1985 Bayliner 2750 Ciera Sunbridge Resto

[Drivewayboater2]

Looking good! Did you roll on gel coat and tip it with a brush?
also looking at your sides it looks like you had some patch work. Will you be spraying gelcoat on the sides?

 

[kcassells]

Eggs,
Here are a couple of good reads regarding fuel tanks. I did not paint my
tank and let it form its own oxidation cover.
Looking good!

How to Install an Aluminum Fuel Tank on Boat or Yacht - by David Pascoe

Many people blame aluminum as being a bad material for fuel tanks. Actually, it's not. All materials have their strengths and weaknesses, and the problems with aluminum tanks are problems of proper installation, not the material itself. Properly installed, aluminum tanks will usually outlast the...

www.yachtsurvey.com

https://newboatbuilders.com/docs/aluminum.pdf

 

[eggs712]

Looking good! Did you roll on gel coat and tip it with a brush?
also looking at your sides it looks like you had some patch work. Will you be spraying gelcoat on the sides?

I just rolled since the disposable chip brushes from Harbor Freight I use are hard to get a good finish with (for me lol). Plus, I'm a terrible painter! I'm instead using 120 grit paper on my RO sander to quickly knock off the high spots.

 

[eggs712]

Eggs,
Here are a couple of good reads regarding fuel tanks. I did not paint my
tank and let it form its own oxidation cover.
Looking good!

Thank you, those were informative reads.
I've personally seen how aluminum around saltwater forms a thick, dull oxidized layer that stops corrosion, so I'll worry more about keeping the tank off the hull and other surfaces. Ethanol seems to be the bigger enemy of bilge water if I'm not careful.

I was also considering using plastic honeycomb material for rotten wood replacement, as it's only $20 more per sheet than plywood right now. Properly installed wood should outlast the gas tank, however, and I'd have to remove some of that wood to replace the tank!

 

[kcassells]

Thank you, those were informative reads.
I've personally seen how aluminum around saltwater forms a thick, dull oxidized layer that stops corrosion, so I'll worry more about keeping the tank off the hull and other surfaces. Ethanol seems to be the bigger enemy of bilge water if I'm not careful.

I was also considering using plastic honeycomb material for rotten wood replacement, as it's only $20 more per sheet than plywood right now. Properly installed wood should outlast the gas tank, however, and I'd have to remove some of that wood to replace the tank!

I have never used it.
As I understand is that anywhere that you need to
put a screw or component for support you have to dig out the comb and fill with poxy or apply a wood substrate over the comb to screw into.
When building up my house I considered it but the follow up to hang simple electronic devices turned me off to its use.
Benefit is that it is super light vs ply.

 

[eggs712]

I have never used it.
As I understand is that anywhere that you need to
put a screw or component for support you have to dig out the comb and fill with poxy or apply a wood substrate over the comb to screw into.
When building up my house I considered it but the follow up to hang simple electronic devices turned me off to its use.
Benefit is that it is super light vs ply.

What I'm reading is that it's great for compressive loads such as a deck or hatch, but not designed for tensile or shear loads. For something like a stringer or structural bulkhead, I would be better off with a high density foam.

 

[eggs712]

I finished all of the grinding in the cabin area a few months ago, then had to focus on getting my other boats ready for this season.




The old stringers came out in solid pieces for easy templates:


Last week, I drained ~50 gallons of old gas out of the tank and realized that the tank is much more feasible to remove via the engine bay. The underside is coated with a rough, black rubbery material with (luckily) very little varnish inside the tank despite the old gas, so I won't worry about pulling the tank for now.

New stringers and decking will be glassed in the next week or so!

 

[1975oday22]

looking great......

 

[eggs712]

I remade the bulkhead with 5/8" BCX plywood (matches original). The side facing the gas tank and edges were glassed with 1.5 oz CSM before gluing it in with PL Premium.



The gap at the bottom of the bulkhead will hopefully allow better drainage and prevent clogging versus the small factory limber hole.

The new stringers were also glued in with PL Premium (the cross-members are temporary for clamping):


The original stringers were 1" wide dimensional lumber, but the replacements are 2" wide mainly to make glassing over the top easier.

 

[eggs712]

Steady progress yesterday: the first 8' of deck is dryfit with a larger access hatch than original for ease of access and a small amount of additional storage.


The underside of the new deck was then glassed with 1.5oz CSM:


I started adding filets to the stringers after that, but the cold and rain will shut me down for a few days.

I finally tried out using a bubble roller around the seam of the deck glass, and I wish I'd bought some sooner; much faster and easier!

 

[Drivewayboater2]

Making progress!
soooo. PL adhesive for bulkhead and stringers? Interesting
I assume you will glass over once the PL cures and all gases are done?
Also I’m about to dig in to my bulkhead. How was it cutting out with the fuel tank still in? Tricky? Or just take your time ?

 

[eggs712]

Making progress!
soooo. PL adhesive for bulkhead and stringers? Interesting
I assume you will glass over once the PL cures and all gases are done?
Also I’m about to dig in to my bulkhead. How was it cutting out with the fuel tank still in? Tricky? Or just take your time ?

Yessir, many others have used the PL on this forum. It gave me good working time in the hot cabin instead of fretting about glass/PB kicking off too early, but like you said I have to wait for a couple days to make sure it gasses off. Then I'll glass it all over.

Around that bulkhead I was able to feel/see how much of a gap there was between the tank and wood and stayed mindful of how deep I was cutting.

 

[eggs712]

The stringers and bulkhead are glassed in now. I used two layers of 1708 over the stringers and one layer of 1708 over the bulkhead.


I then pre-wrapped floor supports in CSM, glued them in with peanut butter, added filets, and finally used 6 inches of 1708 tabbing to connect them to the stringers.

The original stringers had one support, but I added extra for the larger access hatch and the forward support to help hide/support the seam of the plywood.




There are two limber holes that can't be seen well in my pictures that are just some PVC halves glued in with peanut butter.
Lastly, I glued the first piece of deck with PL Premium.
The buckets with water on top are for holding power while the glue dries

 

[eggs712]

I glued in the last little piece of deck (forward) and then used a ton of PB getting the deck ready for glass.

I really thought I had enough resin to knock out the tabbing and one layer of 1708 over the deck in one big layup, but I fell about 6 ounces shy today.



I already cut out the pieces of wood that will be scarfed in, so I can grab some more resin tomorrow and hopefully be laying down gelcoat by the evening.

 

[kcassells]

Whos' doing your fiberglass work, looks dang good!

 

[todhunter]

Looks really nice. Those transitions from the deck to the hull eat up a ton of PB, don't they?

 

[eggs712]

Thank yall!
I got to take my bay boat out to the end of some jetties on a nice day recently, and not losing any fish on the rocks was great. That and losing a couple of nice redfish last week has been a great motivator for this project.

I didn't get quite as far as I'd like today, but still made some progress.

All of the little pieces to be scarfed in have a layer of CSM on both sides, and I worked a little on the hatch (far right with the circle cut out).

I bought a PVC drain, cut off the excess, and used a die grinder to groove out a spot for it to sit in flush.

It's glued in with PB to continue with my trend of no screw holes in the new wood.

 

[Ltdan84]

Definitely subscribing to this thread.

 

[eggs712]

I scarfed in the little pieces of wood with PL Premium on Tuesday.




Yesterday, I added PB filets to the wood and tabbed them in with 1708 on one side and CSM toward the walkway side of the deck. I also cut out holes to add storage under the entrance step. The wood inside was bare, so it was just coated with resin.


Today was some final sanding then the first layer of gelcoat on everything. I added a second layer of gelcoat on the walkway and coated it with 24 grit walnut shell.


A course black pepper shaker worked well for shaking out the walnut shell.

 

[1975oday22]

looking awesome....