V-Berth Ceiling Panel Question

[JohnV8r]

This may be one of the more stupid sounding questions I've put up in years, but is there a trick to getting the v-berth panels in & out of the v-berth entry easily? I had to flex the hell out of the panels to get them out. I'm not sure it's going to be feasible to use the same size panels with new material based on how hard I had to torque them to get them out.

Have I lost my mind?

[John F.]

John-

Since no one is jumping in--I had the same experience. I made new v-berth overheads for the Anna E. out of ply. For Crows Nest, I thought about using azek, but I don't think I can flex it enough. Let me know how you make out. Its on my list for the winter. Good luck.

John

[Tony Meola]

John

The whole forward over head is a pain to get out and back in. I have not replaced mine yet but I am thinking about it.

[JohnV8r]

Guys,

This photo from my collection of Bertram 31 photos I have saved for idea purposes (my boys call it my boat porn) seems to indicate the owner of this boat had to make the individual pieces smaller. I think that may be the direction I am headed. I could not believe the wrestling match that I went through to get the originals out. I was originally going to put a vinyl material up, but after looking at the pictures of JimmyG's interior, I may cover the panels with formica and paint them with my sprayer per the recent thread on the engine side panels.



I'll put pictures of what I do up soon. I'm getting married on 8/8/15, so there may be a bit of a lull in the progress...I expect to have v-berth completed by the mid-September either way.

[Tommy]

Yes, completion of v-berth is required for newlyweds............

[Tony Meola]

John

Marriage and completion of any project on the boat do not go together. With a Marriage date in August, I expect to see the finished photos around December. You may not be expecting it, but there is a Honey Do list waiting for you.

But all kidding aside, Best of Luck. Here is too Many happy years.

[Rawleigh]

John

Marriage and completion of any project on the boat do not go together. With a Marriage date in August, I expect to see the finished photos around December. You may not be expecting it, but there is a Honey Do list waiting for you.

But all kidding aside, Best of Luck. Here is too Many happy years.

December of which year??? LOL! Congratulations.

[JohnV8r]

Thanks guys! I did try to set the precedent for working on Shambala by spending as much time as possible since she has come out of the water. I should know how well I did by September! ;)

[Tony Meola]

http://www.sailrite.com/#

For those that are interested I came across this site which sells headliner material.

[JohnV8r]

I ordered samples from them and selected headliner and v-berth side material from the samples I ordered. Only question now is whether I try the paint Jimmy used on Killer Instinct for the headliners. His video and still photos look phenomenal.

[Tony Meola]

I ordered samples from them and selected headliner and v-berth side material from the samples I ordered. Only question now is whether I try the paint Jimmy used on Killer Instinct for the headliners. His video and still photos look phenomenal.

John

You have to see the boat up close to really appreciate every thing he did. The Cummins dealer he used is the same one I used. The guy told me that the Cummins Rep was super impressed with Jimmy's boat.

[JohnV8r]

I've watched all of Jimmy's videos on YouTube with great interest. I'm not always a big fan of major modifications to the original Bertram 31 layout of the interior and the boat in general. Some of them start with the best of intentions and end up so wrong it makes me feel like another B31 has been lost forever. Then there is the occasional modification that is so well done it redefines the image and relevance of the Bertram 31 in a way that makes the legend live on. I think what Jimmy did to Killer Instinct falls into that category. It's a unique combination of artistry, vision, and execution. Jimmy did as nice a job of creating an open feeling interior with a glassed in window frame as I think I have ever seen. The entire job he did on Killer Instinct was top notch.

[Marlin]

I made my bee berth head liner panels out of 1/4" coosa, ,rolled on a coat of epoxy on both sides, painted out with SW hi build ,self leveling primer, used contact cement to secure the foam backed vinyl head liner as well as rolling the material over the edges and stapling with 1/4 " s/s staples. I did mine in 3 pieces after templating, and fabbing dummy panels out of cheap plywood,allowed for the thickness of the material rolling over the edges. With the inner surface painted, I attached the small strips of 3m (I think) hook and loop stuff(expensive) in numerous aresas so I could remove if needed, have removed several times, i also did my cabin he'd liner the same way and remove that often to service my hydralic riggers pump/reservoir. I learned this method from the custom boat builders In southeast Florida ,

[Tony Meola]

I made my bee berth head liner panels out of 1/4" coosa, ,rolled on a coat of epoxy on both sides, painted out with SW hi build ,self leveling primer, used contact cement to secure the foam backed vinyl head liner as well as rolling the material over the edges and stapling with 1/4 " s/s staples. I did mine in 3 pieces after templating, and fabbing dummy panels out of cheap plywood,allowed for the thickness of the material rolling over the edges. With the inner surface painted, I attached the small strips of 3m (I think) hook and loop stuff(expensive) in numerous aresas so I could remove if needed, have removed several times, i also did my cabin he'd liner the same way and remove that often to service my hydralic riggers pump/reservoir. I learned this method from the custom boat builders In southeast Florida ,

Marlin

Have you had any panels drop in a heavy sea? I need to do mine and I was thinking about putting lights in the overhead, and would not want them coming down with the lights in them.

[Marlin]

Never had an issue in any of the boars, coosa is lite, the recessed hockey puck type lite( tri color) are lite. I have 10 years of running on the rybovitch and lots of rough seas ,it works, and it's forever, don't have to worry about plywood sucking up moisture,mildew,etc

[John F.]

John-

I just decided, after my experiences on the Anna E. getting the v-berth headliner in/out, and just now with Crows Nest, to do what's in the pic. you posted. Doug had already taken the headliners out, and I kept them to use as patterns. I just put the port side big piece back in, and had to flex it a lot to get it into the v-berth. I remember on the Anna E. scratching up my new paint doing that. So, I'm going to basically make the big side pieces into 2 pieces each so I can get them in/out without scratching the paint and having to flex them. I'll let you know how it goes. If you already did this, I'd like to see what you wound up doing.

John

[John F.]

I did the panels yesterday. I used the old, big overhead side panel pieces as templates, and cut the whole panel first. I then cut each of these panels down a line marked by where the panels hit and were screwed in two places to the overhead foredeck stringer (is that what its called?). This made each side panel roughly 2' wide at its widest, rather than 4' wide at its widest. It looks fine to me, and was way easier to install. I recommend it.

[Pete Fallon]

JohnV8r,
I never had a problem taking down the V berth overhead panels in 37 years of ownership. They were the original panels from 1961 3/8" plywood with the old boat cloth vinyl covering. They were in 3 sections , two large on either side of the opening hatch and small almost rectangular piece behind the hatch about 12 x 24 inch piece. I think someone had replaced your original panels over the years, The fasteners that held the panels to the underside of the forward deck were #6 slotted screws with finish washers, there were a bunch of wood shims around the hatch sides, they held the sections to the deck. When I replaced the V berth vinyl coverings with foam backed vinyl material it became a little tighter to get them back along the hull deck joint area, but they went in with a little fine adjusting tool ( 3 pound rubber mallet). Used 1/2" teak boards to trim up around the bulkhead seam, recessed the screws and it looked real nice. The worst part of the project was removing the old glue on the hull sides, lots of acetone to cut the glue reside and a couple of long handled wire brushes.
Pete Fallon