Glass repair - battery box and cooler

Tim modified the original drain port (not the source of his leak issue) and added an access port hole on the other side. The battery box drain let water in from the bilge as it was the low point of the hull while parked. Water from the battery box then leaked through the access port into the bow (just as low as the battery box). Very different scenario.

^^Thats mostly right^^

We sealed the drain on our batt box, as it is frequently a source of a leak from the battery box to the under floor area (non-bilge) in the stock configuration. We added a bulkhead o-ringed access port used on kayaks instead, which would allow us to drain the under-floor area if water somehow made its way in there (which it never should have). Our bilge and under-floor area are not connected- ie, they do not drain together.

What ended up happening is that the battery box collected water since the boat was usually stored nose low. It didnt drain to the bilge because we dont have one. Water then made its way through the o-ringed access port and under the floor. Just dont put an access port that doesnt seal at a low point that collects water and you should be fine.

We reinforced the drivers seat base with a lot of glass and coosa, both on the underside of the seat mount as well as the flange where it sits on the floor. Im sure theres a pic in our BFN thread.

Thanks Roger. That allows for water to drain out? Seems like you'd need some pressure to allow it to drain.

Here are a few pics of the battery box and cooler. Is this really how they did it in the factory?

They had a 3-inch inspection port and put a 4-inch PVC tube section around it to isolate it from the foam and connect it to the bulkhead... and they attempted to put screws into the edge of the PVC! One of the 6 screws made it...

CC's intention was not to screw into the larger PVC with those 6 screws. As you can see in your 3rd picture, those screws are for the threaded bulkhead fitting.

Im not sure what the purpose of that bulkhead fitting was, but its pretty effective at letting water drain from the battery box into the under-floor area. I reused that fitting as an access port on the BFN, and it did not provide a water tight seal. That would be disastrous in a foamed build- no idea why CC used it.

I would add a lot more reinforcement to the driver's seat pedestal. Both in the flange area where it bolts down to the floor and in the middle where the seat tracks install.

I havent dismantled an early 2001 with the double boxes, but I believe the boxes were installed forward of the bilge bulkhead. If that is in fact the case, Im not sure why you'd want access to the under floor area, particularly in a foamed boat. If it were to the bilge, then there may have been some value in accessing the forward area that you cant reach from the engine compartment.

I did not glass the seat track bolts in... that picture was taken prior to drilling. I actually layed more glass on it after that picture was taken (as well as gelcoated the top side).

I think you are confused- there is no foam in the bilge.

Does your cradle have U-bolts or individual bolts snugging up the pylon?

Hollywood - Ahhh there you go. I don't remember but I see where you're going with that.

Actually, Hollywood... Looking at this pic I think that there are u-bolts inside the cradle for the pylon, and that access is facing the engine.

OK I'll verify. I'm leaning towards keeping the original design with the 4" hole, but just doing extra work to ensure it is water tight.

I just purchased some gelcoat from Jamestown. I will use it for some of the hull cracks but also want to clean up the interior of the battery box.
I know the process of grinding out the cracks and filling them, but something like this with an inside radius might not be too easy to grind. Maybe a dremel can get in there. Do you *have* to grind the cracks or could it work by filling it in like putty?