In article .net,
"Lawrence James" wrote:

I made replacement stringers from that new composite deck material. My
engine mounts were ajacent to the stringers. The wood inside the engine
mounts was pretty soft but I just drilled holes down into then from the top.
Fed an air line of a compressor set to about 15lbs into it for a few days to
dry it. Then poured thinned epoxy into it multiple times until it wouldn't
take any more.


How did that work for you James? How many and how big were the holes?
Was the compressor hose sealed into the hole? What type of boat was this
on? Did you use CPES?

I drilled 1/2 inch holes and used a tapered air nozzle that I could force
fit into one of the holes. One of those nozzles you use to blow stuff off
with. Then I backed the regulator way down so just a hiss of air went into
it and left the compressor on for a week or so. Hard to say how well that
worked but I figured it couldn't hurt.

I bought epoxy from US Composites,
they have pretty good prices and major chemical manufacturers make it
anyway, the vendors like West and others are just packaging it. I thinned
it about 20% with alcohol at first. I filled the holes a bunch of times.
Then I started filling with unthinned. Once it seemed like I really wasn't
getting much in anymore I added fill to the epoxy and filled the holes.

Another thing I found on the net was about treating wood with automotive
antifreeze. This guy has been soaking wood in antifreeze and drying it as a
preservative measure for a long time. He claimed pretty remarkable results.
I did this before I started the drying out process. I had removed the floor
and the outer stringers. The inner stringer set seemed mostly ok. I poured
antifreeze all over what was left. I had the floor out so it would collect
in the bilge and I would scoop it up with a cup and soak stuff down again.
I did this for a few days. Then I started drying stuff out with fans and
the compressed air.

While I was filling the engine mounting blocks I was also was soaking down
the remaining stuff with thinned epoxy. I could mix up a few cups and pour
some in holes and paint the rest on other wood. I spent a couple weeks and
a gallon or so of epoxy doing that before I started putting parts back in.
Then I used the composite deck boards to make stringers. I laid two along
the remaining inner stringers and made new outer ones. I used more epoxy
and glass cloth to put them in.

I left the foam out and put drain holes in all the stringers at the back.
Was a ton of work, not sure if I'd do it again or not!

"Bob D." wrote in message
...
In article .net,
"Lawrence James" wrote:

I made replacement stringers from that new composite deck material. My
engine mounts were ajacent to the stringers. The wood inside the engine
mounts was pretty soft but I just drilled holes down into then from the
top.
Fed an air line of a compressor set to about 15lbs into it for a few
days to
dry it. Then poured thinned epoxy into it multiple times until it
wouldn't
take any more.


How did that work for you James? How many and how big were the holes?
Was the compressor hose sealed into the hole? What type of boat was this
on? Did you use CPES?