Walls and Windows OMG!

Page under construction, Stop back in to check up on progress. 

Tip of the Iceberg!

Warning: For those of you that have a Taiwanese made trawler that has the beautiful teak windows you may not want to read this post. It may be better to stay in ignorant bliss and tell yourself that your slight leak may have affected only the veneer. A little sanding, varnish and silicone and volia! problem solved. You may also wonder where that tea colored water in the bilge comes from when it rains. The bilge pump takes care of it. Maybe your boat has an odor you attribute to the sanitation system. All could be symptoms of water damage in the walls. 

The refit of Tortuga has tested me I will admit, but until now, I have always thought I was the unique person that could have a better boat for less money via the DIY route. I am half way through what started out as a window project. I thought, pop off the outside trim, re glaze the windows, a few new bungs and varnish and then address the damaged veneer inside and I'm done. It did not work out that way. Moisture meters are a joke! I now have come to the realization for the first time that I may have a much bigger project than I imagined. 

This is the first window I started on. Its on the stern wall of the owners cabin next to the exit hatch. 

The trim and glass came out first. 

I used an ice pick and 1/4 inch chisel to remove the old bungs. Sometimes a 1/4 or 3/8 forstner bit works as well. Its maddening when you find the PO used glue or worst epoxy to seal a bung. Very hard to remove. This is slow process. The screw heads are exposed and the screws removed. I used a screwdriver and an impact driver. Once you get good at it, an impact driver world very well, but it can and will tear up screw heads. Sometimes as careful as you are, the teak just wont let go and the screw heads twist off. If that happens, don't panic, drill them out oversize, fill with epoxy, re drill to pilot size. 

I used my multi tool with an 1 in metal/wood blade to dig under the trim and cut the old polyurethane caulk. This type of caulk cannot be pulled apart, it is too strong and the wood, even teak will give first and break. You have to mechanically separate all the caulk with the blade of the multi tool. If the multi tool is set too fast, it will heat up the caulk and bog down. 

First go around all the edges of the trim and cut out 1/4 inch of caulk, then take out another 1/4 inch. Next I plunge the blade all the way though the caulk under the trim until I can see the bade out the other side. Then, I clear out about 6-9 inches working from the outside of a piece to the middle. Next, I  insert a screw driver and carefully pry the trim away from the wall. If you put too much pressure, the teak will break. 

Glass in the rabbit

Top and right side trim removed. The caulk makes a mess. 

The inside and outside trim on the workbench for clean up

The inside trim has a rabbit cut for the laminated tinted glass. This was screwed into the cabin wall. They used black polyurethane (5200) or poly sulfide caulk. It is a very strong adhesive but not the best sealant. I found uneven distribution of the caulk. The windows probably started leaking 4-5 years after being built. A better but more expensive system is aluminum framed windows. Taiwanese trawlers usually choose the cheaper easier route. 

When the original varnish needed its first re finish job, they should have removed the trim and re caulked with a caulk that is less adhesive and seals better. I like butyl tape for long straight flat runs and life caulk for larger  uneven areas, 

Two things prevented most owners from doing this. One, there were no obvious leaks so why go to the trouble. Most owners are not comfortable removing bungs or re finishing varnish. Two, if they did try to remove the trim, it would have been very very hard to do. In 1985, they did not have a multi tool yet. Most owners waited for trouble then went with silicone on the exterior.

Once you remove the trim you have a hole cut on the wall. The wall has 4 parts. The first is an outside gelcoat with fiberglass laminate made in a mold. Next is a mahogany plywood core. They used a strong putty to attach the patchwork plywood to the laminate. This is encased in another layer of fiberglass laminate.  The third layer is interior mahogany plywood. Finally after all of this was installed they glued veneer to all the interior surfaces. 

Ring nails were used to attach the interior ply to the laminate. The ring nails were found under the veneer. This surprised me as around here we generally apply the veneer before installation on the boat. They way they did it allowed for economical placement of the plywood. When the window was cutout, their was NO resin or sealant applied on the exposed edges. This is a huge oversight providing no back up for caulk failure. If the caulk failed, water will travel into the plywood in every layer, period! 

Here are some pictures of the interior looked like. 

Tortuga's owners cabin when purchased. 

Damaged veneer on the port side window. 

Damaged veneer under the Port Portlight. There was silicone all around the window. 

This area looks OK, not too bad on the outside.

On the inside of the owners cabin I removed a horizontal piece of trim and found rot in the veneer and plywood behind it. This extended from port to starboard.

Next I removed the horizontal plywood under the deck. It was rotted and moldy. Looking from the bed up at this area you can see the under side of the aft deck. Notice the veneer looks good except under the trim area. 

Water damage to the inside veneer and plywood on the door

Next I removed the door trim. This exposed significant rot extending to the plywood surrounding the door,

The wall construction layers can be seen along with water intrusion damage. The upper corners seemd to be sealed poorly. 

Looking up at the damage. 

ON the other side the damage extended to the ceiling plywood as well as the veneer and ply on the wall. 

Once the trim was removed, it got worse. Now the damage to the wall was so extensive, I decided the interior ply and veneer had to come out. 

With the port light removed, the damage to the plywood was extensive. 

The ply had to come off. 

As each section some off, the damage to the ply indicated more had to come off as well. 

Eventually the entire stern and Port interior layer had to come off. This shot also shows a yellow color to the laminate. in the upper right it is darker. I used a ball peen hammer to test the wood finding the yellow laminate had separated from the ply due to freezing of water which had intruded from the doors and window edges left unsealed after the caulk failed. Yes this means the laminate and the core have to come out too!!

Stripping off the laminate

Rotted ply under the lamanite was attached to the outter skin with some very tough type of putty. The plywood was not attached with resin and FG. Another short cut allowing water to spread unchecked. 

They used scraps of plywood using the putty to fill the gaps. A hole was drilled in each piece with putty injected. This may have been to hold the board in place for the lay up of the FG. There was mold and green moss growing in here. All passed the moisture meter from the surveyor. This is years of water intrusion. 

This shows the process, remove the skin, chip off the putty with an air chisel, sand down to clean glass. I am going to restore this wall before I tear down the port wall to provide support to the roof. 

More to come, The fun never stops. So much for a launch this spring,,,,,,,,

Update to "Water in the Keel"

FOr those following the progress,  Check out the "Water in the Keel" Post. (7/20/14) I have completed the project and updated the post.

Steering Pump Repair - Wagner 701

Both the steering pumps were leaking. I drained the oil from the system from the cylinder in the lazerette. I found with some research that the seals on the Wagner model 701 pump are known to leak. I had not heard of Wagner but found them on the interweb.

http://www.wagnersteering.com/steering-700-series.htm

They are still in limited production and are made in BC Canada. They were used in a lot of the trawlers made in Taiwan in the 80's. Other than the seals going bad from time to time, they have a good reputation. Mine were installed in 1980. They seemed to function well. I removed the pumps from the upper and lower helm.From the rear of the pump inside the helm, The three hydrolic lines unscrew with a 1/2 wrech. The pump is held on the helm with a 7/16 bolt sitting on a 1/2 nut on tow studs that come in from the front of the helm in a bracket.

This is the rear view of the pump. Two large screws hold on a manifold. Remove this first. 

There are two ball bearings inside the pump under the manifold. They will fall out if you invert the pump over a paper towel to catch them. On the pump there are three o rings, one for the shaft the other two are oval shaped sealing the oil inlets/outlets. They will be replaced. 

Next I opened the pump with a 1/4 hex wrench. One was only finger tight. 

Next I opened the pump using a paint scrapper and mallet. A wack in between the flanges on one side then the other will split right on the gasket area. 

When the gasket gives up, the piston springs may cause the barrel to spring out, not too bed but be ready for it. 

Here is the housing on the left and the barrel with the pistons on the right.

There is a three part bearing set at a angle in between the barrel and the housing. When the pump rotates, the bearing actuates the pistons. Notice the rust on this bearing, If I can get a nre one I will. It may be used again, this not a transmission and the tolerances are not as great. 

Here is the parts all layed out. 

This is the seal kit. I got it from 

Fuel Tank Progress

I have updated the previous fuel tank post. rather that do it by time line, I am just added any progress into the original post. That way someone doing that project can see the job from start to finish with our wading thru a lot of other subjects.

Fun Fact:

Why does Lake Michigan have such a reputation? Check out this chart. less than 1 foot waves to 8 foot in 4 hours.

Servicing the Drive Train

This section will include servicing the transmission, Transmission coupler, Propeller Shaft, Propeller and the cutlass bearings. The first step was to remove the propeller. I had the yard do this as I don't have a puller, and for an hour or labor, its well worth it. The prop was painted with anti fouling paint, a no-no in my book. I removed the paint before the yard pulled the prop. The lower cutlass can be seen and the bearing inside is worn out and needs replacement.

The above shot shows the transmission cooler, transmission, reduction gears, the transmission coupler and finally the propeller shaft. The cooler seems fine, east to replace later if needed. I tested the engine on the hard, but never put it into gear. I don't know anything about the transmission, so I will have it re-built at Federal Transmissions in Illinois. It is a Borg Warner Velvet Drive, 71CR Model 1017010. This is not in production but can still be rebuild and parts are available for now. 

This picture is looking towards the transmission at the rear of the coupler. In the foreground is the stuffing box nut. The coupler set screws are wired to prevent loosing up. Usually stainless aircraft wire is used. This appears to be standard wire as the rust demonstrates. 

This picture shows the propeller shaft, stuffing box, cutlass tube, water cooled cutlass and bearing. A lot has been said about how to remove the cutlass. Some say it is threaded to the shaft tube. There are tow flanges, one attached to the bulkhead, the other to the first flange. The first flange may be screwed to the shaft tube, but as it is in good shape, I have no need to find out. There are four bolts holding the cutlass on and I will remove them and see if that works. 

It was very easy to remove, in fact the bolts were hand tight. Not sure why. There was also no sealant between the flanges. Not sure at this point is there is supposed to be, but as water comes up thru the shaft tube, I would think sealant would be needed to keep water out of the bilge

Here is the cutlass removed with the cutlass bearing pressed out. I used a hydraulic press pushing towards the flange as the bearing can only come out one way due to a lip in the cutlass to hold it in place.  It is a 1 1/2 shaft or ID with a 2 3/8 OD cutlass. They name cutlass after fish, this one is called Flounder. it is supplied in a 6" length. for this application it has to be cut down to 3" to fit the cutlass. 

The lower cutlass was removed by removing tow nuts locked and wired to each stud. They were much too lose for my liking. The cutlass was easy to remove. 

Here is the cutlass flange with cutlass removed, again no caulk evident. 

This is the cutlass and cutlass bearing removed. This one was a bugger. It would not be pressed out as there was a lip holding the bearing in place which made it very hard to get a socket to fit on top to apply the pressure with the ram. In the end I had to go old school and use a sawzall with a 9" metal blade to cut the bearing in two pieces to remove. It was still hard to get out. I will press the new one in. Some folks put the new bearing in a freezer to help it fit, others use just the hydraulic press.  Parts are ordered. 

While waiting for the cutlass bearings, I removed the motor mounts. As you can see this one is cracked. One had a bold broken and the other tow I had to cut off when removing the engine. They sit on top of a fiberglassed stringer and help in place by two studs. 

The studs were damaged upon installation I believe. I speculate that the stringer is made of teak or mahogany and  they did not pre-drill. using two nuts in a locking fashion they were driven into the stringer. Several were bent like a lot of torque was used. 

All four are damaged and will be replaced. I will order them from American Diesel if they sell them. 

I took the propeller shaft and propeller to Kahlenberg in Tow Rivers, WI. They have been family owned for over a hundred years. Now known for high quality marine signaling equipment. I the past they built and installed the first diesel engines used on boats. They still work of shafts and props, so I took the 2.5 hour drive to get mine looked at. 

http://www.kahlenberg.com/

Maybe a little too big!

They hit something big!