randlemanboater
God
Looks like you are starting out with not much to do on that 83, nice boat.
1984 step lift restored pictures
- Thread starter steven
- Start date
reelapeelin
God
After lookin at Steven's '83 pictures and recently closely inspecting an '87 I was seriously thinking about buying, i'm beginning to realize there's not a whole lotta difference from '83 to '87....did they keep this basic design all the way into the '90s and up to the year before the 21?...
Zarkohl
Member
Yes, my 83 and your 84 look very similar. Besides diffent seats, my rod boxs are slanted / / forward. Your looks stright [ ] up and down. I took the floor panel over the fuel tank off this weekend, as it was soft. . Apparently, water had leaked in through access pannels on the floor. The water, however, remained trapped betweeen in the wood between floor and fiberglass. The tank and surrounding foam were both dry! The wood between the fiberglass and floor was soaking wet. I made a small tear in the fiberglass and set the panel up on end. Water has been drippping out ever since. Obviously I'll have to redo that section of the floor, but nothing else too major, other than the antifouling paint on the bottom. (I have a seprate post on that). Of interest, when I removed the tank cover, I discovered that there were 2 wooden supports running across the top of the tank. Not sure if that is original or not, as I had seen pics in an earlier post, here there were no cross braces over the gas tank. Do you know if your had the same set up? (I recall that your tank had been previously replaced). Not sure if my tank need replacing, but am curious if it is original? Not sure how to tell?
My tank cover was in good shape there was cross members put in after someone putting in the new metal tank.I don't know if cross members are a original set up.I cleaned the tank compartment out replaced the top and put clear caulk all around it.I don't know if original tank was metal or some kind of plastic.I've read a lot of stuff on the internet about E-10 fuel you might want to look into that it's not good for all us boaters does damage if you don't take precautions.
reelapeelin
God
Soft, soggy fuel-tank lids are pretty common w/these boats...and yer right about the source of water intrusion...Wellcraft saw no need to seal the edge of the holes cut thru the lid for the inspection hatches...the two wooden supports were in mine also and I suspect were standard issue..not sure of their purpose...they seem to be held in place only by the foam around the tank and are well below the bottom of the hatch lid...
Here's mine when 1st opened
I had just talked to Spare about some things he had done w/a router...found a bit that worked and ran it around the edge
after the router did it's thing, bottom peeled back like an orange
Flatbar and this wide chisel cleaned off the remaining tiles
Here's the newly cored lid...not perfect, but came out OK for my 1st fiberglass job...SHOULD have beveled off the edges of the plywood so glass mat would lay down better...really had to work the stuff for it to make a 90* turn around the edges
Biggest problem reinstalling was several of the screw holes either were too big or just weren't there...cobbled different solutions to this and put it back in place...recaulked w/4200...
Oh yeah...edges of inspection hatch holes are now glassed over and properly SEALED...if water gets back in, it won't be thru there...
Here's mine when 1st opened
I had just talked to Spare about some things he had done w/a router...found a bit that worked and ran it around the edge
after the router did it's thing, bottom peeled back like an orange
Flatbar and this wide chisel cleaned off the remaining tiles
Here's the newly cored lid...not perfect, but came out OK for my 1st fiberglass job...SHOULD have beveled off the edges of the plywood so glass mat would lay down better...really had to work the stuff for it to make a 90* turn around the edges
Biggest problem reinstalling was several of the screw holes either were too big or just weren't there...cobbled different solutions to this and put it back in place...recaulked w/4200...
Oh yeah...edges of inspection hatch holes are now glassed over and properly SEALED...if water gets back in, it won't be thru there...
reelapeelin
God
Jim...everybody sees those plywood tiles and thinks; "CHEAP"...I imagine they are cost efficient but they are used by many boat builders...the old timers have heard this before, but back in '07, me and two other V-20 members toured the Pursuit factory...they use them to core CURVED bow-decks and other non flat surfaces...like the bow-deck on our V-20s...I just figured Wellcraft used them in the flat fuel hatch-lid because they were already a purchased item and had them in constant stock...done to their spec and never wetted/soaked from H2o intrusion, they would continue to hold their strength indefinately...
I used solid ply cuz it's easier and readily available...went to Lowes and got regular 3/4" plywood...nothing special...whatever you use for coring needs to be DRY DRY DRY...never use treated and Marine grade is just over-kill...the fiberglass, done properly (not by me obviously) will encapsulate the ply, bond to it as the wet stuff penetrates the DRY wood surface and forms a structural "sandwich"..just make sure you use a plywood w/no VOIDS inside the sheet...hopefully the REAL glass gurus here will come along and fill in some details...
RWilson2526
God
I had the wooden cross pieces on my 87 that looked exactly like Reel's so I'm saying it was factory. My theory is that they put those wood pieces in before foaming so they stop the tank from popping up while the foam expands.
Somebody on here in the past too (I think Spareparts) gave a good reason as to why little squares properly fiberglassed together is stronger than plywood....cant remember the exact explanation but it made alot of sense at the time. Less of a chance for the plywood layers delaminating themselves or something of that nature.
Somebody on here in the past too (I think Spareparts) gave a good reason as to why little squares properly fiberglassed together is stronger than plywood....cant remember the exact explanation but it made alot of sense at the time. Less of a chance for the plywood layers delaminating themselves or something of that nature.
reelapeelin
God
Just the cover...so far I haven't had reason to replace the tank...the most gas I've had in it is only 30-35 gals or so...if it's still tight when I eventually fill it up, I'll really sigh some relief...