TOPIC: new here today" Hi to everyone"

for now I just want to say, hello to everyone"
I'm vary new at this" I love some of the old boats" always have:
this last summer we bought a 1979 18ft, formula Thunderbird"
305; two bar carb" took it out only twice after the paper
work was done: thing flew I was some what amazed"
but all the while it was taking on water & lots of it"
thinking I had it figured out didn't, the second
time nearly lost the boat
with my wife in it with me: of course I was rather angry
with the person I bought it from; that being
he left out that little detail about it taking on water:
started my second phase in water extraction from under the center
of the boat floor" forward of the gas tank where water had collected in & around the gas tank to a ply wood face wall"
the wood wall separates the bilge from the forward of the boat on this one: as I do this right now
the water is going out through the bilge & from between the
floor sections' & out of two holes ground out in the transom
that by the local boat glass body repair shop in Pasco Wa. It's
leaching out as I do this now' took a few photo's
the first part I pretty much have that done with; both sides
going ten feet plus from the stren to the front with out taking up the floor: drained the water & dried the foam airing out after running tubes from the stern forward: tell me how to post photo's:
what it is I used how I did it" it's not for everyone I know
grinding the stern was do to holes from the ladder & trim tabs
& a couple of other hack jobs done to it over the years:
it only seemed right to give it a go;'
the cost to glass the back & take up the floor both
would of been way way to costly" so I decided
to manage it all through the back: so far so good:
I'm still open to make a door in the floor to get to the foam
to e' vac the water' not there yet but I want to just so
it can be had when ever there should be a need:

Welcome aboard Jim, glad to have you join us. Here's a link to a thread in the support forum that will help with the pics. (I'll let the gang with more experience advise on the rest.);
www.fiberglassics.com/fiberglassics-forums/home/support/how-to-post-pictures

Jim454,

WELCOME ABOARD!

yours, satx

Try reducing the size of your pics. They are m,ost likely too large. As for water soaked foam, in my humble opinion I say it all needs to come out. Welcome aboard.

Welcome aboard Jim. I know exactly what you are describing with that plywood/fiberglass bulkhead between the gas tank and the motor well. I had one of those same boats, the Formula 18' but with a 350. You are not alone with that water problem. I drilled some 1" holes in that wood wall as close to the bilge as possible and let the mucky water drain out, took about 200 pounds off the weight of the rig. Lots of fans and hot air blowing in there to dry it out. My water cam in through holes drilled by the previous owner for seats and other accessories, let a little snow and ice build up for a few years and it's the perfect "formula" for a rotten bottom.
You will get good advice on this site on solving your issues.
Again welcome to the nut house,
Cal

Welcome to the jungle!

If you have damp wood and water soaked foam, you can do some temporary fixes, but eventually it will need to be removed and replaced. Sorry, but that is the reality.

As far as a "door in the floor", they make round inspection ports that are widely used on sailboats. They are very water tight and have a 4" or 5" screw off cap.

'
Thanks for the info" so far so good with the e-vac; draining the water from the foam along the sides"
getting to the water in the center of the boat does give me cause for concern" I tilt the boat up to high for best drainage
results: I get a gas smell/ fumes: the boat is in my garage:

I tried to do pic's yesterday" do that resize thing:
but all I ended up getting was some babaylon search engine hijacking Google / fire fox; I deleted the desk top, tried to uninstall the rest" didn't work: using AOl right now:

The shop ground out the transom to open the area where the foam
meets to the stern; I took two sizes of PVC pip' 10 feet long" the foam was soft so it was easy enough' I used a short 2x4; pounded the pipe in as far as it would go; the whole ten feet of it to the front"
of course the water was coming out ' I dug out some foam, a space near the transom, made a channel with the 1/2 PVC pipe,
I wanted to be sure I was as close down on the bottom of
the glass as I could make it happen' in that way all o fthe water that
was leaching out wouldn't get collected by foam slowing the process down water able to run out: worked sort of good"
then I took the 3/4 PVC pipe & drove that in the full length of that pipe, that pipe I cut the end of it like a hippo needle; The foam"
but not to much; the pipe would collect foam in the pipe; to clear
the PVC pipe I had metal angular wall bracket rod that was right & heavy enough to force the foam clear from the pipe; I only needed
to do that a few times, once I had the hole made: no more issues:

after that I took the 1/2 PVC pipe, drilled holes
in it; about a 1/4 of the pipe or more of the pipe; for sucking through & blowing air in it' I have a typical wet vac" & just by chance although what I bought it for to use on our fence; A Wagner
paint sprayer kit; the kit consists of one spray gun that is junk'
but low & behold the kit included this what sounds like,
looks like a vacuum cleaner; but blows air; & warm air at that: after a while it's hot air:
late in the summer I got to thinking; what if for any reason a spark went up the pipe, just knowing how foam burns:
that do to the Wagner, that being it blows hot air & there is
no baffle in there in from of the motor: I really could make out
why the blower was blowing such hot air:

I found this convoluted looking vac attachment at home Depot' you can stick on to the end of your shop Vac pipe' by design steps down the size for different sizes of vac hose / pipe; depending on which end, it goes up in size or down end to end: perfect;
Being we are now living in Eastern WA. were from CA, my wife'
all of the grand kids are here" the only real up side to being here
is the fact it is dryer then a cracker:
my foam what I can see of it is clean" the air here" dry's the foam really fast. as long as the air can get to it" other wise no:
in short I all summer ran the vac on & off; then ran the blower"
pushed warm to hot air through the pipes: seemed to work good"
Just one side I found still has some water at the other end towards
the bow leaching down to the stern:
so far so good: I should had like I was wanting to do was find a MFG; with what I dumped in to this boat I could had a MFG made like new: Oh well:

Jim454,

It has been my long/sad experience that the foam in Glassic boats can NEVER be throughly dried out. = i know of a boat that was INSIDE a west TX tractor-shed for about 5 years & STILL was wet when the rest of the rotton plywood floor was finally torn-up.

My suggestion is to "bite the bullet" & REMOVE it completely & replace the old foam with something water-resistant like "pool noodles"(which are generally cheaper than "pour in place foam" & don't soak-up water.

just my opinion, satx

I had given that some thought'
I like that idea you said" then being able to
have that option to open up the floor area to vent to air"
if & when it is needed to air dry the collected moisture:
roughly sense yesterday & last night" I weighed the bucket of water I
caught" roughly 50 pounds of water from around the gas tank area /
the foam from under the tank"
the tank area it self I could see water trapped' but that area is so tight it was a vary small amount: as for leaching the rest\
where ever that would be: I even gave it some thought to have
two or there spots ground open in the bottom to drain: I am not wanting to cut the floor out' the shop owner
told me after checking the boat over; said he was confident that the floor & wood were are still sound: but as for leaching all of the water from it hard to say:
I will need to weigh the boat soon to get an idea; but for most'
I don't know how good this will be to do; but weight the boat
from under one side of the boat trailer then the other to see if I can tell just how it is balancing out:
I didn't mention this before; before I stated getting the water
out I blew out a 2 ton jack, new one" the reservoir seals" the boat was so heavy
just under the one side: letting it down: bounced it
thanks" Jim"

Jim454,

You might also consider (NO, i'm neither "nuts" nor kidding around, as these things, unfortunately,seem to last forever in the environment.) "disposable plastic containers" & fill empty spaces
OR
"hard foam" house insulation panels.
(i know a guy in OK whose large houseboat is "floated" with "soft drink bottles" & other lakeside "floating litter". - it's worked for more than TEN YEARS & "cleaned-up" the beach, too.)

yours, satx