Very nice, and know you have me thinking about my tank and cover..... Some one please stop me!!!

[phatdaddy]

frayed, i removed & replaced the wooden braces on my tank. they were just sitting on top of the tank and held in place with the foam. if you do that, make sure the treated wood does not touch the tank, the chemicals in the wood will cause corrosion with the coating on the tank. i also cut some strips from an old boogie board and placed on top of the wood strips so the hatch sets slightly raised and when tightened down, it compressed the foam and gives a good snug fit. now is also a good time to redo the fastners, i did away with the screws and replaced with threaded screws and nuts