The more tools in the kit, the better. Another useful tool for such surgical
demolition projects is the Fein multimaster detail sander with a HSS 'cast
cutter' blade.

Bruce Taylor wrote:

--On Monday, July 07, 2003 4:27 PM -0400 James & Julie Fields
wrote:

[...] we have raised most of the top section off but have come to a halt
when
trying to completely seperate the 2 sections. The back of the boat has
soft
yet dense "epoxy" type sealant or absorbant on it. [...]

While it sounds slightly different (I've never heard of a soft epoxy!) I
recently had a similar joy with a Wellcraft "restoration".

After removing the various screws holding the rubrail to the shoebox hull
joint and removing the screws under the rubrail, I still could not separate
the hull halves near the stern.

It turned out that the builder had adding some lateral plywood bracing
between the two sections aft, and had also built a 'step' on the transom
with gobs of epoxy on top, onto which the upper hull had been lowered. The
plywood laterals were then globbed with epoxy as well.

To deal with the lateral bracing, I wound up using (abusing!) a Sawzall
with a long blade, working up from the bilges. When I ran out of room to
swing the saw up, I had to use a large hole saw to create access holes on
the inner topsides for some drilling to start further sawzall action. FYI:
The epoxy was loaded with silica, which just ate up the sawzall blades, so
I mostly tried to cut the plywood whenever possible.

The 'step with gobs of epoxy' was dealt with by whacking at the plywood
step with an improvised chisel: about 3' of 3/16" mild steel with a chisel
edge ground in (and renewed often). That and some sawzall action finally
broke the step loose. Again, the epoxy was about indestructable.

Once the hull halves were separated I cleaned up the damage. The access
holes were later covered with standard 6" screw-in covers. Actually, the
holes worked nicely when lifting the upper hull -- I just ran a 4x4 between
the holes.

A small angle grinder is essential for this sort of work -- but I had
problems using it in the above separation. Lying on your back in a cramped
bilge compartment and using a grinder is a really nasty experience, even
with a moonsuit! Wear a *good* respirator and goggles!

I'd point you towards some detailed pictures, but the website is
presently backlogged by about a year (I'll be catching up in August or
September, I hope!) http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/blt/index.html

Best of luck,

- Bruce