Fuel Tank Mount

I spent 40 minutes cleaning up some recent tabbing with a grinder, and prepping the inside if the front wall of the cockpit for 1/2 balsa core. 

My plan for the later is to build up the wall thickness such that is even with the two hatches, and glass over it, fairing and painting it for an easy to maintain interior wall.  

Next I pulled some temporary screws joining some plywood used for a tank mount, so that I could round the edge of that 90 degree turn. I want fiberglass mat, roving, and stitched mat tape to be able to make that turn when I glassed it in.  I smoothed out a few rough edges around this area too.

Next I started working on the lower tank mount. This too a while. I used the grinder to knock down the tabbing on top of the White Oak sub-fame and the plywood frame that sits on top was still to high. This is a rather important measurement, so I kept cutting away parts of the plywood frame until it fit and met my design spec of 20.75".  Once completed I painted the entire plywood panel and the top of the White Oak sun-frame and glued it in, securing it with stainless screws.  I checked to ensure  my number of 20.75" was still good. After this I tabbed it in with one layer of stiched mat on each side. I did not was to raise the height my adding too many layers. 

Here it is in place!

Next I cut two large pieces of mat, two large pieces of roving and four pieces of stitched mat (a layer of mat sewed to a biraxial cloth).  Half of this to be used on each side. 

I would need a lot of epoxy for all this. I mixed up 60 oz of resin and went to work.  I poured a puddle from one end of the GOP of the upper tank mount to the other and laid the mat on it working the epoxy into the top half and then I folded the bottom half onto the top, wet it up with still more epoxy and folded it back down against the side of the mount and then the hull below that.  I repeated the process with the roving.  Next I laid a layer of stitched mat upside down on top on another puddle of epoxy, wet it thoroughly and flipped it over to wet the other side. This piece I positioned on top of the 90 degree bend. I wet of one more layer of stitched mat and laird this on top of the platform with on edge flush with the 90 degree bend.  

I was concerned the corner might pop up so I laid two plastic garbage bags on top of the whole lay-up and then clamped it down at the edges with pieces of wood and wood screws. The plastic is so the wood won't be glued in. 

It turned out the quantity was a good estimate. I made 3.5 oz less for the other side.

Here is what it looked like when I finished.  

Starboard side. Aft to the right. 

Port side.  Aft to the left. 

Tomorrow I get to peel off the plastic sheets after unscrewing the cleats and ill fm see how it came out. Hopefully, there will be no voids.  If there are, I will drill holes and fill them with epoxy using syringes. 

My goal is to be able to give a welder a very exact specification to build a tank.  I want it to be symmetric with the top and bottom, and front and back side parallel to each other. And I want it to drop on and only require screws to secure it so that I can remove it at a later date if necessary. 

Main Hatch

I asked my friend Ron to cut some Lexan for the main hatch.  Lexan requires a fine tooth saw.  

Ron is amazing. Instead he takes it home with him, pronounces it junk, and decides to rebuild the whole thing. I was just going to replace the Lexan and fill a few voids in the wood at the corners. 

Here is a quick look at what he has done so far. 

Some detail of the corner joint.  Fantastic work Ron!

Knowing Ron, I'll bet it is done already. I better get some varnish out.  I think I will be needing it. 

Topsides Wet Sanding

I started building saw horses as my friend 

Marco started wet sanding the hull with 320 grit. 

An interesting hornet or wasp Marco found. 

By afternoon the shady side was done.

Here is Marco finishing the starboard side.  A few scratches need to be filled primed and painted. I might be able to get away with touching up a few spots and buffing out the light sanding. 

I let Marco carry on sanding while I went inside and do some grinding and tabbing.  Here is how ECHO looked when I came out a few hours later. 

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Fuel Tank Upper Mount

Thursday I made a jig to locate two pieces of plywood to mount the fuel tank. As a refresher, I decided it made more sense to build the mounts and then measure and order a tank built to fit. 

Their is a horizontal panel made out of 3/4" plywood and a vertical piece of 1/2" plywood. 

I bought 5 gallons of epoxy on Friday. The jig is somewhat in the way so I could only do a partial tabbing to lock it into position. Here is what it looked like when I pulled off the forms which I reused to repeat the process on Saturday. 

My goal for Sunday is to round the corners and tab both of these in with more matt, stitched mat and roving--in a heavy layup.  I'll then grind down the lip to meet my design spec for the tank.

I will also need to grind and fit the lower tank mount. 

The other task is like to complete is repainting my topsides.  There will be dry weather this week. 

Shelf Installation

Friday I installed a shelf on the starboard side.  It fills a gap between the aft bulkhead and a portion of the area under the cockpit seating. I build a jig to line up a panel of 3/4" plywood with plastic underneath and tabbed in two edges on the top. I'm waiting on the bulkhead side, and will tab in from underneath next. 

Here is what it looked like with the guide jig removed. 

Note the bulkhead visible on the bottom will continue up.  I plan to shorten the deck shower hoses (red and blue hoses).  The white hose is used for the deck shower and I may design something to contain those hoses and allow the adjacent space to be used for storing motor and transmission oil or perhaps  I need to consider how to drain this compartment in case a leak occurs. 

Today I repeated the process for the port side, and with experience this went faster.  That side houses the shore power  and cable TV connection.  This would be a good location to store dry items like oil filters and perhaps spare parts.

Both these shelves and the bulkhead will be useful for supporting the upper bunks.