Floorboard installation

[spidermonkey]

Hello,

I've just acquired an old avon sportboat, and after spending the last week sanding and varnishing the floorboards (thank the lord for belt sanders) its time to put them back in the boat.
What is the correct procedure for getting the things back in the boat? I don't want to be forcing the things too much and break something like I usually do.

It's probably worth mentioning that its an avon sportboat 4.5M in length.
There are 4 floor boards altogether ( including the bow section) with 2 wooden/aluminium channels that run down the sides of the boat.

Thanks in advance

Dan

[MikeH]

We have the same boat I think - this has an inflatable keel under the floor boards.

What we do is

slightly inflate the tubes just to give them a bit of bulk.

Fit the stern board so it lies under the wooden block at the base of the transom.

slide the aluminium triangular side bars onto the rear floor board so they are in place at the stern.

Fit the front board onto the wooden plate at the front

Slide the remaining boards onto the aluminium side bars

Align the front board with the rear section and interlock the two flanges.

push the whole thing downwhilst pulling the tubes up one side at a time. This requires quite a lot of effort but dont be frightened of pulling hard.

Make sure all seem Ok and no part of the tubes trapped.

Blow up the tubes.

have fun

[spidermonkey]

Just got off the phone to a very helpful chap at Avon, this is the technique they used to assemble them;
1. Slightly inflate the tubes.
2. Assemble the main deck from the 3 boards and side channels.
3. Place the deck in the boat as far back as it will go.
4. Use a lever (they used to use an oar) to push the deck back past the fixed board near the bow.
5. Now put the bow board in.
6. Have a rest.

He stressed that brute force is the only way to get them in.
The boat in question is an S550.

Though I'd post this for anyone else with one of these boats.

Thank you Alan and Trevor at Avon!

[davep]

These should help.

Dave

[chris123]

I'm so glad I found this thread :-).

Having just bought an old Avon S250 sportboat, I too have discovered the joys of fitting the floorboards (and this thread has confirmed that I'm doing things right).

At the risk of sounding dumb, there is one thing that has got me stumped, and that is, which way up do the floorboards go?

There is the 'stepped' side (with the reinforcing strips round the edge) and the 'smooth' side. The sides of the board are tapered so that the smooth side is wider than the stepped side. There are also webbing loops on the stepped side, which I figured are to attach an inflatable thwart to. Hope this makes sense - I can attach a photo if it helps.

Now I figured that the stepped side should face up, so that:

1. The chamfer fits in with the curve of the tubes (as per the sectional view in DaveP's image)

2. The webbing loops are accessible when the boards are fitted.

3. Gives the hull the smoothest shape.

However the previous owner fitted the boards smooth side up, and an e-mail from Avon backs this up as being the right way, so now I'm confused.

Any guidance from Avon sportboat owners gratefully received.

Cheers

Chris

[spidermonkey]

Smooth side up on mine. Only the rear board has got any chamfer on it which fits in with the side of the tube.

You might have to post a photo. Are the boards original? I've seen a few with home made boards.

[Ed the Duck]

Another top tip for fitting floor boards - use washing up liquid to help lubricate the floor boards as you force them past the sponsons.

Makes the job so much easier.

Ed

[chris123]

Thanks for the info guys.

As far as I know, the boards are original - they certainly look the right sort of age. I've attached photos:

dscf0095 is the rear board looking aft. You can see the cutout for the side rails and the chamfer.

dscf0096 is the front board of the set of three behind the fixed board looking aft.

dscf0099 is one of the side rails

dscf0100 is the bow board

dscf0097 shows one of the webbing loops

Hope this makes sense. Do they look similar to your boards Spidermonkey? My boat was built in 1978, don't know if that makes any difference.

Cheers

Chris

[spidermonkey]

Take a look at this...

You can see the chamfer on the rearmost board. There are strengtheners on the underside of each of the boards (the screw heads are visible).

Just noticed that mine have the same little webbing straps too, just in a different location.

This boat is a few years older than yours, early '70's.

I'm going to guess that someone has replaced the boards in your boat, but somehow managed to make them upside down. They look well made though.
If I were you, I'd stick them in whichever way they fit best. The only problem I can see is if/when you get water in the boat, and you end up with a miniture paddling pool on each board.

[chris123]

Looking at your photo, you may be right about the boards having been made upside down - the round hole in the aft board is on the opposite side of the board to mine - other than that the boards look identical - if they're not the originals they are incredibly good copies.

I've got a day off today, so I'll have a play and see what works best. Avon have confirmed that the boards should be smooth side up, and say the webbing loops weren't fitted by them (which makes me wonder how come your boat has them as well?).

With the side rails, do yours have the same triangular section as mine? If so, which way up do you fit them, with '1' at the top or '2' at the top?

Cheers

Chris

[spidermonkey]

'1' at the top.

[chris123]

Thanks Dan,

If that is the case then it does sound like my boards should be fitted 'upside down' - with the stiffeners facing up, the chamfer on the boards matches the chamfer on the side rails.

Cheers

Chris

[morfeopdd]

Hi
I have the same problem with my old Avon S400 I guest is 78-79 model I so frustate because I can`t install the floorboard
Any help will be appreciate

[prairie tuber]

Another tip that will make the floorboard installation way easier, is to assemble your oars and slip them under the boat (between the boat fabric and the ground. This will provide a level & rigid surface to push your floorboards down onto. It will also get the floorboards up and off the ground which will make inserting the stringers much easier.

[chris123]

Originally Posted by morfeopdd

Hi
I have the same problem with my old Avon S400 I guest is 78-79 model I so frustate because I can`t install the floorboard
Any help will be appreciate

Here is how I did it on my S250:

1. Make sure the boat is fully deflated.

2. Fit the front triangular (or if you prefer trapezoidal) floorboard first, sliding it forwards, making sure it doesn't catch the seams on the 'tape' that joins the floor to the tubes. Ease it forwards until it will drop in front of the fixed board across the boat. It may help to have someone lift the bow from outside the boat.

3. Assemble the other floorboards together with the side stringers outside the boat. Where the floor boards are tapered on the edges, they should be wider at the bottom than the top.

4. Lift the floorboards into the boat. Slide them to the back, locating the rear board under the retainer on the transom. You'll most likely need an assistant for this

5. Make sure the floorboards are seated correctly along the tubes, and that no seams etc are pinched.

6. Push the floorboards as far back as you can, then use a bolster chisel or similar between the floorboard front edge and the fixed floorboard to lever the floorboards into place. Take care not to trap any part of the tube, floor or keel with the chisel or floorboards.

7. Job done - inflate the boat and off you go. It is possible to do it single handed, but is hugely easier with two people.


I never tried the suggestion by others on here to put an oar under the floor to ease things, may be worth a go.

Cheers

Chris

[palehorse]

my boat was a 91 4.60 M and my front board had seen better day I made alum brace on top as the edge was warped and just not fit proper . So now what mine looks like is same as the bottom but also on the top works great and does not touch and fabric to damage it easy fix could use wood also just is I did not have marine plywood to use that why alum plate 1/8 inch works great and made for a slite stiffer bow . I am waiting for my 520 work boat and would like to know what year avon went to alum flooring in this model its also the SAS assualt boat 17.5 22 inch tubes I may just fit dimond alum plate with short screws or pop rivits and counter sunk washers to get the rivit to grab come on there must be some ex SAS or Boat service chaps on this site also that model W520 was always ran with twin 30 hp outboard there are alot of cherry 40 hp yamaha kickers for sale up here from 1400 us to 800 us I may buy a pair or two 25 four strokes I also have one 40 yam 4stroke would need one more boy bet that thing would fly with twin 40,s on it any help on the floorboards or finding fuel bladders or gun bags trying to make a brit assualt boat may even hang a non fireing bren on it but mostly looking for the valace bag gun bags & bladders new they are darn spendy looking surplus Kim