Next, I de-waxed the fiberglass around the periphery of the underside, then sanded it in preparation for epoxy bonding 1 x 2 fir edging to contain the fiberglass acoustic insulation. I measured and cut the boards and glued them in place.
Next came the fiberglass insulation which was held in place by some very fine mesh stainless steel screen I found years ago at an oddball surplus place in Oxnard. The piece I had was just big enough to cover the fiberglass. When the epoxy had set, I trimmed the screen with scissors and stapled it to the edge of the trim boards with stainless steel staples.I added some closed cell foam weather stripping around the outside and it was ready to go.
To prepare it for transport and hauling up onto the boat, I wrapped the whole assembly in an old Hudson's Bay wool blanket that provided plenty of padding. In the process, I discovered the assemblage had grown pretty darn heavy.I headed to Napa on Sunday excited by the prospect of replacing that tacky carpet and plywood with a proper cover/sole. 
Instead, I ran into another proof of that common axiom of boat work: Nothing is straight and nothing fits the first time. I hauled the heavy cover up onto the boat using the spinnaker halyard, which did not have a winch, so it was real grunt work. 
However, it wasn't until I removed a couple of dozen screws securing the old plywood, removed it and trial fit the new cover that I discovered the flange over which the new cover was designed to fit bowed out in the middle almost half an inch. There was no way the new cover would fit without surgery of one kind or another. It may have been my upset over this unfortunate turn of events, the greasy Chinese fast food I had for lunch, or the combination of the two, but it was definitely the shits. Given my weakened condition, I decided discretion would be the better part of valor at this point and I risked the long drive home to cogitate on the problem overnight before I started hacking away.
Instead, I ran into another proof of that common axiom of boat work: Nothing is straight and nothing fits the first time. I hauled the heavy cover up onto the boat using the spinnaker halyard, which did not have a winch, so it was real grunt work. However, it wasn't until I removed a couple of dozen screws securing the old plywood, removed it and trial fit the new cover that I discovered the flange over which the new cover was designed to fit bowed out in the middle almost half an inch. There was no way the new cover would fit without surgery of one kind or another. It may have been my upset over this unfortunate turn of events, the greasy Chinese fast food I had for lunch, or the combination of the two, but it was definitely the shits. Given my weakened condition, I decided discretion would be the better part of valor at this point and I risked the long drive home to cogitate on the problem overnight before I started hacking away.I figured the wood that capped the flange could be trimmed away and straightened using a jig and skill saw, but wasn't sure that it would provide deep enough clearance to allow the cover to seat properly. I couldn't cut away any of the structural fiberglass flange, so Plan B was to add fir strips to the top of the flange to provide the additional clearance. I bought some fir 1 x 2 molding that evening and was up at 5:30 am on Memorial Day down in the shop making a jig to trim the flange around the engine hatch. By 7 I was on the road.
I mounted the jig on the hatch flange as planned and made the cut. 
It worked as planned,but another trial fit of the new cover made it clear that Plan B would have to be implemented. In the process of manuvering the cover and making the cut, my worst nightmare was realized: the precariously balanced new hatch cover got pushed off the flange and fell onto the engine, breaking a section of the lip. I was seriously bummed. At least it was in a section that will be accessible without removing the cover completely and can be repaired relatively easily. I gathered my courage and proceded to mount the new fir stips around the top of the flange. 
That seemed to do the trick. The new cover was in place. 
I set up the helm seat, 
cleaned up and was on the road by noon in order to beat the holiday traffic. On my next trip, I'll re-check everything to see if the cover lip clears the flange all around and make plans to tune up as necessary.
It worked as planned,but another trial fit of the new cover made it clear that Plan B would have to be implemented. In the process of manuvering the cover and making the cut, my worst nightmare was realized: the precariously balanced new hatch cover got pushed off the flange and fell onto the engine, breaking a section of the lip. I was seriously bummed. At least it was in a section that will be accessible without removing the cover completely and can be repaired relatively easily. I gathered my courage and proceded to mount the new fir stips around the top of the flange. That seemed to do the trick. The new cover was in place. I set up the helm seat, cleaned up and was on the road by noon in order to beat the holiday traffic. On my next trip, I'll re-check everything to see if the cover lip clears the flange all around and make plans to tune up as necessary.
AWESOME! GREAT WORK! Had me on the edge of my seat when you decided to make some cuts!!
ReplyDeleteAnd the stain is gone!
Thanks Bryan! I need the encouragement this week! To remove the stain from the seat cushion I used a trick I learned from Bruce Bingham: paint brush cleaner. It's pretty good at cleaning fenders, lifelines and such, and apparently also naugahyde seat cushions. It tends to leave the material softened and vulnerable to future staining tho, so I tried going over it with 303 protectant after cleaning. It seems to work...on fenders too.
ReplyDeletethats better than what I would have grabbed - acetone. I'd take a whiff from the can just to make sure it was fresh too =)
ReplyDeleteLovely new seat. Great work again George