Swiss Cheese Cavatation Plate on VP280

Old & In the way

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
84
Hi

Old boat, newly purchased - I removed the Happy Troller plate to discover no less than 16 holes in the cavatation plate. Bad Swiss cheese pun on a VP fully intended...

Is it ok to just fill the holes with Marine-Tex gray or will that block the flow or cause problems with the cavatation plate.... (i think that's what it is called_)

Thanks, in advance.

Ed
 

mkast

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Nov 6, 2002
Messages
1,934
Re: Swiss Cheese Cavatation Plate on VP280

Why not drive the boat over to the local welder and get it repaired correctly?
 

Gary H NC

Fleet Admiral
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Dec 1, 2005
Messages
8,972
Re: Swiss Cheese Cavatation Plate on VP280

I would sand it down a bit,duct tape the underside of the holes and JB Weld over them....sand it smooth and paint.
Welding would work but i'm not a big fan of having that much heat on the lower with the rubber seals everywhere...
The JB Weld has worked for me on several drives with holes drilled for whale tails..
 

mkast

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Nov 6, 2002
Messages
1,934
Re: Swiss Cheese Cavatation Plate on VP280

Tig
 

Gary H NC

Fleet Admiral
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Dec 1, 2005
Messages
8,972
Re: Swiss Cheese Cavatation Plate on VP280


True...way less heat..
I'm not a big believer in JB Weld but it does work on the cavitation plate..
Now manifolds and engine blocks i would never use it on....;)
 

Old & In the way

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
84
Re: Swiss Cheese Cavatation Plate on VP280

I would sand it down a bit,duct tape the underside of the holes and JB Weld over them....sand it smooth and paint.
Welding would work but i'm not a big fan of having that much heat on the lower with the rubber seals everywhere...
The JB Weld has worked for me on several drives with holes drilled for whale tails..

I have never heard of JB Weld - but I will give it a try.

Looks like it is available in a lot of places locally.

Hmmm... better than Marine Tex for this application...

Thanks much.

Ed
 

MikDee

Banned
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Jun 6, 2007
Messages
4,745
Re: Swiss Cheese Cavatation Plate on VP280


Tungsten Inert Gas - TIG welding, clean, neat, no sparks, concentrated heat with the tungsten tip, in a little handle supplied with Argon gas, and a seperate filler rod, the best kind for aluminum
 

bruceb58

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 5, 2006
Messages
30,581
Re: Swiss Cheese Cavatation Plate on VP280

TIG is a welding process. Stands for tungsten inert gas. It is the best process for welding aluminum.
 

Old & In the way

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
84
Re: Swiss Cheese Cavatation Plate on VP280

Tungsten Inert Gas - TIG welding, clean, neat, no sparks, concentrated heat with the tungsten tip, in a little handle supplied with Argon gas, and a seperate filler rod, the best kind for aluminum

Is my cavatation plate aluminum ?

By the way the boat's name is "Duck Tape"

77 Glastron trihull vp eng/280 od. paid $800.

thanks.
ed
 

Old & In the way

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
84
Re: Swiss Cheese Cavatation Plate on VP280

I would sand it down a bit,duct tape the underside of the holes and JB Weld over them....sand it smooth and paint.
Welding would work but i'm not a big fan of having that much heat on the lower with the rubber seals everywhere...
The JB Weld has worked for me on several drives with holes drilled for whale tails..

--------------

Hi

I am trying to figure how to get to the inside of the cavatation plate to tape it. I guess that since the plate has a gap of about 2 - 3 inches from the top to bottom surfaces.

Duct tape the underside ?.. Do you mean the inside surfaces ?

So do I remove the rubber flapper at the end of the cav plate - so I can duct tape both plates then jb weld from the outside. The rubber flapper looks like it is attached by pop-rivits, just drill them out and replace them with aluminun pop rivets when done ?

Thanks,
ed
 
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