'73 Javelin Rotting Cuddy Floor

[NeilboBaggins]

Hey there O'Day fam. I bought a '73 Javelin last year. All in all it's in pretty good shape but, as mentioned in other posts, the cuddy flooring is rotting and I'm hoping to replace it. I've seen a couple of images online that take a hinged approach and assemble in pieces inside. Any suggestions, ideas, alternatives to this method of replacement? Thanks in advance!

 

[dmax]

A picture would help.

 

[NeilboBaggins]

 

[dmax]

Looks like it's glassed in plywood. If it were mine, I would replace with marine grade plywood, epoxy coated on all sides. To save money, you could use exterior grade plywood epoxy coated on all sides, would last a long time. You could build it in pieces to make it easier to deal with - hinges are not really necessary. Build in any access ports desired. The floor may add some strength to the hull so best to tab the plywood to the hull with epoxy as was done originally. I would then paint over it with quality latex paint. You can fill any seams if they bother you.

 

[RaleighRancher]

I replaced the cuddy floor on my '74 several years ago. Two triangles of plywood, meeting in the middle. Joined along the middle by 2" strips of plywood running along the seam, one under the floor and one on top, like this in cross section (where the 'E' in the middle represents the three layers of plywood along the seam):
\--- E ---/

I didn't bother to glass it in or even coat it with epoxy; just drove a few brass screws into the edges of the remaining plywood along the outer edges. I'm pretty thin and have pretty good abs, but wriggling my head and shoulders through the cuddy opening, working the whole time with one shoulder wedged hard against the mast step, and basically holding a plank position while I assembled all that was hard enough. Ugly, but it works and there's enough crap in the cuddy that I never see how ugly it is.