port side engine wall

[mdidomenico]

has anyone had to replace the port side wall in the engine compartment?  The yard finally pulled my engine/shaft/etc.  turns out, after i managed to peel up the rest of the stupid film/glue from the old insulation, the wall is starting to rot away.  i was able to easily chip away two or three layers of the exiting plywood

picture show before cleaning and after...

[scgunner]

     Since it's not cosmetic I'd just make sure it's thoroughly dry then fill and seal with West Systems and filler and then sand it smooth, you can even paint it if you want it to look pretty. From the pictures it looks like you've got bigger fish to fry!

[KWKloeber]

A similar repair to a C30 bulkhead was done by laying in some fglass fabric tying the good and new together (was non-visiable and non-critical.)  If the bottom portion is very flimsy, drywall screw it down to a board to keep it flat and intact while rebuilding, and put a patch over the original/repaired interface to reinforce it.  You could go overboard with bi-directional or carbon fiber, but why?

[Stu Jackson]

md, in the 20+ years of my activity with our C34 I do not recall anyone ever raising this issue.  Not enough to make you wanna be the first, though, huh?   

First thing that occurred to me:  What does the aft cabin side of the bulkhead look like?  If the veneer is OK, then Kevin's right, it's just cosmetic on the engine side, and Ken's ideas will work.

That's not a structural bulkhead, so you could just slice the rotten bottom portion off and rebuild it that way with nice veneer to match in the aft cabin.  I can't go any further than that 'cuz it is wood we're talking about here and I failed every single wood shop I was ever allowed into!!!

Then, of course, there's the door to the dipstick, looks like the rot could be below it.

Good luck.

[mdidomenico]

md, in the 20+ years of my activity with our C34 I do not recall anyone ever raising this issue.  Not enough to make you wanna be the first, though, huh?   

i don't mind being the first, but i generally like to get a better understanding before i dive in. 

i'd thought about just mixing up some thickened epoxy and just spackling it on there, but the wood is pretty punky and soft.  it goes deeper then just the veneer layer.  i'll see this weekend, if it's dried out at all.  but since i hope to never ever have to pull the engine again, i'd rather fix it right then cheap out and have to redo it with the engine in the way.  which means replacing either the whole panel or just the lower section.

all the wood above the alternator door is still pretty solid.  i thought about just cutting from the top of the alternator door down and replacing the wood, but then there will be an ugly seam.

then i thought about just pulling the whole panel.  i'm not readily sure how it comes out and the other side is the head with the white top layer, which i'm not sure how to replace.

the only saving grace is the head door is hinged on the other side, so refitting the door (which i've failed miserably at in home projects) shouldn't be an issue

[KWKloeber]

Maybe this will help, maybe not?

CTY's wood shop used, on C30 head panels/bulkhead, ply w/ teak one side / white laminate opposite from H&L Woodwork - (1/2"). The same laminated ply H&P used on its cockpit tables. I could look up the p/n but it's irrelevant since H&L is gone for maybe 10 yrs?

The former lead carpenter @ H&L might be mfgrng the same plywood and can cut a panel to size or from a supplied template. He had saved some of the CTY patterns but might need the panel # that H&L stamped onto the back sides (typically the model and piece, like C34 135.)

Cesar Pacheco
CP Marine Woodwork
(310) 538-5528
(310) 538-5364 Fax
woodwork@cp-marine.com
cp-marine.com

Frankly I had a couple sales working and could never get info and a price from CP, and have stopped using him.

Or your nearest lumber yard mill shop (not a big box) "wood" be able to laminate a ply panel.
Or, it's very easy and have done it several times - just need to buy the ply, a scalp of white Formica or Wilsonite, a gal of contact cement, and get some kraft paper (grocery bags if anyone still uses them.) 10x easier than hanging a door
Or check w/ CTY.

On the 30, head panels are screwed in from the teak side using doubled-up finish washers (possibly the screws were a titch long and w/o taking up some depth the point would poke thru??)

[Noah]

Have you determined the cause/reason why that bulkhead rotted?

[Stu Jackson]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

all the wood above the alternator door is still pretty solid.  i thought about just cutting from the top of the alternator door down and replacing the wood, but then there will be an ugly seam.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I understand.  Perhaps you could consider making it a feature not a bug. or by making a nice wooden strip to cover the seam.  It's in the head, and only seated people would see it...

[mdidomenico]

Or your nearest lumber yard mill shop (not a big box) "wood" be able to laminate a ply panel.
Or, it's very easy and have done it several times - just need to buy the ply, a scalp of white Formica or Wilsonite, a gal of contact cement, and get some kraft paper (grocery bags if anyone still uses them.) 10x easier than hanging a door

is the white layer, really just a laminate of white formica like you see at lowes in the counter top area?  i've seen people use it on tv to make counter tops, seems simple enough.  smear contact cement on both layers, let dry, smoosh together and trim.  if that's all it is, i can probably handle that.

[mdidomenico]

Have you determined the cause/reason why that bulkhead rotted?

i have no definitive explanation.  i did not know how badly the panel was rotted until i pulled the engine.  the panel "looked" okay before i poked it, but once i poked the bear it started growling.

my suspicion however is that the engine exhaust was leaking/pooling in that area.  when i pulled my exhust manifold and heat exchanger, the manifold basically crumbled in my hands and the gaskets on the heat exchanger were crusty.  (you have to keep in mind, this is damage from the PO, i've only had the boat a year and am doing basically a total refit at this point, not that it started out that way)

it's either that or leaks from the hatch, but i don't have any signs of staining on the upper part of the panel, so that seems less likely.

[britinusa]

Just a thought... We had a leak from the anti siphon valve between the heat exchanger and the exhaust nipple. I caught it early (replaced the valve) but if left dripping it would most likely have dribbled down that bulkhead.

Paul

[Stu Jackson]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

is the white layer, really just a laminate of white formica like you see at lowes in the counter top area?  i've seen people use it on tv to make counter tops, seems simple enough.  smear contact cement on both layers, let dry, smoosh together and trim.  if that's all it is, i can probably handle that.

Yes, it is.

Al Watson did his countertop in the galley, here, #9 describes Formica covering of the plywood:  http://www.c34.org/projects/kindred-spirit/counter2.html

Jim Brener's 2015 tech note on redoing his head counter noted that he had a wood yard do the Formica work for him.

I'm sure YouTube has lots of how to do things about Formica.

Good luck.

[sailr4]

The yard finally pulled my engine/shaft/etc.

Just curious why you pulled your engine?  Are you repowering? Rebuilding?

Rob

[mdidomenico]

The yard finally pulled my engine/shaft/etc.

Just curious why you pulled your engine?  Are you repowering? Rebuilding?

the motor mounts were original and needed to be replaced along with the shaft/coupling/cutlass etc.  course along this process, i also found that my hx gaskets were leaking, the exhaust manifold was corroded beyond even being a piece of pipe anymore, and despite the PO telling me the electrical was fixed i found one set of trailer connectors in the wire bundle (though i didn't trace to see if they were in use).

it was actually easier and cheaper to have the yard crane the engine out then try to work/fix all this stuff around it.  the yard also told me last weekend it looks like i might need a new oil pan as well.  so woo hoo bye bye money...

on the bright side, by the time i'm done next spring, i'll basically have a brand new boat... :)

[KWKloeber]

Are you talking about the exhaust manifold (hope not) being toast, or the exhaust riser?  Big difference.

Do you have any "before" pictures?