1976 delhi terry 5.2 bilge

[blue bass]

I have recently purchased a 1976 Delhi Terry 5.2, its 17 1/2 feet long with a mercury 1150. upon cleaning it out for a rebuild I found in the bilge two strips of plywood that are about 4" wide and are on each side of the bilge laying flat and running about 8 feet from the stern going towards the bow. these strips seem to be adhesive to the the bilge floors fiberglass. the wood is not treated and is soft and rotted. Does anyone have a clue as to why a manufacturer would put this wood in the bilge as they have. could it be that it was suppose to be covered in glass and was forgotten. I had worked at shamrock boats in Fort Meyers Florida some years ago for a few months when living there and i don't remember bare wood in a bilge ever. any input to this would be highly appreciated.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1976 delhi terry 5.2 bilge

I can't even tell there's plywood in your pix, but no matter.

Random pieces of plywood stuck to a hull are often leftovers on a hull that's used for more then 1 boat model, OB vs I/O or closed bow vs open bow etc... It's also been suggested that the plywood was added by the factory to dampen hull harmonics or sound transmission.

Look thru some of the fiberglass resto's, you'll be surprised to find that regularly there's quite a bit of strange, odd, interesting & complete lack of attention to the fiberglass work that's below decks & will forever out of sight after the deck goes in.

Since their rotten, remove them, and mark their location because I'd put them back, even if I couldn't confirm why their there..

 

[blue bass]

Re: 1976 delhi terry 5.2 bilge

interesting suggestion, i think ill replace them with pressure treated wood this time. difficult part will be cutting out the floor to get into the bilge.any suggestions of what to use as an adhesive for pressure treated to fiberglass ? perhaps some liquid nails construction adhesive?

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1976 delhi terry 5.2 bilge

Don't use pressure treated, unless it's extremely WELL DRIED, like in the rafters of your garage for years, and as PT dries it also tends to cup & curl, so it may be challenging to find a straight & flat piece, even if it's only 24" long... Anything you buy from a lumber place will be heavy & 'wet' w/ the PT chemicals, that could affect how well fiberglass resin adheres (or PL Premium, it's like liquid nails but more aggressive).


I'd use an exterior grade of plywood, soak it w/ polyester resin, let it get tacky, then reapply more poly resin, wrap the plywood (edges too) w/ CSM and allow it to cure. Mix some poly resin & filler into a paste that you can spread & adhere the CSM wrapped plywood to the hull.


From this pix:

I don't think that piece of plywood is going to be the only part that needs to be replaced because of water intrusion.

 

[blue bass]

Re: 1976 delhi terry 5.2 bilge

also does anyone have a really good picture of a capacity plate for a 1977 terry abf 5.2