ratdude747
Petty Officer 2nd Class
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2023
- Messages
- 120
While I was pulling the carb for a rebuild (story in another thread), I was able to get a better look at the front of the engine bay. Seems there is a section of what used to be wood exposed just below the end of the deck board below the gas tank... rotted away. See attached pictures- the void is at the very top of the first pic and detailed in the second.
That said, from what I'm seeing, I don't think it's anything structural- it seems the main stringers run parallel to the keel and everything is mounted to or outboard of them; this piece is just another divider between bilge sections (separates the engine bay from whatever is under the tank and behind the ski locker- about 18" of something if I measured right). The other tell-tale sign of such not being structural is that like the ski locker floor, it was roughly glassed with loose long hair.
Accessing it will require pulling the back seat and the gas tank... so for now, I'm noting it as an issue and something to deal with later (like the deck damage). Like the ski locker, another case of IMHO sloppy workmanship combined with getting flooded and the long-term effects of such.
That said, from what I'm seeing, I don't think it's anything structural- it seems the main stringers run parallel to the keel and everything is mounted to or outboard of them; this piece is just another divider between bilge sections (separates the engine bay from whatever is under the tank and behind the ski locker- about 18" of something if I measured right). The other tell-tale sign of such not being structural is that like the ski locker floor, it was roughly glassed with loose long hair.
Accessing it will require pulling the back seat and the gas tank... so for now, I'm noting it as an issue and something to deal with later (like the deck damage). Like the ski locker, another case of IMHO sloppy workmanship combined with getting flooded and the long-term effects of such.
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