Hi Rick:

I used both an acid and wet sanding to prep the tank.

I found no Easter eggs in the boat today . . .

I did a test fitting of the bulkhead and then tabbed in the storage compartment floor structure.

Here is the bulkhead . . .


I plan on having a 'drain tube' as a thru-hull into the fuel bay. The tube has a few slits in the bottom side that will face the hull.


The thru-hull will lead to its own 'mini bilge' to isolate it from water that may be in the main bilge.

I plan on tabbing in the bulkhead tomorrow.

Here are a couple of pictures of the storage compartment floor structure.

I used a little bit of urethane foam to fill the gap that is usually there with the structure being offset from the hull a small amount


I compressed the foam before it set up, so that the tabbing would fit well to the hull and wood pieces.

Then I tabbed the wood structure to the hull


The storage area is really cramped, so it was a bit difficult to maneuver and work with the resin and glass. . . glad it is done though.

Tomorrow, I'll trim things up and apply the floor. . . . I might be able to foam it on Tuesday . . . but we'll have to see.

Nice job!

Progress Update . . .

I got the storage compartment floor installed. It is resin'ed to the structure and then tabbed in with some "PB" filler along the edges. Next steps would be to fill the cavities with foam and then top it off with a layer of fiberglass, using CSM.


Then, it was onto tabbing in the main bulkhead . . .


I propped up the cross member as it was sagging a little bit. I used 1708 cloth for the tabbing and then gave it a second layer with 24 oz woven roving.

I used several layers of CSM on the center engine mount stringer where it joins the bulkhead, and then put a few SS screws into it from the other side. It will also get tabbing from the engine room side


I'm into my third gallon of VE resin . . . with the engine room side tabbing and the storage compartment floor yet to go. It should be just enough.

Great work.

Thanks. The fiberglass work has been a bit tedious and the access has not been great, but it is getting done.

A few more pictures from the day's work . . . I was working on the engine room side today. Made a couple of pieces for mounting the shower bilge and also a mini bilge to isolate the thru-hull from the main bilge.

Here is the mini bilge . . .



and here are the mounting pieces for the shower bilge. I re-engineered them from the original, which was more like a large pad.



Here are a few pictures from tabbing in the bulkhead on the engine room side.

Port side


Starboard Side


The mini bilge and shower bilge pieces are just tacked in. I plan on glassing them once the bulkhead tabbing has cured, etc.

I am looking ahead to the next steps in this project and thinking about the process of foaming the tank and the storage compartment floor, once the tank is installed. I have a 20 cubic foot kit of 4 lb density foam. Thinking about the best ways to mix an dispense the foam.

Generally, you get a 20-30 second mixing time until you have to pour/ dispense the foam before it starts to expand. I want to come up with a DIY technique that will insure a good fill with no voids around the tank and under the storage compartment floor.

Any ideas/experiences to share?

TIA

I have received some more materials that I will need to finish up the fiberglass work and install the fuel tank. . . some biaxial tape and neoprene sheets.



I plan on bonding the cockpit sole to the stringer grid, eventhough the folks at Formula said it was not necessary, I figured that it would 'tighten' up the boat a bit. Since the boat is 'opened' up - this will be my chance.

The neoprene is to provide some mounting ads for the fuel tank to rest on prior to the foaming of the tank. Instead of a single long strip, running along the ribs of the hull that were used originally, I plan to use several 'pads' of neoprene material to provide a route for material (and air) to move between the 'rib chambers' during the foaming process. My hopes are that this method will reduce the possibilities for an air pocket to form within the foam. No real way to check it, pretty much all theory.

Anyway, plans for the weekend are to bond the cockpit sole and install the tank. Probably won't foam it in until the following weekend. . . still thinking about the best DIY method for the foaming.

When I had some work done on a house, we used an insulating foam between the studs. Since this was not all new construction, we had to spray/pump in some of the areas. I would think that the hard to reach areas could be pumped/sprayed in to insure that all the gaps are filled before putting the top on and pouring the rest in? I know the stuff we used wasn't all that cheap, but we only used it where we couldn't get full access.

Fuel Tank Installation . . .

I did some last bit of fiberglass work prior to installing the fuel tank. . . . bonded the stringer grid to the cockpit sole. Here are a few pics of the bonding with biaxial tape.




Here are the neoprene pads glued to the ribs of the hull . . .


I used the tarp frame to act as a hoist for the tank in order to lower it into the fuel tank bay . . .


Here is a pic of the tank being lowered into the fuel bay . . .


The tank all strapped in . . .


I will probably foam the tank in next weekend . . . may be too cold tomorrow for foaming.