through bottom repower

[Puzzled]

would like some opinions with regards to the method of repowering a boat by cutting out the bottom below the engines and replacing it and covering the area over with glass .obviously bonding could be a future problem but has anyone heard of any others.and what about the change in the bottom contour at the repair site, what effects could it have on the boats handling.

[marshmat]

Can't say I've ever seen that done successfully, no. Not on a fibreglass boat at least. Someone else here may have an idea...

[Frosty]

That would be a large job in fibreglass,--if possible? The engine will not go down throught the engine beds. If you are thinking of glassing all this back in with an engine hanging above your head!!!!!

If you just cant come up then it is perfectly normal to come out of the side and fork lift it out. Pretty easy in comparison to out the bottom.I suppose you have fuel tanks at the side?

It might be possible if the engines were straight sixes and by removing the manifolds coolers alternators, engine feet and pumps,-- it might just go down through the beds. Then you would need the same engines to go in. After that the hole could be filled by a huge fibreglass plate bolted in over lapping the hole. This is assuming it is a slow moving vessel. Can they come out of the transom?

[PAR]

Sometimes you have to go to extreme measures to remove engines, but cutting the bottom isn't the method I'd recommend. Cutting decking, removing cabin tops, furniture, even through the sides of a hull, but the bottom, no. Technically, it could be done and the bottom re'glassed, planked or welded up, but it's a pretty half assed way to do things. This assumes no structural members have to be rebuilt too.

What kind of boat (year and model) is it? This will not be the first repowering (unless it's a custom) and the problem will have been solved, in some acceptable fashion.

If this is a repowering method being suggested by the people doing your repairs, move the boat out of there right away, because they are clueless and you need to find someone who can handle the repowering properly, without cutting up the boat's beds, keel and bottom.