One Piece Floors

theboysmiffy · 30 December 2010, 14:45

Hi all.

I am going to replace the original floor in my mk2 Zodiac with a one piece 18mm ply floor and turn buckles. Will I need to re use the aluminium and plastic stringers on the new floor? The boat will never be dismantled so I could glue them all to the new floor. Did the RNLI use stringers on their inflatables, y or D class?

Adam

m chappelow · 30 December 2010, 17:54

NO stringers involved with the RNLI set up ,but just make sure the board fits in the boat snug without too much slop around the edges ,

Even though the board is classed as a one peice it is infact a 2 peice set up to cater for the deadrise on the bow ,,rnli bolt both halves together with coveyer belting strips for a more permanant job ,,,i removed these so it fits in the car .

photos of a Y boat floor ,D class is same but a bit bigger ,, with the closed foam mattrass and the bottle screws that bolt into the small triangular permanantly fixed bow board .

prairie tuber · 30 December 2010, 18:09

I'd definitely be interested to see how this project progresses. Hopefully you'll take some photos. I would imagine that if you ran a couple of hardwood braces (~ 2" wide x 1.5" high) along the length of the main board (about 3" in from the outside edges), it would strengthen & stiffen that board tremendously. You could also use those braces for an anchor point for a nylon webbing daisy chain to give you lots of secure tie down points for gear.

I am thinking of doing the same sort of thing with a Zodiac MK II GR. Given that I already have a set of aluminum floorboards I may get them welded together & do the turnbuckle thing. I am having a hard time locating a quality set of aluminum cylinder turnbuckles that are suitably sized for this type of application.

theboysmiffy · 30 December 2010, 18:10

Thanks for the response, it was actually your boat that was the inspiration for the modification. The four boards I am replacing end before the dead rise where the fixed plank is located. I was going to get rid of the fixed plank and use turn screws to join the new one piece floor and the triangular bow board thus accommodating the dead rise. What thickness are your boards?

theboysmiffy · 30 December 2010, 18:15

Here is a link to a company that produce rigging equipment http://www.gtlifting.co.uk/pdf/GTINSIDE.PDF It is a pdf and the turn screws are near the bottom of the document. I will take photos as the project progresses. I have a slight concern about the extra weight but I hope the 35hp should still push it along fine. I just want a clean floor that is more rigid than the original.

prairie tuber · 30 December 2010, 18:50

Thanks for the link TBM!

Edit: I did notice in the link that the largest rigging screw in the PDF file had an inside jaw width of 16mm, whereas your floorboards will be 18 mm thick.

theboysmiffy · 30 December 2010, 20:22

Right thanks. I will have to contact them and see if they do anything suitable. Will let you know.

theboysmiffy · 12 January 2011, 19:23

Have found some rigging screws that could do the job:

http://www.gsproducts.co.uk/store/in...roducts_id=595

maybe to long though. I have just thought of a potential design problem though. On my mk11 Zodiac there are four rectangular boards that fit between the transom and the fixed board and these are forced into place. I intended to replace these with one piece of 18mm marine ply. Then from the fixed board to the bow there is a rise with one triangularish board that I would also remake from ply. After looking at the photos above I am worried about the ability of the rigging screws to incorporate the bow rise. Would larger jawed forks allow for the change in angle?

Thanks

Adam

theboysmiffy · 25 January 2011, 19:51

Just a little update. I have been researching using a plastic honeycomb and aluminium panel to try and save weight as I'm worried about the heftiness of a ply one piece floor. I have found a supplier and I'm waiting for prices though I think it is going to be considerably more expensive. Also worried about the potential probs in tensioning the floor. might end up with the good old marine ply in the end!

Adam

m chappelow · 25 January 2011, 20:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by theboysmiffy

Just a little update. I have been researching using a plastic honeycomb and aluminium panel to try and save weight as I'm worried about the heftiness of a ply one piece floor. I have found a supplier and I'm waiting for prices though I think it is going to be considerably more expensive. Also worried about the potential probs in tensioning the floor. might end up with the good old marine ply in the end!

Adam

RNLI uses similar stuff, a grp or cf and aluminium honeycomb think trade name is Hexalite its used for a replacement for plywoood ,also they dont use the old bottle screw tensioning and use a hinged board now on the later models ,,,good stuff half the weight of plywood and as strong .

theboysmiffy · 25 January 2011, 20:05

I thought they'd changed from ply. Do you have any photos or info on the setup? I'm guessing it's a bit more complex. Do they use stringers on the hexalite?

m chappelow · 30 January 2011, 18:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by theboysmiffy

I thought they'd changed from ply. Do you have any photos or info on the setup? I'm guessing it's a bit more complex. Do they use stringers on the hexalite?

Have a look on this web site and click on the New ib1/Dclass in the gallery section ,it takes a few seconds to load the photos but it shows the latest Dclass having its floor board removed for a service.

http://www.fileylifeboat.co.uk/photo%20galleries.html