Replacing wooden floor panel on Zodiac Mk2

[Oilystairs]

Hi, one of my floor panels needs replacing. I first thought it was 22mm solid marine ply but after looking closer I find it is foam filled with wooden framework and laminated on each side with a 3mm piece of marine ply.

I am handy at woodwork and can replace like for like but I am struggling to find the thin marine ply around here and frankly it would be simpler to replace with 22mm marine ply. Clearly it will be heavier and maybe will flex differently to the other panels so I was wondering if anyone thought it would be a problem.

Finally I have read on here about epoxy coatings on marine ply and I wondered if this comes in particular brands as around here I can only get yacht varnish (or would that do for the floor?)

Thanks

[jeffstevens763@g]

Personally. Would use marine ply as a solid board then paint with polyester resin until it stops soaking in then flow coat it

[Coopermarineinc]

Good evening. Can you please tell me how your floors are constructed?

[GuyC]

The foam cored ply is probably an off the shelf product e.g.

Lightweight sandwich panel for boat building | Nord Compensati

Marine Ply - 22mm is possibly a bit of an odd size - 18mm will be easier to get - it will be much (two and a half times) heavier than the foam cored ply. Other than the weight I don't think it will cause an issue.

Epoxy - Brands off the top of my head are West, SP Systems and Blue Gee. You shouldn't leave normal epoxy coatings exposed to sunlight as the UV degrades them.

[Oilystairs]

Thanks Guy that is a very interesting material - i will go for plywood simply because i can source it easily in the middle of rural france. The old panels i have are wooden framed (45mm x 15mm) with 15mm foam filling inside the frame then 3mm ply glued on both sides. In my view, they would have more rigidity than the material you suggested so i think 22mm ply (easily sourced here) is a good compromise.

It is a big heavy sib anyway so i don't think a kilo here or there will make a big performance difference!

I already ordered polyester resin and a non slip gloss coat so that should keep it protected.

Thanks again