Hot on the heels of the last post from Terry, we've got another update on the Periwinkle II!

Lots of progress being made, Terry has been hard at work cleaning up the engine area to get his new engine in. It's a really messy job with a lot of oil all over the place and the old mounts needed to come out to make way for some real fiberglassing by Terry to firm things up. There are also a whole bunch of holes in the bottom of his boat now.. so those need a proper fixing too. Anyways, on with the pics!

*Carefully* cutting the old engine beds away from the cross braces with the Sawzall. Don't want to hit the hull with the blade. Note holes where old through hulls were.

Terry cutting the cross bracing from the sides of the old engine beds.

Cutting the cross bracing into sections for easier removal. Note old "Bear Shit" - Asbestos mixed with fiberglass resin - smeared around old beds for additional support. That's tough stuff to chisel out carefully.

Front cross brace removed. The old beds were not securely attached to the hull as over the years the vibration and oil had gotten under some of the fiberglass fillets and soaked into the unpainted plywood.

Prying the fillets loose with chisels and wedges. The plywood engine beds have now been pried off the fiberglass fillets and are sitting loose beside them.

Getting the chisels under the fiberglass fillets. Looking straight aft down the propeller shaft.

The old fiberglass fillets and cross bracing removed and leaning against the bunk. You can see the light areas where the fiberglass fillets were still well bonded, and the dark areas under the main engine beds where the oil had seeped under the fiberglass and it was no longer bonded to the hull properly.

Cleaning up the debris. Looking straight down the propeller shaft. Once it is all cleaned up and the oil removed, I can lay up additional fiberglass to strengthen the hull and the bond with the bunk sides before glassing the new engine beds in place.

Looking right down the propeller shaft at the cockpit drain through-hulls. Note old rusting steel angle iron supports on the sides, probably for a fuel tank that was under the cockpit in the past. They have to come out also.

Cleaned up a bit before dashing off to a job. Lots more clean up to do. Note that the fiberglass fillets holding the old engine beds in place were much better bonded to the hull at the aft (uphill) end where they were not being contaminated with engine oil.

This entry was posted on May 12, 2011 at 8:06 PM and has received 130 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.