I have a 89 204 that the piece over the gas tank is slightly soft. The piece is still in good shape with no cracks, but I want to do something before I have to do anything to the gelcoat. The rest of the boat is solid and I am trying to come up with a plan to get the cover a bit stiffer. I have not yet taken out the cover (boat is still shrink wrapped) but was wondering what is on the underside of the piece. Can I glass in some support on the underside or will there be clearance issues with the gas tank? Any tricks to getting the cover off besides remove all screws and cut the caulk? Can this still be bought from GW and any idea how much I can expect it to be?
Tank Cover
- Thread starter Fish Tank
- Start date
It's not a bad DIY project. Search "deck" on this forum and lots of people have done it and explained how they did it. I'm ready to do my second one soon. If you were closer I would let you help so you could see how it's done. :mrgreen: It's not hard to make a few improvements so your new deck can last indefinitely!
here's one thread with a picture. Good luck
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13863&hilit=deck
here's one thread with a picture. Good luck
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13863&hilit=deck
I was hoping it would be a straight forward fix like glassing in some new wood. I would love to help to see "how it's done" but I have more than enough stuff to do around here. 
I am having mine done this week by Eli Laminates in Oakdale. I'll let you know how it turns out.
My boat is a 93 Explorer.
Oceanbean
93 Explorer 245
My boat is a 93 Explorer.
Oceanbean
93 Explorer 245
Sorry about that..I must have done that last night..I thought I added those to my transom repair thread...
Not too sure how we got to transom replacement here but.....
Be very careful with transom repair. I had a 17' Wellcraft that the transom was soft so I cut out the rotted wood and replaced it with new. Transom was solid as a rock. Was coming back to the dock one day and got to the opening of my creek and noticed the stern was low and some excessive water as well. Bilge pump was on but not enough to keep up. Made a frantic call to a friend to get the trailer to the ramp but no luck. Wound up just barely beaching it on the creek bank by my dock and pumped the water with a 2" pump and got it on a trailer. Going up the ramp, water was pouring out the 18" crack in the hull. Wound up stringers were rotted as well. Wound up stripping the engine off the Wellcraft and putting it on a 19' Baja. Wellcraft hull went on side of the road for "Free" and as far as I know it is still sitting in the yard of the guy who picked it up. Check the rest of the structure before sinking any time or money into something that could quickly become a money pit at best- and a sunk boat at worst.
Be very careful with transom repair. I had a 17' Wellcraft that the transom was soft so I cut out the rotted wood and replaced it with new. Transom was solid as a rock. Was coming back to the dock one day and got to the opening of my creek and noticed the stern was low and some excessive water as well. Bilge pump was on but not enough to keep up. Made a frantic call to a friend to get the trailer to the ramp but no luck. Wound up just barely beaching it on the creek bank by my dock and pumped the water with a 2" pump and got it on a trailer. Going up the ramp, water was pouring out the 18" crack in the hull. Wound up stringers were rotted as well. Wound up stripping the engine off the Wellcraft and putting it on a 19' Baja. Wellcraft hull went on side of the road for "Free" and as far as I know it is still sitting in the yard of the guy who picked it up. Check the rest of the structure before sinking any time or money into something that could quickly become a money pit at best- and a sunk boat at worst.
Fish Tank, I did a 2'x2' deck plate on my '91 gulfstream last year. Under the deck surface of the plate was like mush. I cut along the underside edge (carefully) with a cirular saw,not penetrating the deck surface. I believe I used a chisel on the corners. I was able to take out the underside surface exposing the the glass and wood. I cleaned the wood and glass out with chisels and sanded the inside of the deck surface. The wood pieces that makeup the structure of the deck are random sized pieces that I cut from a high grade plywood. I used a good adhesvise to glue them to the floor then fiberglassed the whole thing. It has worked fine. You can call GW for advise. I visited the factory last fall and was happy to see that I did the job right.
My plan is to get the cover out, get the old wood out and west epoxy a new piece of marine plywood into it as soon as I get my trucks painted and out of my shop.
You should not use a single piece of plywood. They are done with small pieces with F/G in between and on top. Call GW and they will have all the info.
When I get it out I should be able to see how they built it. If I can't figure it out I'll drop GW a line.
They were originally cored with end grain balsa which gives the appearance of squares of wood like parquet flooring. The correct replacement is 1/2" plywood or coosa or something similar. I cut the core around the screw holes so the screws do not penetrate the new core but pass through solid epoxy resin and fiberglass. Forgive my limited computer graphics skills but my core looked something like this cut out of 1 piece of 1/2" plywood before I set it in a bed of thickened epoxy and then fiberglassed over it to seal in.
Here's the deck hatches from my old Sailfish after being recored. Regular 1/2" ply was used for the core. I cut the edges on a 45 degree angle and sized the pieces so they stopped about 1-1/2" short of the edges of the hatch. Glass used was 1708 I believe. I first layed strips one layer in strips in the channels along the edges, then a layer over the whole thing. Then another layer of strips in the channels and another layer over the whole thing. Once it all cured, I trimmed the excess and redrilled the screw holes.
GW 204 nice looking job and no prbblem I like the idea of through bolting through just glass by cutting the holes slightly larger. Would 3/4" ply work? I am pretty sure I still have a piece to do the hatch with left over from another project. If not I know I have a piece of 1/2" but it is teak and not really suited for a spot that will never be seen (hopefully) again.
1/2" keeps the thickness close to the original dimensions. Any thicker and there could be clearance issues around the edges or with the braces across the tanks etc. :mrgreen:
I suspect that when you remove the deck plate you are going to find issues. I think the cover will be mush and will need to be rebuilt.
As I mentioned I had Eli Laminates in Oakdale recore my tank panel. Eli did a great job. It is back in place and is rock solid. The deck feels like a new boat. I am replacing all deck plates as well. It cost a few bucks, but I just don't have the time nor heated garage to do it myself. Hat's off to the guys that have done it themselves. I did not want to put it off any more at risk of cracking the jelcoat. I get some big guys on my boat. The boat is a 93, so I look at at as necessary maintenance. A fuel tank is on the horizon maybe next year. I did not want to have do both at same time.
Oceanbean
93 Explore 245
Volvo Penta DuoProp
Oceanbean
93 Explore 245
Volvo Penta DuoProp
I can't believe that the floor is made of lots of what looks like scraps of plywood. Why would this not be one piece? Whe I rebuild it it will be one piece of plywood.
Before you redo with one piece you should call Grady White. That was and is the way they do it and it works. I believe that there is less chance of warping. I am sure they will help you.
Fish Tank said:
Yes by all means make sure to exactly duplicate the worst part of your boat. Those panels are an embarrassment, make sure to copy them so they can fail again. This has got to be the most failure prone part of our boats, "it works", surely you jest! It's easy to see why they fail. Make the necessary improvements and get back to boating. Good luck with it.