25 Seafari

[bilgerat]

Wooohooooo! got both motors up and running and they both run great!
also did some more work in the fuel tank compartment, I cut out and removed the aft and foward bulkhead walls and got all the old fuel hoses removed, now the fun of cutting out new plywood and re-glassing the walls and tank floor back in,
BTW,. anybody got any templates for the walls?

[cdavisdb]

Memories, memories, the delight of installing bulkheads under the deck of a 25. Just how much epoxy can you get in your hair?

My sympathy.

Something weird to look for. My stb stringer broke clean off at the forward tank bulkhead. Look good at yours in that area and see if there is any sign of strain. I'm just curious.

You might want to consider installing an additional bulkhead between the forward tank bulkhead and the forward most bulkhead, its is a long stretch. Strick, Blue Heron and I all did similar (but different) things in that area.

Connor

[bilgerat]

Originally Posted by cdavisdb

Memories, memories, the delight of installing bulkheads under the deck of a 25. Just how much epoxy can you get in your hair?

My sympathy.

Something weird to look for. My stb stringer broke clean off at the forward tank bulkhead. Look good at yours in that area and see if there is any sign of strain. I'm just curious.

You might want to consider installing an additional bulkhead between the forward tank bulkhead and the forward most bulkhead, its is a long stretch. Strick, Blue Heron and I all did similar (but different) things in that area.

Connor

thanks, I thought about a 3rd bulkhead , how far foward ? Im not gonna fit too much futher than the stepdown !!

[cdavisdb]

The 25 was designed to have a water ballast tank under the forward step down. That had to have involved considerable stiffeners. Potter removed all that and did not replace the stiffeners with anything, leaving a very wide and long space between the main stringers from the fwd tank bulkhead to the forward end of the bunks. Also the main stringers don't go all the way up to the cabin liner. The net result is an inherently weak structure prone to deflection in and up. Blue Heron is the expert on this, I'm the one who got bit the worst.

I put in three new bulkheads, one at the point where the cabin storage area ends and the bunks begin, another directly over the place where I had the worst problem (end of the stringer), and a third partial bulkhead halfway from the cabin storage area to the forward tank bulkhead. The first two went all the way up to the inner liner and out to the chine. All are mounted on three layers of 1708 and a wide pad of thickened epoxy. This is almost certainly overkill. Blue Heron put in one addditional bulkhead, look at his thread for bulkhead position and an explanation of what we think caused this mess. Strick took a different course, but his boat had no signs of any problem. See his thread for detail.

I cut out the floor of the step down to get to all this. Worked pretty well, also helped me find and fix some rot in the balsa under the deck. There was so much glass, it felt solid, but rot was there.

Connor

[bilgerat]

Man Im itchy!!!!! got under the deck today and ground down all the excess glass and loose tabbing , I then worked on cutting out the wood for the replacment bulkhead walls and the gastank floor. I am going to add another bulkhead about mid way under the cabin floor, and add some more tabbing to the stringers while Im under there. Looks like My holiday weekend is gonna be spent under a deck with epoxy in my hair in 90+ heat!
More pics coming soon.

[cdavisdb]

I know the feeling. At least I did that job when the weather was cool. have fun.

Very curious, where was the loose tabbing, aft by the rotten bulkhead or forward under the cabin?? Loose on the bulkhead surface or the hull surface??

Connor

[bilgerat]

the tabbing on the stringers looks fine, the front bulkhead wall had come loose where it attached to the floor under the gas tank, I got it all ground down and ready for the new wall to go in. The wood in the center stringer is still wet so I have heat lamps on it drying it out so i can get the resin to stick to it.

[Blue_Heron]

I'm getting itchy just thinking about all that grinding.

Phil, you might want to consider cutting a hole in your cabin deck so you have access to glass that new bulkhead in on both sides. If you plan it out, you can have an extra storage compartment under the cabin.
Dave

[bilgerat]

Originally Posted by Blue_Heron

I'm getting itchy just thinking about all that grinding.

Phil, you might want to consider cutting a hole in your cabin deck so you have access to glass that new bulkhead in on both sides. If you plan it out, you can have an extra storage compartment under the cabin.
Dave

Yea, Im going to cut a access hole , I was thinking of getting one of those 11x15 plastic hatch doors to install , might be a a small hole to work through but less glass work when Im done with the walls

[bilgerat]

well it took all weekend and alot of sweat but I got the bulkhead walls and gas tank compartment floor in and glassed with exoxy, and I didbt get any epoxy in My hair{i wore a shower cap!!} I added the 3rd wall under the cabin floor just foward of where the cabin door is, I cut a 8" hole in the floor to access the froward side of the wall and Im going to install a round deck plate to cover the hole, there is already one in the step down area so I think it will look just fine. Now on to the gas tanks, I found a local guy who had some .125 5025 4x10 alum sheets that I picked up for a hundred dollars each . My metal fabrication freind is going to build me some new tanks the exact size that came out .