puzzleboy

As the off season is fast approaching up here in the great white north, I should really be replacing my floor's rotten core (soft just forward of the rear bench).

I remember a few posts that touched on this.... obviously, the first step is to cut away the bottom glass and remove all the wood core.

For core replacement, I'm guessing I need marine grade plywood, or does it matter? Where can marine grade plywood be sourced? Anybody know the thickness of the plywood in a 272's floor?

And lastly, what's the "right" way to bond the new core to the underside of the original glass/gelcoat upper surface (resin?), glass it in, etc.?

Any info and hints would be appreciated.

Thx.

mark s linger

i am also interested in the same,helping friend replace section of existing floor.purchased marine seaboard,but not sure on how to fasten to existing stringers.

rumrunner29

I actually did this repair on my 29 OL this spring, so I can give ya some advice.. It's a pain in the azz, but not overly difficult.
The floor actually does not stop at the couch, it runs all the way back, so you have to remove the rear seat and base to get it out. I flipped it upside down and took a dremel tool with a cutting blade and cut the glass all the way around the outside edge of the floor. I then removed the old glass to expose the wood core. Even though mine was only soft back by the rear seat, I found the whole core was rotted. I removed the core with a scraper and used a grinder with a flap disc to remove any remaining wood, glass and to sand it down smooth. I don't how the floor of a 272 is made, by mine has two different thickness of plywood in it. The main floor section is 1/2" and the rear section that is under the rear seat is 1/4". Take good measurements of the existing core once you have the old outer glass off of it. Right in front of my rear seat mine was laid up with two pieces of 1/2" in a small section (probably to reinforce the area). I did not use marine plywood, I used oak hardwood plywood that I completely encased with resin. At this point cut and test fit your wood, mark and cut both fuel tank inspection holes. Next I encased the plywood in resin and then spread a good amount of resin on the existing floor. Before you start to bond the new core make sure you have a TON of clamps. You need to clamp the hell out of it every so many inches all the way around it to make sure it bonds to the existing floor. Anyway, lay the new wood in and clamp it down and then let it cure (I left mine overnight, but it doesn't take that long). Next I filled in the gaps around the edges with filler and let it cure. I then sanded everything down and wiped it down with acetone...Now your ready for glass. I used two layer of fiberglass mat and used quite a bit of resin to soak it in. Let it cure, then do a little sanding and filling in any spots that may need a little more, redrill all your screw holes and your ready to put it back in.
Hope this helps you guys, I took some picture when I did this, but I guess I erased them sometime this summer.
If you have any more questions, post em' up or PM and I'll be more than happy to help

Justin

puzzleboy

Sounds about right to me, and sounds very similar to the 272's floor.

Was mostly curious if resin was the right product to glue the new wood to the original underside.... I figured there were probably better products for that.

Thx!