Re: '1990 Bayliner Capri 2050 BR - Deck, stringers, transom, custom interior'
Well, it's finished!
No, not the whole thing, but the deck is in and it feels solid as a rock! I celebration of this occasion, I'll not bore you with commentary and go straight to pictures!
After making bottom tabs and having to grind them off, I decided to give the bottom tabs idea another go. This time I was more careful with the resin and they turned out great. All four sections now had bottom tabs. I did this mainly to keep the wood stable while I walked on it and also allowed a bottom for filling in gaps, which worked out really well.
In order to sure up where the deck boards would rest, I added a full thickness strip of mat where the deck will meet the hull. Some areas were band-aided a while back, and I wanted piece of mind.
Here are the deck boards in. You can see the bottom tabs sticking out.
After I was sure the deck boards still fit, now that they were glassed and the cap is back on (temporarily), I made a bead of PL along every deck support and carefully placed each board in place. I then pre-drilled holes for screws along the seams and on the cross bracing. I dripped a bit of poly in each drill hole prior to placing a screw in it, then capped the screw head with some more poly. The SS screws I bought were too short in a few places, so I had to resort to coated deck screws a few times, but that won't matter as nothing will ever touch those screws and even if they rust to death, the screws are just to hold it in place while I glass it in.
Bottoms tabs are now resined to the hull. The deck is officially mounted. After wetting the bottom tabs, the deck began feeling nice and solid. Prior to the tabbing there was still a bit of give near the ski locker hole. It doesn't budge, now.
Also, at the last second, I decided not to place any foam under the deck. As many know, I have been debating this throughout the restore. After looking at how little foam would fit under the deck, I decided it wouldn't be enough to keep the boat afloat anyhow, so why risk having foam in there if it won't serve its primary purpose. Don't let my choice decide for you, though, as this boat has a shallow V hull, so I have little space to play with, where many boats are deep V.
I did the gap filling in two steps:
Step 1 involved poly, styrene and sawdust (yes, sawdust!) as a filler. The sawdust filler isn't meant for structure, just a nice honeycomb-like space filler. It will likely provide some support, but I'm not depending on it.
Step 2 involved a topping of poly, cabosil and 3M bubbles as a smooth top layer. This layer was used to make a nice even transition from deck to hull, making future interior items easier to construct.
