Core work
I had the joy of replacing an area on the top of my cabin on my Oday 22 over the winter/spring. Its not the hardest job but it took longer than I expected. I belive your job should be easier as I had to get a perfect angle for the mast step to be re-attached to the new skin. I recommend Don Casey's book on fiberglass repair. I forget the exact title but you'll find it if you look. A few tips... Do everything you can to save the fiberglass skin that you cut off. My top layer was cracked and I didn't re- use it and that led to a lot more work. If you can make a good clean cut with a router or dremmel tool its better. Drill test holes to make sure you only remove the skin above areas that are rotten. I took too much skin off and its tough to pry old glass off the core. Before I get ahead of myself, don't cut the entire top layer off unless you have serious rot in the core. Mine was almost gone so the core was a lost cause. Now back to the tips.. After you get the top layer off, you remove the rotten core. Be careful not to punch any holes thru the bottom layer of glass. After you have removed all the rotten core and as much old resin as you can you need to clean clean clean the bottom layer of glass. Use fiberglass solvent 202. Its nasty stuff but it works. After its clean, you need to glue/bond the new core onto the bottom layer of glass. Use thickened West System for your glue. Weigh the new core down with bags of sand or other assorted crap. After the new core is bonded in place you can start the process of putting the top layer on. You are either going to glass the old layer back on or lay up new fiberglass. If you are putting the old top layer on, you may need to add a few layers of thickened epoxy onto the core to make sure the top skin will be flush. Don Casey's book does a great job of illustrating this repair. If glass work is new to you - as it was to me - be sure to have EVERYTHING you need in a place where it is easy to reach - and make sure everything is covered with cardboard. The epoxy gets everywhere if you have to go crawling all over the boat to get something. I recommend Don's book and to look on the web. There are lots of articles on this subject. I know this was a bit long and rambling but I hope it helps. AR
