Another BFN Rebuild

do you have acess to a lathe? I have an idea that will work if you do, but you'll have to lay it all out to locate the insert before you permanatelly mount the pannel. I don't see a problem thru bolting the angle for the center removable pannel should be easy, but if your wanting a mostly continuous stop for the bottom of the pannel the two outter sections will be the tough ones to get layed out but I would think glassing in a post/stud wouldn't be an issue, it's not like you going to be removing it anyway once it's down its down and there shouldn't be a reason to have to removed it, you really only need about 1/2" lip maybe 3/4" to keep it in place at the floor.

another option is using studs that have a hex on the end or square that is smaller than the minor diameter of the thread, then all you have to do is double nut it on the underside using an oversized flat washer too and stick it through the pannel glass it in on the bottom, tape the threads off on the exposed side, glass that side and call it a day if it breaks free you have the hex feature to hold the stud while you turn the nut with and open end wrench.

Instead of double nutting the underside weld the nut to the stud will work better it's just a stop anyway.


This might be a little easier though why do you have to use angle? Why not just create a channel in the floor for the lower section of the pannel to rest in say 1/2"-1" deep for the entire width of the boat, you could even stop the removable pannel flush with the vertical pannel and then just use a small strip of corsa to support it from sliding backwards.

Could you double up the 2ndary stringers on the inboard sides, and cut the floor to lap over that doubled up piece, falling short of the 2ndary stringer and essentially exposing your 2ndary stringers as the "shelf" on each side for the floor piece to rest on? The doubled up pieces are in red below.

Well I went real low rent on this fix, I ran 1x3/4 strips of untreated coose along the side of my secondaries held in by some stainless screws. My floor also sits directly on the primarys though, so it was just to keep the floor from popping up when one steps near the seam. Could you get more elaborate with the floor piece, with relatively deep legs on the bottom that drops down to the main stringers?

If you do the angle iron bit you would be a lot better off with 24 stainless screws and some 5200 than with a few lags. It is coosa after all you dont need to treat it like wood. I am heading down south for the weekend but when I get back I will take pictures of the tank strapping system in the 95 I believe it will be similar to what you are proposing.

Good stuff Joe.

I cant run supports down to the mains because the exhaust hoses will be sitting directly over them- mainly towards the inside edge. The only place I can grab some room is all the way out towards the secondaries.

My concern with the lags was the screw retention- obviously not rot. The thought of using a bunch of smaller screws had crossed my mind... maybe Ill add a 3/4" strip of coosa along the inside of the secondary for the panel to sit on, and add a 2" angle to that, held on by a bunch of 1-1/4" screws. That would give me 2-3/4" of surface for the panel to sit on. The shorter, smaller screws wouldnt extend all the way into the sealed cavities either.

Is that what youre saying BJ?



Regarding the gas tank, my '90 has a strap system with threaded rods that fasten down to some angles attached to the stringers... Im just not sure how I would go about building these.

My vote is to go with glassing on strips of Coosa. Tim, in that last sketch you did, it looks like you have plenty of room next to the exhaust. Is it out of scale?

Youre killing me Pete- yes the scale is a *little* off... but its close. Here it is in Autocad.



Lots of room on the outside of the hose... in fact, the hose will barely catch the mains at all. I would add coosa exclusively, but it gets expensive! Im also not sure how much I will have left, and these 6" tall x 46" long support pieces arent small. Do you think a 3/4" lip at either side is enough? Or should I go with some 2" aluminum angle in addition to it?

Tim
what about putting t-nuts in on the outside that the aluminum angle bolt into?

T-Nut in Stainless Steel

Would that work?

Ok I was thinking you where talking about the vertical pannel that covers the tank and the backrest that the rear seat covers. Your talking about the horz pannel that is removable. In that case I like the angle plate idea better. For fastneing it, I would get a 1" strip of flat stock, drill some holes in it, if you have access to a arbor press, punch square holes into it use carrage bolts welded in place or just plain old bolts welded to it would work too, then I would drill holes through the secondary stringer and then use lock washers and nuts to attach the angle to the inside. I would drill the strip and angle at the same time just clamp the two piece together and drill away they'll be lined up and go together pretty easily.

basicly the stringer would be between the stud strip and the angle stock with the threads being horz. maybe 6-8 1/4" diameter studs per strip should be enough.

Interesting stuff going on over here! Looks great.

TRBenj wrote: Chris, that thought had occured to me, but I wouldnt be able to make one big backer for the angle. There are ribs spaced at every foot between the secondary and the outside of the hull.

if the ribs are in then you have to break it up but if not notch the ribs and glass over every thing. Also you could just embead a piece of strip stock in between the corsa and then just drill and tap after it's cured.

is there an issue with screws biting into the corsa material? worried about striping out later? That is what I'm thinking your worried about if not then maybe your over engineering too much into this and making it more complicated than it needs to be.

Chris, Pete is correct- the coosa will not hold a screw like wood does. The stringers are laminated with glass on both sides, which helps- but it still makes me nervous.

Pete, what do you think about securing the angle with a bunch of 1-1/4" #10 screws? They would extend all the way through the 3/4" support, but not through the 1/2" thick stringer. Or should I go with something larger, and possibly drill/tap the epoxy as you mention?

Tim,

I have had good success with white oak. Epoxy and screw it to your glassed stringers. If you don't think 3/4" is wide enough cut two strips and epoxy them together first. I don't think you need many screw to hold the access panels down if that is your concern. On the Malibu this panel is hinged just behind the engine cover and you can open it up by simply lifting out the rear seat.

FrankT    

If the floor is just going to sit there then there isn't a need for the aluminum angle just double up the corsa to create a shoulder, triple it up and add a radius to it and call it a day.

Tim,
I'd go the larger hole filled drilled and tapped for threaded bolts. I just don't like the idea of putting sheet metal screws into the Coosa.