cockpit fuel tank cover

T

triton1

New member
Its time for the cockpit fuel tank cover on my c-25 to be re-caulked. I had a boat yard mechanic remove the cover. It was not easy, the port side step could not be removed, he thinks at some point it had been 5200# in place. However he did manage to remove the starboard step and strip away enough factory caulking to remove the cover. Not wishing to pay 3 to 4 hours yard labor for stripping away all the residual factory caulking, I will attempt to do it myself. Any specific suggestions for required tools and technique would be most appreciated.

Robert Healy
Fan-C-Dory
 
This stuff works well too:

http://www.marineformula.com/buy.html

I recently changed the hatches on the back of my CD22. First I cut off as much of the material as possible using knives and razor blades. A heat gun was very helpful to soften the stuff up so it cut easier. Once I got down close to the FG I used the debonder to get the remainder off.

The debonder does not seem to penetrate the PU very far. You'll probably need to make several passes (apply, wait, scrape, repeat) to get it all off.

The debonder also removes chalking of the FG very nicely. You may find that you end up with streaks of clean FG if the debonder runs after it is applied (it is very thin liquid) if you haven't buffed the gelcoat lately.

You're also likely to find lots of fragments of the sealant stuck to things in the area. The debonder dissolves the PU, but once the solvent evaporates, the little bits of PU will start to stick to things again. You need to wipe all the bits up while they are still damp.
 
I would agree that heat does help to soften the bedding compound. Another tool is the Fein or Dremel multi purpose tool. There is a "scraping" attachment, which oscillates back and forth to help with the scraping.
 
Hi All,

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I ended up using a single sided razor blade, putty knife, lacquer thinner and denatured alcohol for the final clean up. It was very time consuming getting the sealant off the cockpit steps, especially the non skid portion. I noticed some dry rot at the base of the steps and I am having the balsa core replaced and the edges re-sealed with fiberglass. A special note to Bob Austin, the radar mast thru bolts had never been caulked at initial install by the technician, so I caulked and torqued every one! Thanks again to all my fellow C-Brat's for all your advice, it is much appreciated.

Robert Healy
Fan-C-Dory
 
Here's my story of how I removed the caulk, lifted the cover and re-caulked it. And a whole lot more. If you want the painful full story here's the link: Remove/replace 25 Gas Tank. It chronicles Anna Marie's story of remove/replace the whole tank with my inspection of Journey On's tank located at the end.

Quote:

Here are some free comments on doing the work. You start by removing, or at least cutting all the caulking around the cockpit steps and the floor insert. Which was new last year, by the way. That was the hardest part of the job. 3M 4000 is tough and those seams are deep. Used a utility knife and replaced the blades frequently. Once you get past that, the floor comes right up. It's held in place by 8 screw, and then you pry it. I left it on the front edge in the cockpit, because it isn't light.

etc, etc....

One of the places water doesn't drain from are the bottom strakes on the hull, on each side. As you can see if you look at the bottom outside of boat under the sink, those are depressions running almost the whole length of the hull. In the cabin, they're great for catching any water that is spilled; yes it happens. In the tank compartment they do the same, so I drilled drain holes in the dividing bulkhead (between the aft and tank compartments) at the strake depressions. I also installed a 6” inspection port in the aft of the removable floor

Now, just as hard as cutting the caulk bond is removing the old caulk. Just as a reminder, using Marine Formula by Debond is the only way to remove old caulking. And 3M 4000 is strong and stays white. Search the Internet, DeBond and 3M 4000 is a lot cheaper, really a lot cheaper.

End Quote

Boris
 
triton1":1b44pc97 said:
Hi All,

I noticed some dry rot at the base of the steps and I am having the balsa core replaced and the edges re-sealed with fiberglass. A special note to Bob Austin, the radar mast thru bolts had never been caulked at initial install by the technician, so I caulked and torqued every one!
Robert Healy
Fan-C-Dory
Click to expand...

I purchased Robert's previous 24" HD Garmin Radar and a 16" pedestal, looking at the bottom of the pedestal and the gasket, there is no sign of any sealant on these. Not only should have the installer put a sealant around the bolts, and under the gasket/arch, but he should have removed the core, and putted this hole in epoxy--which is what I do on each installation. The C Dory 25, has a cored upper part of the center of the cabin house. Most of the C Dory 22's this area does not have a core--is solid fiberglass--which is the way mine is. Even with that, I will be making a curved pieced of High Density Poly ethylene (like Starboard) to fit the curvature of the cabin top--and not cause abnormal stress on these points, as well as sealing the area well with Boat Seal, Life Seal--why this compound? Because it works best with gaskets and plastics. I removed a piece of starboard which I had the loud hailer mounted on--to fit the radar pedestal, and the starboard was well adherent to the cabin top--I had to use wedges to work it clear, after undercutting the edge. The same technique will be used for the arch.
 
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