Gulfstream deck panel repair

[Steve47]

I have a 1991 Gulfstream that needs the rear middle deck panel repaired due to rot. It is the 2ft by 2ft planel with an inpection plate in it and is screwed and caulked in place. I have heard that it is best to cut out the damaged part below the non-skid floor and replace that to save the original floor. Any advice or expericiences for this project would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Grog]

It's not a hard job. Remove the panel and get all the old wood out. Next cut a piece of 3/4" plywood (preferably marine but CDX has been reported to work) to match the panel and epoxy it in. Lastly seal the wood with fiberglass mat. Also be sure there is no wood in contact with the screw holes. This is a simplified description of the project, if you think you can handle it ask away.

 

[Steve47]

Thanks Grog. Pretty much what I thought. Good point on the screw holes. I was thinking a circular saw could cut along the edge without going thru the deck and then not sure but maybe chisels to release the wood. Any thoughts on that?

 

[bhemi]

I used a dremel

A skil saw or a dremel. You just want to cut through the back fibreglass barely. The panel will separate easily if there is any kind of rot. I just pulled it out with my hands and an old chisel. find a piece of marine plywood or Baltic plywood of the right thickness and epoxy it back together. Fix the cut with mat and you're done.

 

[Steve47]

Thanks for the input guys, I appreciate it.

 

[Grog]

If it's like mine the coring will come out easily. Be careful using a radial saw, if you go through it's more work.

 

[ScottyCee]

Sorry for the thread necrophilia. 10 years. Wow.

So epoxy resin is the way to go? Will polyester laminating resin work too, or is there a reason that epoxy is superior?

And what is the preferred product to caulk it back in?

 

[leeccoll]

I used 2 part epoxy and fiberglass mat. One word on the screws and water intrusion on the wood. You can cut wood to avoid screws, or drill the holes and epoxy then re drill where the screws penetrate.
For caulk I used GE silicone II almond color. Make sure you tape off for clean caulk lines. I was lazy, and now regretful.

 

[DennisG01]

Polyester is just fine - that's the most common resin used in mass production boat building. Epoxy is heavier and costlier and while it's stronger, it really offers no strength benefit in this scenario. That said... poly is smelly and harder to work with. I stopped using poly years ago. Your call - both will fill the bill equally well.

Lee - you may able to clean up those lazy lines with a plastic razor blade - it won't damage the gelcoat so you could hold it at a shallow angle and draw it right down the seam, using your finger as a guide against/along the hatch seam. Then use it in a scraper and get rid of the excess. Might not be perfect - but should be better than it is now (if I'm understanding what you're saying). Or, use the plastic blade to cut a deep V-groove in the existing caulk seam, then get rid of all the excess, then apply a new bead on top to freshen it up.

 

[leeccoll]

Correct interpretation Dennis, you are the "Kwisatz Haderach"

You will have to google that

At any rate, the fix to soft deck plates is pretty straightforward.

I had to pull both mine off again to replace fuel tank/lines last summer, and was anxious to button her up. Thanks for the tip.

Third times a charm

 

[SkunkBoat]

Look at my thread "265 Mods". I redid a deck panel. There's pictures. You'll see its a fairly easy job.

Be sure to sand the glass clean after you remove the old wood.

I used epoxy because I've done other projects and I have a big jug and the calibrated pumps.

For a small job like yours you could get a quart "kit" of poly and hardener. It would be cheap and work fine for this job.

 

[ScottyCee]

Thank you. I have a fairly obscene collection of fiberglass supplies and equipment tabulated over the years, just curious if there was something magic about epoxy for this application. I sometimes like to mix a little bit of fumed silica into my resin for this sort of job to give it some viscosity. Looking forward to this project. Thanks for the input.

 

[Colliw11]

i'm in the middle of this project and wanted to know your thoughts on making the wood into pieces? I am only doing the small rear panel in my 263 chase, I have a left, middle(with the insection hole) and a right panel. Do i need to worry about the straight cuts being a weak point?

 

[DennisG01]

i'm in the middle of this project and wanted to know your thoughts on making the wood into pieces? I am only doing the small rear panel in my 263 chase, I have a left, middle(with the insection hole) and a right panel. Do i need to worry about the straight cuts being a weak point?

You don't need to spend the extra time in cutting the wood into small squares. But if you do, it's not a problem - and no, they don't even have to be perfectly lined up to each other - a gap will make no difference, either The core is really not the strength of the panel. The core separates the two side of glass - THAT'S what gives the strength - the separation. Case in point... as an experiment, I used a piece of pink foamboard insulation from Home Depot for my hatch core. That was 5 years ago.

 

[blindmullet]

The idea of the pieces is so that if you get water penetration it will help isolate it. Also, it will contour the area a tad better. It's actually better if you can leave a gap around each piece that will be filled with your putty mix. I do most of my projects in FGCI 3:1 Epoxy. For thick putty/glue I usually mix wood flour/cabosil. My wood flour is just saved sanding/saw dust. Use the West Systems 809 spreader to lay it down and fill gaps.

 

[ScottyCee]

Wow. Lots of variables in the descriptions of how people think this should be done. I can’t wait to tear mine apart and see what I think. I wish Photobucket hadn’t done their thing because I’d like to see some of these pictures.

 

[DennisG01]

The idea of the pieces is so that if you get water penetration it will help isolate it. Also, it will contour the area a tad better. It's actually better if you can leave a gap around each piece that will be filled with your putty mix.

If only Grady would have done that, I would not have had to replace my entire floor. The water spread quite nicely from piece to piece to piece...

Funny, though, I had always heard that the reason that Grady did that was because, on a production scale, it made it quicker to build the boats as they could just quickly toss those squares in, rather than wrestling with large sheets.

When I replaced the floor, I contemplated the squares - but I just couldn't justify a good enough reason to spend all of that extra time and effort (and extra peanut butter).

 

[DennisG01]

Wow. Lots of variables in the descriptions of how people think this should be done.

There is no one best way. In addition to that foamboard, I've used plywood and Coosa. All good.

 

[RussGW270]

If someone has a link to a really good tutorial for doing this, would be awesome

R

 

[DennisG01]

Russ, take a look at the West System (NOT West Marine, fyi) "how to's" they have on their website. Another good place to look is Andy Miller from Boatworks Today - if you google that, you'll find his website. He owns a repair shop in Wisconsin and does a lot of how-to videos. Very nice, down to Earth kind of guy. Grab a pot of coffee - 'cause you'll end up binge watching all of his videos!

Don't focus on just one way to do things - look to understand the basic concepts. Once you understand the concepts, you can apply them in different ways.