Heavy Boat, Wet foam? Where to begin. Century Mirada 25' 1986

[reimelss]

I have 2 compartments on either side of my engine where the freshwater tank, hydraulic trim pump and batteries rest among a couple other items i can't remember off the top of my head. I cut a hole on one side and located some foam. I cored some of the foam but did not find any water...Im not sure if i went to the bottom though
- I am assuming those compartments run through into the aft cabin on either side and are filled with the same foam.

Questions:
- Where else might there be foam?
- Is there foam under the gas tank?
- From the images I have attached it doesn't look like the foam under the cabin floor is too thick, is that the bottom? or is there more foam?
- If the foam seems dry after removing it all...where else would i be retaining water or extra weight

 

[proshadetree]

Re: Heavy Boat, Wet foam? Where to begin. Century Mirada 25' 1986

Man that stinks. I have the same boat. Need to fix some electrical gremlins, add air, repaint some trim ect. My boat is heavy as heck. Every Century I have heard of is. My main question is how water got that far forward.

 

[oops!]

Re: Heavy Boat, Wet foam? Where to begin. Century Mirada 25' 1986

the foam is every where in your boat....

it is under the counters....but not under the gas tank.

it is on the outboard sides of your stringers....just get what you can if its wet bud

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Heavy Boat, Wet foam? Where to begin. Century Mirada 25' 1986

Its hard to tell.. but do you know if the boat has balsa core in the hullsides ( aka topsides ) ?

YD.

 

[reimelss]

Re: Heavy Boat, Wet foam? Where to begin. Century Mirada 25' 1986

Its hard to tell.. but do you know if the boat has balsa core in the hullsides ( aka topsides ) ?

YD.

I think it does

 

[reimelss]

Re: Heavy Boat, Wet foam? Where to begin. Century Mirada 25' 1986

ok cool

 

[reimelss]

Re: Heavy Boat, Wet foam? Where to begin. Century Mirada 25' 1986

Bump

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Heavy Boat, Wet foam? Where to begin. Century Mirada 25' 1986

I think it does

You sure your Core isnt saturated ?

Do you have a chain locker ? and if so .. do you have drains for that locker ( normally clamshell things up in the bow ).
If so then remove the 3 screws holding the SS clams and inspect the Core in those 1 or 2 locations.

You have a lot of through hull fittings..could be a source of a problem..

YD.

 

[reimelss]

Re: Heavy Boat, Wet foam? Where to begin. Century Mirada 25' 1986

Bump

 

[proshadetree]

Re: Heavy Boat, Wet foam? Where to begin. Century Mirada 25' 1986

30 mph top end. The more gear you put in the worse it is. My son in law has a 2004 Rinker 27 foot and it runs about the same with a hotter engine.1989 searay 24foot runs about 27 mph I think he has a 305 swapped in. 1992 Baylinner with a 383 stroker only gets 35. These boats are far from fast until you get into the twin engines. If it is out of tune or has a tired engine it will be worse. Mine has a GM crate engine new quadrajet and new tune every year. I hate being the slow duck.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Heavy Boat, Wet foam? Where to begin. Century Mirada 25' 1986

Yes..chain locker where you put your Line..dont you have some kind of drain in that location ( from the deck )..is there drains from that locker that goes outside of your boat..or does it just drain into your bilge..

You really should look at your core. meter your sides m8.. ( moisture meter for water on your hullsides ).

I can link what is needed for a full core replacement if that is the case...

YD.

 

[oops!]

Re: Heavy Boat, Wet foam? Where to begin. Century Mirada 25' 1986

So when i open up the storage closet behind the head i can pull up the carpet and see some foam..its a strip about 8-10 inches wide, but it seems to only be an inch thick or so...is that how it is all over?
and if so...how much water can that even hold?

How would you recommend getting it on the outboard sidfe of my stringers?
Do yo recommend pulling up the floor in the bow like the guy did on the images i posted?

Thanks in advance.

i thought that was you boat in the pics....glad its not.......you are ahead of the curve.

do as yd says and get a moisture meter on it.......
another way to see if its water logged is to weigh the boat against the manufacturers specs.....a wet boat will show up right away.

lets forget about the foam right now....that is putting the cart before the horse.

by the way.....the small strip of foam tou see....is the foam that has expanded thru a crack......there is tons more under there.

 

[reimelss]

Re: Heavy Boat, Wet foam? Where to begin. Century Mirada 25' 1986

30 mph top end. The more gear you put in the worse it is. My son in law has a 2004 Rinker 27 foot and it runs about the same with a hotter engine.1989 searay 24foot runs about 27 mph I think he has a 305 swapped in. 1992 Baylinner with a 383 stroker only gets 35. These boats are far from fast until you get into the twin engines. If it is out of tune or has a tired engine it will be worse. Mine has a GM crate engine new quadrajet and new tune every year. I hate being the slow duck.

Shes purdy...When mine is up on plane and moving its in that range of speed as well.
When its not i am pushing water like a fool

 

[reimelss]

Re: Heavy Boat, Wet foam? Where to begin. Century Mirada 25' 1986

Yes..chain locker where you put your Line..dont you have some kind of drain in that location ( from the deck )..is there drains from that locker that goes outside of your boat..or does it just drain into your bilge..

You really should look at your core. meter your sides m8.. ( moisture meter for water on your hullsides ).

I can link what is needed for a full core replacement if that is the case...

YD.

I'll have to check on that drain, but im thinking it goes into the bilge.

I'll check the core.. if i have to replace the core...I can't see that being an easy job.

any recommendations on the moisture meter?
Also does cold weather have an effect on the reading..IE if it has moisture in it and its frozen does that matter?

 

[reimelss]

Re: Heavy Boat, Wet foam? Where to begin. Century Mirada 25' 1986

i thought that was you boat in the pics....glad its not.......you are ahead of the curve.

do as yd says and get a moisture meter on it.......
another way to see if its water logged is to weigh the boat against the manufacturers specs.....a wet boat will show up right away.

lets forget about the foam right now....that is putting the cart before the horse.

by the way.....the small strip of foam tou see....is the foam that has expanded thru a crack......there is tons more under there.

I have a dump/recycling center 1 mile down the road from me, I just have to get a buddy with a truck to haul the beast down there. then ill be able to weigh it.
But in the meanm time i'll use the Moisture meter to see what i am retaining (hopefully nothing, but knowing my luck and boats in general im sure its a lot, i have lost all optimism with boats....always bet with the pessimist )

 

[reimelss]

Re: Heavy Boat, Wet foam? Where to begin. Century Mirada 25' 1986

Its hard to tell.. but do you know if the boat has balsa core in the hullsides ( aka topsides ) ?

YD.

So i was doing some research on this subject and actually came across another posting i had on another form that i forgot about....and soemone answered that question with this repsonse:
Century's back then were fully cored boats...not with balsa, but with foam, fully cored from gunwhale to keel. We had several (we were a dealer for them until they went bankrupt in 1986) that developed cracks (for various manufacturing reasons) in the outer skin and water seeped into the foam coring and saturated the boat's hulls. I hope that is not the case for you, but something to look for.

Can i repair a foam cored boat?

 

[oops!]

Re: Heavy Boat, Wet foam? Where to begin. Century Mirada 25' 1986

yep......but lets not over think this or worry about what we dont know.

we have to find out more facts first......weigh it and see where that goes....after that...you can use a moisture meter...(not one used for wood)....there is a special one that is used by a home inspector...its a pricy gadget.....you can rent one.

 

[Cadwelder]

Re: Heavy Boat, Wet foam? Where to begin. Century Mirada 25' 1986

To give you an idea of water weight, I weighted a piece of foam (just curious) from my last restore (about 8" x 19" x 3") and it weighed 3lbs 2 oz. After it set it the shop for a couple months (heated shop) the weight went down to just over 2 lbs, and it may dry out even more, haven't checked it lately.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Heavy Boat, Wet foam? Where to begin. Century Mirada 25' 1986

I would remove the lowest through hull fitting ( above the waterline ) and inspect the core..

Its probably time to reseal anyway .

YD.

 

[proshadetree]

Re: Heavy Boat, Wet foam? Where to begin. Century Mirada 25' 1986

Ill be watching this thread. Hope you find dry foam everywhere.