Chrysler Sailors Forum

Im yanking my engine so i figure since its out I may as well use this time to address the interior. Really only need to address the floor covering and galley(I already removed it.)The rest of the interior seems in pretty darn good shape! Im considering a wood floor, just wondering if anyone has used anything other than teak, and if so, what, and how do you like it. I love teak, but man its expensive and i kinda want to do something unique. Thougts? Pictures? Tom

Any pics of the inside?

If you like the traditional teak look there are products like Flexi-Teak that are probably easier to install, but still expensive.

I saw one boat done with wood look vinyl flooring, it looked pretty good and was inexpensive, but I'd worry about traction.

I think we might just go with carpet for lack of a better alternative.

I did the wood look vinyl flooring, on CRYSTA and traction is no problem and it looks like the red oak I used for the bulkheads, table, ect. It was very easy to install the hardest part was removing all the old carpet glue. I then used resin to even the the floor pan out (take out the bumps, ect) I ran the strips up the sides of the benches careful trimming made it so I didn't have to trim anything with wood. Mistakes and damage are easy to repair peel damaged/mistake area out trim and place new (extra) strips in. It's been in two seasons now and haven't had any problems/damage. Been wet a couple times and glue holds well had strip work loose on the port bench used some glue and heat gun and reglued it on.

I to am undesided about flooring, Im thinking of vinyl but then making fitted carpet rugs that snap or velcrow down. It would be nice to remove and kleen rugs and floor, and remove carpet during long storage.

Dave

This is our floor including the extra vent over the keel area to prevent moistere from collecting.

I to would like to go with teak, But cost and not knowing when were going to put it on the hard. I am interested with what you come up with,

I was given some hardwood floor but not sure if it can be used.

Thanks for the input! I have been leaning towards the wood look vynl. I have installed it before and was amazed at how real it can look. wasnt sure about its marine adaptability, but sounds like it will work!!! I also kind of like the idea of snap in carpet, so it can be removed and cleaned. Lots of good ideas! Keep em coming. My biggest flooring issue now is smoothing out a pretty bad fiberglass job! I just keep telling myself, itll all be worth it in the end! I would much rather build new than fix someone elses screwup! Oh well, back to work!

Sailbob2...Pictures...did we mention pictures.

I am still learning how to use this sight. it took me forever to figure out how to ad a profile pic. How do you ad pics to messages??? I would love to post some pics of before, during and after! I enjoy looking at other member pics and getting ideas.[/img]

A fine hand crafted pic posting tutorial can be found right around the corner here;

http://www.chryslersailors.com/discussi ... php?t=1373

Before you start, you might consider checking the plywood sub floor. Drill about a 1/2" dia hole with a spade drill about 1/2" deep on the centerline, between the forward end of the SK trunk and the bulkhead. If the plywood chunks come out dry great, just fill the hole with epoxy and move ahead. If the chunks come out damp or wet, you will have a problem on your hands.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/93952888@N ... 885035070/

I laid down about three coats of resin while sanding out the imperfections dips, holes high spots, ect. before I laid the vinyl down this made for a smooth layout. Had carpet at first but could never keep it clean and it always seemed to get wet. The vinyl is easy to clean and keep dry. Though I do miss the warmth of the carpet on cool mornings.

BTW - I'll try to post some pictures as soon as I get back on board CRYSTA early this next week.

Ok, what do I do if the plywood subfloor is wet??? I was kind of suspicious of the fiberglass work done on the floor! I drilled some holes and between the keel trunk and bulkhead the wood is wet, in the back towards the galley area the subfloor is rotted away underneath the fiberglass. Oddly enough the fiberglass work is thick and there are no soft spots. Ideas!?!?!? The restoration time on this project just seems to be getting longer and longer. Oh well, just more time to get to know the boat!!

That area below the steps is a problem area due to water collecting in the small bilge pocket under the sole there and wetting the bottom of the ply.

Here's a couple of pages from EE's site that may explain it a bit

http://my.att.net/p/s/community.dll?ep= ... 280782&ck=

http://my.att.net/p/s/community.dll?ep= ... 281315&ck=

My biggest concern was area under the compression post. The post rests on a block of wood which rests on the plywood floor. My floor was rotted and block of wood pretty much fell apart when I removed it. If these areas are not replaced you will never really be able to tighten your rigging or you'll be forcing the deck down about inch before you finally hit something solid. If you check my photos you'll what I did to remedy this. Good luck.

Ok, back to the floor of this wonderful project of mine!! My balast seems to be in the form of tiny little lead pellets. the pellets are very wet! it would seem that I should cut the plywood and fiberglass overlay out so that i can dry the ballast out!??! Is this what i am supposed to do? It seems that it will take some doing to dry all the ballast out, any recommendations would be appreciated. the floor from the top seems very sound but underneath is wet and rotted, i want to do this once the right way so i dont have to do it again! The pics posted on some of your floor repairs helped, but wasnt sure about my particular type of balast. thx Tom

I'd thought the ballast pellets were supposed to be "stabilized" with concrete or foam. Perhaps the foam completely deteriorated. Adam found something similar, and you might check to see what he finally did. Some tale of the deconstruction are here http://www.chryslersailors.com/discussi ... fd7d81dd07.

Somewhere in my back issues I have a copy of the Sep/Oct 2004 Good Old Boat that NYCSailor mentions. Jim Craighead cleared out all his ballast, made forms and home cast the lead into ingots, adding some for good measure, before putting it all back encased in epoxy.

My boat had a layer of loose shot on top of the concrete, just vacuumed them up, the concrete eventually dried out.

the loose pellets on top of concrete seems the most likely scenerio for my boat. I wonder if i should mix some portland cement in the loose pellets on top and let it set up. i hate to remove the pellets cause there seems to be atleast an inch to an inch and a half of loose pellets. gonna do some larger cuts in the floor to do some more exploring later. I appreciate the info as usual guys. thanks, Tom

In our 26 I've noted some softness in the port aft area so I suspect that this
project will be on the horizon for me as well. What I keep wondering is why
folks don't include some sort of ventilation system in the bilge to help keep
it dry. After all, even with a watertight hull condensation is bound to happen.
Has anybody done some sort of blower set up ?

I don't think a blower is needed, the vent set-up my C-26 has seems to keep it moisture free, even thou I've yet to see my bidge area completely water free.

There seem to be two types of ballast and encapsulation. Earlier C26's have lead bars encased in foam and when that foam gets wet it stays wet.

Later C26's have lead pellets in concrete, which is what EE has. I'd guess the concrete gets wet on top, but doesn't soak down much.

A repair I made to EE should have helped that wetness. I extended the little bulkhead at the back of the pour all the way to the sole which should keep any water from the bilge pocket in the bilge pocket. It didn't quite make it to the sole before and water could flow over it and forward under the sole.

Ok, the floor in front of the bilge area is wet but doesnt have any soft or weak spots that i can feel. the wood directly above the bilge area is rotted almost completely away! should i just pull it all up and replace it or just cut out the wood above the bilge and replace it?

At the risk of sounding "shortcut-ish" I'd fix what was bad only, and leave the forward part alone for now. Sounds like you found what I found, and after repairing only the part over the bilge I've had no further problems at all, no worse over the sole at all over time.

Here's the pics and some notes..

http://my.att.net/p/s/community.dll?ep= ... 280782&ck=

That's a tricky piece to cut and have it match te changing shape and the changing angles of the hull, but not too hard if you cut a bitoversize and then whittle away until its perfect.

im gonna start by just cutting out the part over the bilge out, but still concerned about the moisture in the ballast! this boat hasnt been in the water for years and it is wet! ( must be from the elements!) Thinking of cutting out a large (6" diameter hole infront of the keel trunk, behind the bulk head and installing an access port so as to allow for airing out and thus drying!?!?! Im gonna put a solid water tight access port over the ballast area that i will have to remove to allow for airing out, and a vented access port over the bilge area under the stairs to allow for ventallation. Is this a good idea?

Sounds like a good idea to me... more ventallation is never a bad idea. Photos of your work well be well received by all of us on the forum.

Terrence
Wilmington N.C.
Chrysler 26 1980
Pandora (for now)

maybe im just stupid, but i cant figure out the process for posting picutes on this sight. i just opened a photobucket account and have the pics that i have taken of Easter Lily posted there, but cant seem to get them to this sight. I'll keep trying.

anotherfng wrote:im gonna start by just cutting out the part over the bilge out, but still concerned about the moisture in the ballast! this boat hasnt been in the water for years and it is wet! ( must be from the elements!)

EE was on the hard for about 2 year, and this would still happen to her -

What happens is that anytime that small bilge pocket overflows from moisture, or rain leaks (the worst being rain water running down the rudder post tube), or whatever, it flows forward to on top of the concrete ballast pour. It stays wet because the concrete doesn't soak it in, it just sits on top. If it were the foam tyoe it would soak into the foam and that would be bad indeed.

One time I jacked the bow of EE up higher and was surprised to find how much water ran off the top of that ballast pour back into the bilge pocket.

Another thing is that due to the shape of the pocket you can look back under the stern berth and not see much water, but the water level will be high enough at the front of that pocket to overflow into the sole over the ballast area.

There's a pic demonstrating that on EE's site as well.

EmergencyExit wrote:That's a tricky piece to cut and have it match te changing shape and the changing angles of the hull, but not too hard if you cut a bitoversize and then whittle away until its perfect.

A common technique in the wood shop is to get yourself a pack of 3"x5" index cards and a roll of scotch tape. Start where you want and tape a second card in place, following the hull line. Eventually you will have all of the cards taped in pretty fair approximation of the curve.

Now, if you are really OCD (guilty!) then you take a compass and pencil set for about 1/2" to 1" and trace it along the curved surface, transfering an exact scribe of the curve. Transfer this scribed line to your plywood. Cut just to the outside of the line. Use a drum sander in a drill (stationary belt sander if you happen have one) to sand to the line.