That's how mine was....just a little too flexible around the ski locker. Turned out large swaths of the floor, most of the stringers, and some of the transom was rotten too. If it's flexible, the wood has already turned to mulch. The parts that feel solid now are likely also at an advanced stage...
You'll have to build one or have someone else do it. Talk to a local upholstery shop familiar with doing boats - they can probably help. My upholstery shop built my rear bench seat, sun pad, and one side panel from scratch.
Grind out the bondo, fill with thickened gelcoat, sand to rough shape, roll on some gelcoat, then install the keel shield. I did this on mine - pics on page 24 of the thread linked in my signature.
Yeah, the bulkhead at the front of the bilge in my boat (built in 1987) was plywood with gelcoat and no cloth. When I got the boat you could poke your finger through it.
Remember that foam expansion is a direct correlation to the air & surface temperature of the cavity you are filling. You can do all the math you want, but if it's not above the foam manufacturer's recommended temperature for maximum expansion, your yield can be much less (like 50-60% of what...
Just be careful with the heat lamp when you're not around - make sure it can't fall over onto something flammable. I almost burned our house down when I was a kid when I turned on a heat lamp in the garage and it fell onto my dad's wooden workbench.
I would not do the bottle/foam idea - just go back with regular foam. In case you or a loved one in the future decide to sell the boat. If I was buying a boat and saw a bunch of 20oz bottles foamed under the deck, I'd walk away. Honestly, glass laid over thin carboard tube isn't a bad idea -...
Looks like thickened resin to me, or some other kind of adhesive. When demo'ing my boat, I found several things were stuck to the inside of the hull with an adhesive that reminded me of body filler. It was just a temporary adhesive to hold things in position until the glass was laid. I ground...
This. My carb is a 4-barrel, but I was having major running issues (stranded me 3 times requiring a tow at the beginning of the 2023 season), and it turned out to be my fuel pump putting out too much pressure, blowing the needle off the seat. I ended up having to install a fuel pressure...
I would use the cherry picker to lift the front of the motor so it is floating. The rear of the engine will sit on the inner transom plate and pivot from there. This allows you to get alignment side to side really easy since the engine can swing some. Have one person man the cherry picker...
