Dear Grady Friends,
I recently purchased a 1985 204c Overnighter. The original tank had already been replaced with a polypropylene tank that was made for a different boat. The gas lines had been replaced with PVC pipes and joints to enable a tank not designed for the boat to work. Unfortunately I did not discover this until after I purchased the boat. I had a reputable shop remove the current tank and replace it with a new tank made to original specifications and they replaced all the gas lines with real gas lines.
However, the floor panel / gas tank cover is soft and gives when you step on it. I have been reading as many threads as I can find on this forum by folks who have re-cored their floor panel / gas tank cover after finding it in similar condition and the posts and pictures have been very helpful.
I have a lot of experience using power and hand tools. I do general carpentry work and even build furniture occasionally. Unfortunately I have never, NEVER, worked with or been around when anyone else was working with fiberglass or epoxy. In the threads I have read I feel like I have a good basic understanding of taking the floor panel out, cutting through the bottom layer of glass and removing the rotten wooden core or the not rotten wooden core and even doing some sanding to get the last bits of wood off of the underneath of the top of the floor panel. However, that seems to be where I start getting on shaky ground. Folks start using terms that I am completely unfamiliar with and describing in shorthand what I am sure is a more lengthy process. One term I can think of is “wet out”.
Dennis01 suggested the following and I would like to ask the questions below as indicated by brackets () :
-- Remove panel from boat
-- Cut the core out by removing the underskin of glass, and then the wooden core
(By that does he mean using a saw to cut through the glass underneath the panel, to allow the bottom layer of glass to be removed and to give access to the old plywood core? If that is the case, will the glass that is cut out and removed be reused when I put this back together or will it be discarded and new glass used in it’s place?)
-- Replace core with new marine plywood or foam
(Should that be ½ inch material?) (Should epoxy be placed between the new core material and the top or the skin of the floor panel?)
-- Lay on a piece of 1708 bi-axial glass
(Do you know of a video on youtube or similar video channel that shows the proper way to apply the 1780 bi-axial glass with epoxy or fiberglass resin? I have not found any good ones)
(Should the bi-axial glass be cut to but up against the side wall of the top nonskid skin or should it go all the way to the outside edge of the nonskid skin?) (Are the glass and resin and or epoxy all available at stores like West Marine?)
-- Reinstall panel, attending to any stripped screw holes, and caulk of soaking with epoxy,
Tony D stated that this would be his process:
- find a nice flat work area
- pre cut/fit matte, glass and foam WHAT IS THE MATTE HE SPEAKS OF? IS THAT WHAT DENNIS01 describes as 1708 bi-axial glass
- wet out foam IS THIS DONE WITH EPOXY OR RESIN?
- apply epoxy to fiberglass panel IS THE FIBERGLASS PANEL, MATTE? 1708 bi-axial? or something completely different?
- lay down matte AGAIN WHAT IS THIS?
- apply epoxy over matte and lay down foam
- apply epoxy lay down glass IS THIS "glass" the MATTE? The 1708 bi-axial glass or something different?
- roll out air bubbles on new glass
- apply last coat of epoxy
Thank you for any input you can share.
