Can you see the picture I posted? I will have some pictures tomorrow of my bulkhead issue related to the step. I just private messaged you some more details. Dave and I are going to exchange some pictures in the next few days. It is great that both your boat and mine are the same exact thing and seem to both be suffering from some of the same issues. Hopefully we can keep one another informed on the ways we go about making them sound again. I am having a hard time figuring out were the bulkhead is supposed to go exactly. Dave is going to get me dimensions off your boat. I will take pictures of what I do so that you can do the same thing if you feel the need. I will say this, when I am done that thing will NOT move any more.

Ok this is the issue that I am looking at trying to resolve. None of this makes any sense to me at all. [ATTACH=CONFIG]552307[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]552308[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]552309[/ATTACH]

The first picture shows that the bulkhead is forward of the bracing. Just looking at that on it's own it looks OK. However look at the next two images and you will see the huge gap cause by the bulkhead being that far forward. It looks like the bottom of the bulkhead needs to come back farther? To get it to come back however, it would need to be lifted up quite a bit. To lift it up then I think that all the holes in the bulkhead would be out of alignment it seems? Does anyone have a photo of this area that they can share?

Thanks
Jon

My neck gets sore looking at these pics. :)

:daz:...

Not half as sore as my neck and wallet are about to be fixing these things!!!! ;-)

I feel your Pain.....:faint2:

OK after dealing with the bottom repair I am back to trying to figure this out. So yesterday I took a few hours at the shop to investigate things. If anyone has the ability to take a photo or check to see if there is foam between the gas tank and bulkhead that would be amazing. I think the previous owner in an attempt to address this issue did some pour foam down between the tank and the bulkhead. Factory construction on this was that they put Plexus down in between this piece of wood and the stringer. Then they some how pulled back on the piece of wood to try and make the bond. On my boat the bond broke. This is not a surprise knowing how much the bottom was probably moving with all the separations of the grid system. So clearly there is supposed to be a good bond on the bottom edge of this piece. The problem is now how can I attach it? I got it freed up so I can move it again from bond with the pour foam. I can now get it back into position almost. I think if I spend some more time cleaning out the pieces of crap that have fallen down in there during the bottom repair I will be good to go.

Option 1 is a healthy dose of 5200 and pull back on the wall as best I can.

Option 2 is call up the Plexus rep and see what he says or has for ideas/products.

I don't want to rely on this one bond to hold everything in place. So I may get some stainless or aluminum angle brackets and drill into the stringers and also into the wood. Then use a product like listed below to see if I can get a stronger hold. There is ZERO access to the back of the bulkhead unless I really take a lot of things apart and make holes perhaps in the battery box areas. Not something I want to do! I was originally thinking about bolting the top of the bulkhead in but in talking with a friend last night he is thinking that area may want to be able to move as the boat flexes and I could cause issues in other places. So I am going to leave that alone I think. I am wondering if they changed this design over the years? If I saw a new one that they bolt things up then I would do the same?

As far as the part that holds up the step that was pushing into the gas tank! I can move that back and into position as well or at least very close. If I fall a little short I am just going to make a wedge. I am going to put angle brackets on either side of the bracket were it meets the bulkhead and through bolt them. The part of the angle bracket that sits up against the bulkhead will have a lot more area of contact that way, so the piece should never be able to push in again. I am also going to if I feel it is needed drop something down from that bracket to the stringer. This is probably overkill but not a huge thing to have to do. My biggest concern is the bonding the bottom of this piece of wood back to the stringer.

http://www.globalindustrial.com/p/fa...FVmBswodXUUKuw

Would you like to send me the prototype of the diamond-plate floor, you may want to make another to fix any imperfections - LOL Looks awesome.

The rest sucks, that Plexus product sucks from the late 90's. Seems to come apart wherever it was used.

Snowrunner. The Plexus products are fantastic when used properly. That is the key! In this case I don't think that a proper bond could ever have been made with ONLY Plexus. Yes it is going to bond to the fiberglass well that is its designed use. The wood it did not hold on at all. I am going to check the product line up to see if they make something that will go between wood and glass but I don't think they do. That is why I am going to look at probably 5200. I know that will give me one hell of a bond. I am then going to make a new template for the bottom of this piece and bond that to the bulkhead that Formula made. This will make the bottom of the bulkhead 1 1/2" thick. I am then going to use a angle bracket and screw into the bulkhead and stringer to hold it all into place. Pictures to hopefully come this weekend if I don't have to work...