Removing top deck from hull 59' dorsett

[mickwaligorski]

I'm Starting the restoration of a 59' dorsett catalina. The floor, transom, and bulkhead are in-need of replacement. Do I need to separate the top deck from the hull?? and if so how do I go about starting that process?? Thanks, Mick[ATTACH]3757.vB[/ATTACH]

[onejag]

I just cut out the rear motor well right down the middle of the rear deck on each side to access the transom and rear floor. It worked out OK

[ricphoto]

cutting out splashwell...

as you can see from the pic below I did pretty much the same thing on my Club Mariner...found a natural "seam" and cut there with a thin blade on a multitool...

before I glassed it back together I re-enforced inside the cut by epoxing (sp?) a 2" wide strip of 1/8" aluminum along the length...

have fun...Ric

[timw]

Why separate the hull to replace the floor, transom..???..seems to me thats waaaay to much work to accomplish that...beats me?

[mickwaligorski]

Cutting out rear splash well

Hey, that sounds much easier. Thanks for the advice guys! I'll post pictures as I get going.

[KSKI]

I would not remove the top deck.

Mick Waligorski,
I am a year into a complete restore of a 1963 Dorsett Catalina. I was able to replace all the wood without disconnecting the deck from the hull. I would fear that the hull, without the support of the deck, would bend outward. As mentioned in other replies, simply cutout the floor and replace whatever wood parts that are beyond repair. I my case that was all the wood. I recommend a layer of fiberglass on all the replacement wood parts. I glassed both the top and bottom side of the 1/2 marine plywood floor, but that might be overkill. Please find some pictures below. If you would like more pictures, just ask.
Ken

[psuggmog]

resin coated wood

KSKI said in his post "I recommend a layer of fiberglass on all the replacement wood parts. I glassed both the top and bottom side of the 1/2 marine plywood floor, but that might be overkill." I would recommend using epoxy resin rather then polyester resin if you want to coat the floor and bilge stringer of your boat when replacing rotted components. It bonds to the wood much better. If you do coat all sides of the wood with any resin, be sure that the wood is dry, not just surface dry. I have seen coated wood in boats which rotted inside sealed epoxy and polyester resin envelopes. The owner of this boat claimed that there was no rot in the wood at the time the coatings were applied. My father was a wood technologist who spent most of his career doing research in a US Navy shipyard.

[Bigfoot]

Your boat was made using poly resin so use that. If you use epoxy resin @ 3x's the price you can never go back to using poly as it dont stick well to the epoxy. My 2 cents, Mike