4 sheets of marine ply later....

[matata]

Just thought I'd tell you! Last September I decided to put a new floor in my bayliner speedy. It seemed a good idea after a few drinks! The build quality of these boats is pretty poor. The floor had gone soft. The more floor I removed the more problems I found.I removed the tank, cleaned it and put in a new accurate sender unit. Anyway I finished today. I thought Id get away with 2 sheets of 8 by 4 3/8 marine ply but ended up using 4. I used 15kg sp epoxy, 200 lolly sticks, 80 disposable mixing cups, 1 kg of micro balloons! 1 small tube of west systems fairing compound. 200 disposable gloves 15 disposable brushes.200 stainless screws 1 pasting table.1 small tube of epoxy pigment.4 large bottles of cyanacrylate, 1 bag of aluminium oxide floor grit.Orbital sander invaluable as was Bosch jig saw and plane.
What did I learn? Jobs probably take three times longer than thought. prob took me 250 man hrs. I got a first class 3m breathing mask that I could wear with my glasses. Dead comfortable and could wear it for 6hr stints. WEAR IT. WEST systems roller sponges are shit. I did most of the work myself but its def a 2 man job laying down the glass fibre floor. Working the resin in is very hard work. You need someone else mixing the resin and handing you the cloth.
The very best tool by a country mile was the Makita vibrating multitool. There isn't anything it can't do! couldn't have done the job with out it. Dewalt power screwdriver...insanely good
East coast fibre glass supplies... great company.
Nik

[pauldee007]

Hi Matata, i'm have a ribeye with a balsa cored deck thats gone soggy. about to go through what you've done, got any pics? What made you go for ply? I'm thinking of using a foam core.

[Fenlander]

Well done on sticking with the job. Puts into perspective the sort of sellers who will offer boats needing this type of work as "a weekend's work and it'll be sorted".

>>> very best tool by a country mile was the Makita vibrating multitool

Agreed. I've been a DIYer across pretty well every discipline for 40+yrs and it wasn't until last year I was working with brother in law to fit a bathroom that I used his... superb for cutting and trimming small cutouts etc that are a pig to do otherwise. Went straight out and bought one.

[nugent]

Fare play takes some stones to tackle this , done a few over the years and Defo a two man job unless you have lots of spare time on your hands
Just tackling a humber destroyer this week. Yuk rotten is an understatement

[nugent]

Originally Posted by pauldee007

Hi Matata, i'm have a ribeye with a balsa cored deck thats gone soggy. about to go through what you've done, got any pics? What made you go for ply? I'm thinking of using a foam core.

Sorry to hijack some pics I have from previous works b

[phantom 19]

Nugent, what do you protect the underside with? I always used to use g4 and then a thin layer of csm.

I have a Humber to do that looks like it was painted with whatever flow coat they had left over at the end of the week but it hadn’t adhered and all dropped off and is completely rotten. Looks like they used an old doorframe for the longditudinal!

[nugent]

This again had nothing on the underneath
I personally use layer of 450gsm first then gel coat thinned out with styrene where it touches I sand back and lay on wet glass bit over board but it's a lot of work so best to do it right

[nugent]

As that

[Orwell boy]

Those pictures are somewhat enlightening ,brilliant ,and i keep reading on here it doesnt matter how old the rib is !!!(as long as it has a certain name or names on it ) , constant trail of people advertising old ribs and engines without indication of how old !! ,,someone told me i was living under a rock when i bought a highfield ally rib,all of a sudden i am not so sure

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Orwell boy

Those pictures are somewhat enlightening ,brilliant ,and i keep reading on here it doesnt matter how old the rib is !!!(as long as it has a certain name or names on it ) , constant trail of people advertising old ribs and engines without indication of how old !! ,,someone told me i was living under a rock when i bought a highfield ally rib,all of a sudden i am not so sure

Wait while the welds start to crack & you try & weld old corroded salt infested ally. At least with GRP you can perform major surgery in the shed.

[nugent]

Tig welding old Ali = grrrrrrrrrrr

[matata]

Pauldee007...... didn't take one single photo...not one! theres loads of time laps videos on utube though of the same boat. Using a plastic laminate of some kind might be a good shout. I'd do my research first. If you find any interesting materials give me a shout. Try ECF for materials...very helpful. Nik

[GuyC]

Well done and interesting list of materials used.

I tend to work on the principle that for DIY tasks you are generally an order of magnitude out on estimating timescales - if you think it will take an hour it will take a day, if you think it will take a day it will take a week etc etc.

The untreated underside of my Pac 22 deck survived for 26 years before failing due to rot so it's interesting to hear of some of the methods of prolonging their life. I'm giving the underside of the new deck a few coats of paint before attaching it and if it survives another 25 years I'll be happy.

+1 on the multitool and I also like the big reciprocating saw which you can actually be quite delicate with if the mood takes you.

In defence of aluminium - you can bond / rivet a patch on in short order if required and they do seem to be able to soak up punishment quite well. I'll avoid a chinese rib (non edible variety) debate.

[Chanchan168]

Originally Posted by matata

Pauldee007...... didn't take one single photo...not one! theres loads of time laps videos on utube though of the same boat. Using a plastic laminate of some kind might be a good shout. I'd do my research first. If you find any interesting materials give me a shout. Try ECF for materials...very helpful. Nik

I had to lift my floor out on my ballistic after my tank split. Did it myself, but totally agree......a hell of a job I would never want to do again.

Glad it’s nearly over

[jeffstevens763@g]

https://www.ecfibreglasssupplies.co....stic-primecoat

i use this on bear wood soaks right in.
take my hat off to you all that go through that process lot of work, multi tool the bees knees.

[GuyC]

Originally Posted by jeffstevens763@g

https://www.ecfibreglasssupplies.co....stic-primecoat

i use this on bear wood soaks right in.

That sounds a bit of a grizzly task

[jeffstevens763@g]

Originally Posted by GuyC

That sounds a bit of a grizzly task

Just brush on job done glass over perfect

[pauldee007]

Originally Posted by matata

Pauldee007...... didn't take one single photo...not one! theres loads of time laps videos on utube though of the same boat. Using a plastic laminate of some kind might be a good shout. I'd do my research first. If you find any interesting materials give me a shout. Try ECF for materials...very helpful. Nik

Thanks Nik, i'll give ECF a go, I certainly need to make sure i get the right materials, be a good winter project for me hopfully, go pro and camera at the ready

[pauldee007]

Originally Posted by Chanchan168

I had to lift my floor out on my ballistic after my tank split. Did it myself, but totally agree......a hell of a job I would never want to do again.

Glad it’s nearly overAttachment 125516Attachment 125517Attachment 125518Attachment 125519Attachment 125520

Thanks for the great pics, my floor is pretty bad, was yours rotton or just the tank you had to do? what did you use to stick it back in? I think i'll have to take a bit more out than you have as the balsa has really absorbed the water. I'm glad im not the only one whos going through this process will post some pics when i start it over the winter.

[jeffstevens763@g]

found this pic of the primer i used from east coast resin supplies