Restoring 'Floors' or (cross members) in Hurley Felicity

[WHumphreys]

Hi

I am Currently restoring a Hurley Felicity. Im about to replace the floors (Cross members). The boat Is all grp with wooden floors (cross members). The keels (3 of) are bolted through the hull and through the floors (cross members). The floors (cross members) are rotted and need replacing. Has anybody any advice on doing this.

i.e. best wood, does it need laying on something between the floors (cross members), problems I may encounter and the hull and just anything related etc.

I am currently debating using epoxied by me Iroka to replace the Floors (cross members).

This is my first boat restoration and I am a beginner at this.

regards

[alan white]

Iroko sounds okay, mahogany scraps might be available for cheap too. Try to buy cut-offs to save money.
I suggest not solid members but laminations stacking 3/4" pieces to achieve the desired height.
Do one at a time so that the hull doesn't deform. After gluing they can be shaped to match a cardboard template. The holes can be drilled quite large to allow fitting without the trouble of fitting exactly to the bolts. Epoxy can be poured into the holes after the floors are bonded to the hull.
Holes drilled or screwed into the floors will allow bilge water in, so wherever you make a hole, drill larger and fill with epoxy prior to redrilling for the sole, etc..
Of course, glass and epoxy to the same thickness as original or better and set the floors in a thickened epoxy underneath. Fillet all inside corners with a generous radius using Cabosil or a high strength filler prior to glasssing.

[WHumphreys]

Why would you use laminations rather than solid members ?

[PAR]

Laminates allows the use of less desirable material (scraps) and it's stronger, plus less prone to rot.

[WHumphreys]

Yes that does make sense.

So by laminate you mean a 'block of wood' made made from strips of wood epoxied togeather along the grain and when dried shaped correctly.

Alan when you say

'Holes drilled or screwed into the floors will allow bilge water in, so wherever you make a hole, drill larger and fill with epoxy prior to redrilling for the sole'

what you mean is anything im attaching I'm basically making the equivalent of an in place epoxy plug and screwing into the plug rather than the wood.

Also if the keel bolts were made of stainless steel wouldnt sealing them in the throughholes cause them to corrode I as I believe that stainless steel needs to be exposed to oxygen and will corrode if sealed over by anything by internal electrolysis . I do not know this as fact and any input is appreciated.

I ask this as Im going to re-make the 2 bilge keels and debated using stainless steel for the throughbolts (the whole things are currently made of mild steel) but I suppose that would be another thread :-)

This is exactly the sort of info I was after thanks guys.

[quote=WHumphreys;288604]

So by laminate you mean a 'block of wood' made made from strips of wood epoxied togeather along the grain and when dried shaped correctly.

yes

'Holes drilled or screwed into the floors will allow bilge water in, so wherever you make a hole, drill larger and fill with epoxy prior to redrilling for the sole'
what you mean is anything im attaching I'm basically making the equivalent of an in place epoxy plug and screwing into the plug rather than the wood.

yes

Also if the keel bolts were made of stainless steel wouldnt sealing them in the throughholes cause them to corrode I as I believe that stainless steel needs to be exposed to oxygen and will corrode if sealed over by anything by internal electrolysis . I do not know this as fact and any input is appreciated.

yes thats a fact, use bronce.


Regards
Richard

[alan white]

316 stainless is allowed by Lloyds for keel bolts. Actually the recommendation is sealing the stainless from water, which would be a problem on wooden boats which have wet deadwood around the bolts (though epoxy=coating the bolts heavily would help).
Setting the bolts directly in epoxy isn't the best solution either as you can't remove the bolts.
I meant it's far easier to replace the floors if you oversize the holes, but the best solution would be to seal the bolts well with epoxy and leave a little clearance. Then you would be pouring epoxy into the oversize holes, but with a layer of inert material wrapped around the bolts (wax paper or cling wrap would be fine).
Bronze is not compatible with an iron (and presumedly) A mild steel keel, though it is done anyway on a lot of boats. What does need to be done is for the new bronze bolts to be electrically seperated from the iron or steel keel, which means the clearance must be there to allow either epoxy-coating the bolts or better, sleeving the keel bolt holes with a non-conducting material, along with the seats for the nuts, etc...

[WHumphreys]

Excellent

Where the nuts are screwed onto the bolts would you just use large washers or a small plate maybe.

[alan white]

There is the tendancy of the owner to allow the boat to set on the keels regularly, which means they will experience a lot of side forces, increasing the tension on the bolts. Therefore, larger backing washers or plates are a good idea. Assuming the boat is 20 ft (should be) I would take adantage of the width of the floors and maximize the area available and use plates. On that boat 1/4" or better, 3/8" thick would be good. You'll have to have a machine shop make them up, which will cost almost the same as a thinner plate would. Bedding the plates into the floors with thickened epoxy while taking them up both seals and seats them.

[WHumphreys]

Finally the bilge holes



As my not very well drawn picture shows currently there are bilge water holes in the rear floors ( Not all shown ) but there are no holes in the forward floors. Also the through holes are not in the center but are approx 80 mm off to the left viewing from the stern. Is there a reason it is configured like this as personally I think common sense would say that the through holes should be in the center at the bottom and should also be made through every floor. ??

[PAR]

As you've surmised, the holes which we call "limber" or "weep" holes permit moisture to drain to the lowest point of the boat and not collect against things where it will pool and cause an issue. Generally these are about 3/4" in diameter. They may be off center to avoid fasteners in the keel, but yes, they would be better if on center.

[WHumphreys]

Hi Par although a bit off topic what software do you use for drawing your Boat plans.

[PAR]

It's a custom piece that costs thousands of dollars, trust me you don't want it.

[WHumphreys]

haha To be honest I was going to use Autocad 2010 as I dont need it to test the designs just draw them. Just curious as what other people used. I actually own a computer software development company so I find most software easy to get my head around and due to the nature of our business we get usage licences sometimes at little cost to ourselves.

[WHumphreys]

Ive taken some photos of the Floors that need replacing just for reference.

http://www.technical-solutions.co.uk...ty/Default.htm