MK 5 HD Floor

Burt · 08 March 2015, 04:09

I'm a new member needing help. I purchased a used MK5 without floors and figured out that it's not cost effective to buy new from zodiac.

Has anyone made wood floors ? What did u use for stringer ?

Last option - Does anyone have a floor system forsale ?

jyasaki · 08 March 2015, 09:35

Old inflatable that my Dad had, the stringers were made from an oval cross section board, with one side chamfered to match the tube. The piece it sat in was a square section with a semi-circular groove the oval part fit in. Bulky, but it worked OK; It all sat under the tube overhand anyway.

Exterior 3/4" plywood coated in resin should be fine for the floor, I'd think. Could probably get away with 1/2"

jky

prairie tuber · 08 March 2015, 16:54

I once got a quote from Zodiac mil-pro for a set of aluminum boards for an FC-470, and could only imagine how much they'd want for a Mark V !

For a boat that size, I wouldn't go with less than 3/4" marine ply. Use aluminum "H" clips (2 U profiles with an internal width of 3/4" welded back to back) between adjacent boards.

Burt · 09 March 2015, 02:24

Thanks for the replies. What about a piece of hard wood cut to accept the 3/4" plywood and beveled on the tube side to fit nice and snug?

cgoing · 09 March 2015, 03:41

Sent you a PM.

prairie tuber · 09 March 2015, 05:44

I've got a wood floorboard setup (with 3/4" marine plywood boards, mahogany stringers & retainers, aluminum H clips) on my 4.7m boat. Attached are a couple of pictures and a lame cross sectional drawing to help give an idea of the profile shapes of the stringer retainers and stringers.

Burt · 09 March 2015, 17:33

If I understand correctly the stringer is on top of the ply wood with a ledger type board bolted to hold it all in place ?

Mark 5 guy · 11 March 2015, 03:49

I tried to show my wood floor but I'm not good enough to get it here. It works great for me. Try a look at my gallery. I think I was able to get them there

prairie tuber · 11 March 2015, 15:14

Hi Burt, Yes that is correct. I should have labelled the pieces

Burt · 11 March 2015, 16:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark 5 guy

I tried to show my wood floor but I'm not good enough to get it here. It works great for me. Try a look at my gallery. I think I was able to get them there

Mark

I only see one photo. But again I'm new so I may not be looking at the correct location.

Mark 5 guy · 11 March 2015, 16:55

This maybe?

Mark 5 guy · 11 March 2015, 16:58

Might be able to look in my photo album under my user name.

office888 · 11 March 2015, 20:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark 5 guy

This maybe?

Wow! How thick is the ply?

And how hard is it to install? The factory floor stringers actually "stretch" the material slightly...they're in a pain in the butt to install. Same goes for the bow board...you have to teepee the floor, and press down to stretch the material bow-to-stern.

Mark 5 guy · 12 March 2015, 01:16

My floor is 1/2" or 5/8" ply. I don't know if I would have used ply that thin, but it does seem to be plenty sturdy as is. The holes are to access the underside and are covered using the plugs that came from drilling them. It appears to be undersized as it does not stretch the bottom. It seems to work. I can haul dive gear for 4 people, 2 tanks each. I have a 115 2 stroke so any inefficiency caused by the floor is overcome by force