BULKHEAD REPAIR

The bulkhead over the engine has been repaired.  The old bulkhead was removed and found to have absolutely no integrity left in it.  All of its mounting locations were completely rotten and the bulkhead came out in two pieces.

A new bulkhead was constructed of marine grade plywood.  The plywood was wrapped in fiberglass and several layers of Interlux 2000E applied.

I decided to modify the mounting conditions of the bulkhead.  The old mounting consisted of four screws across the top of the bulkhead into the floor of the cockpit and another couple of screws into wood blocks at the base of the bulkhead. 

The revised mounting condition across the top of the bulkhead remained the same except a piece of fiberglass angle was installed to provide a bit of additional support between the bulkhead and cockpit floor.  At the sides of the bulkhead, a piece of fiberglass angle was attached between the bulkhead and adjacent fiberglass to take place of the blocks that had previously been installed at the base of the bulkhead.

I considered glassing this entire bulkhead in but decided it was better to use mechanical fasteners so that the bulkhead could be more easily removed in the future if needed.