Motor Mount repair of my Cruiser's Rogue 2420

[Scott Danforth]

Here are a few shots of the cracks in the fiber glass on the engine mounts






from what I am putting together, the prior owner had the bilge pump replaced (and not with an auto float switch). the bilge pump wasnt working and there was water in the bilge for a bit. water has apparently wicked down the mount lag bolts.

the wood is still solid in the area that I cut the fiberglass away on both sides, however I will still be replacing it and rebuilding the mounts.

I can build up out of plywood and PB, or I can carve out of large piece of ash or oak. I also have some dry pressure treated. any pro's / con's?

can someone estimate the materials I need to order or pick-up from West Marine?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Motor Mount repair of my Cruiser's Rogue 2420

I can build up out of plywood

Ayuh,.... That's what I do,.... Laminate up plywood blocks...

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Motor Mount repair of my Cruiser's Rogue 2420

Bond-o, any idea how much resin and fiberglass I will need?

 

[Bondo]

Re: Motor Mount repair of my Cruiser's Rogue 2420

Nope,... In my experience, it takes 'bout twice what ya think it'll take...

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Motor Mount repair of my Cruiser's Rogue 2420

ok, so I guessed 2 quarts of resin, and bought a gallon. basically taking Bond-o's suggestion and doubling my guess

local carquest carries Evercote, so I can spend some $ locally. just spend 3 hours with 409, bilge cleaner, and heavy duty engine degreaser on the bilge area.

I have 30' of 2" x 6 1/2" solid ash that I will be using for the mount repair. taking measurements tomorrow.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Motor Mount repair of my Cruiser's Rogue 2420

Ash is not a good candidate for this. It is not very rot resistant. Laminated Ext. Grade Plywood would be much better. Resin with out glass is pretty much useless. It will crack and allow water pentetration. What glass did you get?

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Motor Mount repair of my Cruiser's Rogue 2420

the original wood was either ash or spruce and lasted over 22 years.

of course, resin by itself would not suffice, also picked up woven roving and 6 oz matt. also picked up gel, coloring agent and mold release.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Motor Mount repair of my Cruiser's Rogue 2420

well, other than a bit of wet wood on the bottom, the mounts came out intact. probably could have let them dry out and just reglassed over. However I will be using the old wood as a mount for the pattern for the new wood. minor change will be making the mounts 1" higher to not need the sandwiched 1" piece of ply. Also, going to take a note from Frisco and make them thru-bolt. made tapped plates yesterday. Tonight will be a bit more cleanup of the old roving to make way for tabbing the new roving.

sorry no pics - camera broke yesterday - wont power up with batteries, however will power up with the USB cord. looks like I will be spending more money

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Motor Mount repair of my Cruiser's Rogue 2420

new motor mounts made. will be thru-bolted vs lag bolted. will be glassing them in tomorrow.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Motor Mount repair of my Cruiser's Rogue 2420

anyone have a good method of roughing up or removing gelcoat from an area too tight to get power tools into? there is a small well between the floatation foam boxes and the stringers that I will need to lap the glass onto. I cant get either the right-angle grinder or my multi-tool into the area.

here are a few pics so far (taken with my crappy phone)

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Motor Mount repair of my Cruiser's Rogue 2420

pre-glassed the pockets. temp too cold outside for glass work, however inside I can warm parts in the oven for shorter cure times..... the GF not happy:facepalm: layer of matt, and a layer of 6 oz cloth to seal the pocket. hitting everything with roving and cloth when I glass them into the boat.

I have two tapped plates that will be secured in the pockets with 5200 once I get that far. will be aligning the motor, marking the holes, drilling over-sized, using resin to secure some fiberglass tube into the holes, then once cured, will bolt the engine in.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Motor Mount repair of my Cruiser's Rogue 2420

was going to glass in the mounts today, however did a few core checks of the floatation foam. while the foam is dry, the wood covering the foam is soaked wherever there was a screw holding a p-clamp and the batteries

sooooo.....there goes plan A, on to plan B. rebuild the floatation boxes - buy more plywood, fiberglass, resin and gel.

going to verify the transom doesnt have any moisture from the depth finder mounting by drilling a few holes into the wood tomorrow. first have to get the lights back on in the storage unit. blew the breaker with the grinder and shop vac going.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Motor Mount repair of my Cruiser's Rogue 2420

sooooo.....there goes plan A, on to plan B. rebuild the floatation boxes - buy more plywood, fiberglass, resin and gel.

Ayuh,.... Sounds like yer makin' headway,....

Sorry my prediction in post 4 is commin' True...

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Motor Mount repair of my Cruiser's Rogue 2420

it goes without saying Bond-o. if it weren't for bad luck, I would have no luck at all............

the wood is solid, just wet due to the moisture wicking in to the screw holes which were not sealed. any chance of drying out the wood? its about as wet as green treat ply when you first buy it. first thought was denatured alcohol, or acetone

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Motor Mount repair of my Cruiser's Rogue 2420

Tried using a syringe and denatured alcohol to dry the wood - not a chance, so I started cutting out the floatation boxes and will be lowering and widening the boxes to allow an extra battery and storage of an extra set of props, tools, etc.

I have to hand it to Cruisers. the construction is top notch, all wood edges radiused, great PB, great tabbing..... the foam is 4# so I am guessing they had intended it to be structural. had they just sealed the screw holes....

I did finally find a small section of wet foam. appears to be about 6-8 oz of moisture in the foam. the screws holding the batteries in place were about 2" long and went thru both sides of the wood. there was also evidence that there were different battery trays in teh past (screw holes under the trays, about a half inch off of the new screws) there was a void in the foam along the back-side (outside, port) right under the screws, so there is a spot of black mold and a vein of damp foam about 4" wide, 1/2" tall, and 10" long going from the void to along the stringer. Stringer is encapsulated well with Roving. Not bad for a 24 year old boat. just wish there was a magic potion to dry out the wood vs a saws-all and angle grinder



anyone have any tool suggestion for removing non-rotten wood that is only damp? going to tackle the transom next as drilling a few sample holes shows damp wood around the p-clip screw holes that were screwed to the transom. thought of a chainsaw like I did on the transom of my Avanti, however I pulled the cap for that project and this will be a bit more cramped.

I thought of putting a saw blade in the right angle grinder, however I envisioned finger puree if the tool caught something. using a circular saw like a wood weasel is out due to lack of room to see what I would be doing.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Motor Mount repair of my Cruiser's Rogue 2420

went to work removing the two floatation boxes. went well with my "wood weasel" found a 4 3/8" carbide blade that I modified to fit the angle grinder.



worked well.

Well, finally found some rot. there was foil backed foam along the bulkhead in front of the motor in the bilge. the foam was glued to the bulkhead and was wet, and most of the wiring and plumbing was secured to the bulkhead with p-clamps. the bulkhead is mostly resin/gel coated, and had some spider cracks. where ever the spider cracks were, the wood behind it is soaked. started to grind off the gel, and the wood is really soft and dark. so I am now planning on a bulkhead replacement as well.



will remove the bulkhead tomorrow after measuring it up.

may frame out the area to have an opening to the area behind the bulkhead and between the intermediate stringer and the outside of the hull. this will allow me to put a water tank on one side, and a prop storage box on the other.

anyone have a good idea on framing a bulkhead for a pass thru? the wood is 5/8" thick, thinking going with 3/4" and putting a 3/4" picture frame around the openings with 1" radiused corners.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Motor Mount repair of my Cruiser's Rogue 2420

Not sure I understand the question

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Motor Mount repair of my Cruiser's Rogue 2420

WOG,

since a picture is worth a thousand words

old bulkhead has some rot. since I am making a new bulkhead, would like to add two more openings. since the openings will be as large as possible, so to compensate, I am thinking of framing the openings with a "picture frame" to keep the stiffness of the original bulkhead.

just wondering from those that have BTDT prior.

 

[oops!]

Re: Motor Mount repair of my Cruiser's Rogue 2420

hi scott.

as far as a tool for removing the bulkheads,,,,,the standard bulkhead tool is a sawzall, however the one you have is working good.

really wet wood must come out. if not it will rot soon.....wood that is kinda moist can be dried, and then coated with anti freeze.
the anti freeze will kill any rot fungus. then re dried by placing a fan on it and letting it dry for a while.
keep in mind. it has to dry well enough to take resin.....so that drying time might be as long a a week or two.

some times its easier to just remove the wood!

not sure about what you mean by a pass thru ?....do you mean limber holes? or is it a real opening in the bulkhead?
if so...just glass it well..(2 layers of 1708 over chop)..the stregnth in the glass alone is more than what you need.

cheers
oops

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Motor Mount repair of my Cruiser's Rogue 2420

thanks Oops,

looking to add two pass-thru's to the new bulkhead (the pic in post 18). one for the water tank I plan on adding to the port side, and using the right-side area to put a storage box for an extra set of props and tools.

Agree the wet wood has to go. how does a roto-zip tool work for tracing along the stringers on the back side of the bulkhead?