Bulkhead repair/replacement

[Matt29]

After removal of the gas tank (good time right there), I discovered some rot of the bulkhead between the cockpit bilge and engineroom bilge on my B28. The rot is relatively localized to an area of about 10" in diameter, but it is very severe in that area. A small area is rotted right through. The stbd motor mount has (had) a bracket on the outboard side bolted thru in this location. The mount is also glassed to the stringer on the bottom. My concern is whether this is a fatal problem as it relates to the motor mount/alignment. Also, I was wondering if there is a reasonable means to temporarily repairing this rot as I am running out of time and money this season to replace the bulkhead (yeah, I know, it's a boat). Even if I had the time and money, can I remove the existing bulkhead without affecting the motor mounts/alignment? The bulkhead does not appear to be structural, but I always see guys replacing when engines out during repower. It makes sense that it's easier that way, but is it necessary? Thanks in advance for your support and I apologize for the lengthy post.

Matt
1975 B28 FBC
Toms River, NJ

[Chiles]

Matt,
I had some bulkhead rot in my 1977 B26. instead of replacing the whole thing I cut out the bad area with a reciprocating saw and epoxied (with some roving woven) to give strength back. Epoxy and roven is not that cheap and you also have to get a thickener (micro ballons) to get the epoxy to a peanut butter consistancy. Wet out the area with thinned epoxy first and apply the repair while it is still tacky.

No, it won't look like new, but it will be structurally sound and more rot proof then the rest of the bulkhead.

Chiles

[thuddddddd]

Ask kevin. he probably did that while he was spending way to much cha ching on his butt dragin hyena boat.

Kev, still have that care package, just to flat out to get it in the post. GBut they are yours. If I'm holding you up let me know and I'll expidite them, unlike crowthers windows which he'd never going to see again(well maybe after I steal that neat little gun case he just got)

[Kevin]

Nope, that is one thing I have not done.
Beds yes, but not the bulkheads. Technically I did not do the beds, paid for that one.

No hurry on the care package. Waiting for impellar, when it arrives and I replace it, then I can go back to the shaft alignment. Between the oil dilema, shaft alignmet and the impellar, the dragin a$$ white elephant has been pretty dormant. Looks damn good sitting at the dock if I may add.

Just got back in town. Spent three days in Hialeah and shot between 1500 and 2000 rounds at the range. Didn't even kill anyone.

[scooter28]

i replaced the rotted sections of my bulkhead when i was replacing the engine beds. I did it by using a sawzall and cutting out the rot until i got to good wood. I then mad plugs out of plywood and from there i epoxied them in with west system and used they're silica thickener to get it to turn into peanut butter like Chiles was talking about. The only problem with all this for you is that i noticed most of my rot was right in front of the engine bed and there is really no way to fix it right without removing them. I believe the biggest cause of this area to rot is right above them is the cutouts in the gutter for the engine hatches. The water tends to drain out here instead of through the hoses. And like most of us now the biggest cause of wood rot is from rain water. So at the very least try to find someway of keeping more water from making its way to the rotted areas. Besides they need to dry anyways before you can make any repairs.

[Matt29]

Thanks for the help guys. I think I'll be going the same route Chiles recommended, and try to route the hatch drains to avoid reoccurence. Does anybody know if this bulkhead provides structural support for the engine mounts? I will patch this year, but I would like to replace the bulkhead at some point prior to repowering. Any input?
Thanks again for the support,
Matt
1975 B28 FBC
Toms River, NJ

[Skipper Dick]

Matt,

I had some bulkhead rot in an area that was allowing rainwater to drip from the hatch gutters. I've since routed the gutter drains via tubing to a sump pump. This gets about 90 percent of it, but more importanly, it doesn't leak where I don't want it to. I then used an 1/8th inch bit and drilled a bunch of holes in the affected area and injected diluted epoxy into the holes alloying the epoxy to soak into the rotted wood which I dried with a heater and good old Florida heat. The epoxy soaked into the rot perfectly and when it set and I had an extremely hardend area. Then I mixed a batch of thickened epoxy and faired the holes and finished of with some glass fabric on the surface. The bulkhead is solid as iron and I'm convinced that it will not give me a problem again.

Dick