Saturday, April 12, 2014

The Engine Room, Cutlass Bearing, Stuffing Box, and Various Endeavors...

Today, I began to work toward the goal of putting the engine back in the boat. The engine needs shelving and places to put stuff like the house batteries, water muffler, and other engine room items. I measured and cut some marine plywood to create a large removable rear shelf. Then, I started a three part process of glassing a lip to secure the shelving to. Don't laugh, but I used fast cure 3M 5200 and duct tape for the first phase of placement. Tomorrow, I'll glass them in using woven mat and West System epoxy. The third phase...good ole BilgeKote, (oh nooooo!).



I also finished sanding down the epoxy from the hard rail removal.



I need Dorade Boxes...they are MIA.
While tinkering around, I sanded the teak on the starboard side of the companionway. I think it will look great once I tackle all the teak for refinishing.



I located the stuffing box while attempting to remove the old cutlass bearing, (numerous unsuccessful attempts - any recommendations on removal of an old cutlass bearing would be appreciated). It was pretty dirty but cleaned up nicely.



I included a few other misc. pics... including a good pic from the end of the bowsprit...



Serious cracks in the no skid coat...
any recommendations on how to repair?

A little concerned about the motor mounts...
should I replace them?





 Fair seas and God bless!


3 comments:

  1. My I internet is limited to my phone right now so I will post something I found regarding fixing the nonskid. The wood by the companion way turned out really nice. It's looking much better overall.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Dan. Please let me know when your internet is back up concerning the no skid...I'm not sure how to fix something like that without sanding it all off and redoing the whole boat...which I do NOT want to do.

      Yes, she is starting to look better. Thanks again.

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    2. I remember seeing this on the Nor'sea Owners Group. I found it when looking into repairs of my own non-skid as it's a molded pattern too.

      The following is as copied from the owners group:
      -----------------
      I've just taken a look at the letters concerning the nonskid on our boats.
      The nonskid can of course be replaced but it is a huge job. Each section of
      nonskid would have to be ground off and a new piece be made and fit and
      potted in. The edges have to be feathered in and in the cases where the
      nonskid is a different color than the deck you have a line to establish.
      The integrity of the deck may be compromised by separating the top layer of
      glass from the deck as the real strength comes from having the complete
      sandwich of glass then wood and then glass on the bottom. If you really have
      to replace a section don't grind down to the wood.

      Repairs can be made easily to scratches and gouges in the nonskid. Wax some
      of the nonskid that is OK and spray a thin layer of PVA over it. You can
      make the mold with a fine grade of Bondo like material. The product we use
      is Rage Gold from Evercoat. Regular Bondo is too course to pick up the
      detail and last. You can make these little molds quick and easy and you only
      have to make them big enough to fix the bad spot being repaired.

      Prepair the chipped, scratched, or gouged spot in the nonskid by using a
      needle file or scraper. Only rough up the scratch it'self. Don't disterb
      the nonkid next to the scratch. The mold that you made will lock in
      perfectly to the nonskid anywhere on the boat. The best way to do it is to
      cut a section of the mold to be just a little bit bigger than the scratch.
      Spray the mold with PVA . Using a small brush paint the area around the
      scratch with PVA so the gel coat won't stick to anything but the scratch it
      'self. Come right up to the edge of the scratch without touching the scratch
      it'self. Make sure the PVA is completely dry. The hardest part of the whole
      repair is making sure you have the right color of gel coat. Mix the gel coat
      up and again using a small artist brush put enough gel coat in the scratch
      to fill the area. Place the mold down so it locks in and put a weight on it
      so it won't move. Pull the mold off when the gel coat sets up and do the
      clean up. After some practice you can get so good at this that the repair
      won't show at all. The explanation may be awfully wordy but it really is
      easy to do. I hope this helps.

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