Bertram33 User Forum

Has anyone replaced the rear bulkhead or addressed rot issues near the door track? Noticed water dripping in the engine compartment during a heavy downpour. Any suggestions or remedies. Thanks

I think many of us have either spliced in a new bottom section or replaced the entire bulkhead. In my case I cut the bottom 4" plywood off leaving the exterior Formica intact. I was going to paint the interior so I then glassed in a new epoxy encased plywood strip. That was 15 years ago & it is still fine. Al

Thanks, I haven't got into the extent of rot. Hopefully I can just cut it back and replace.

I had pretty much the same problems as Al did, but used a different procedure, because I wanted to get rid of the stupid interior wood grain Formica eventually. I peeled off the inner Formica skin and removed the rotted plywood plus about an inch or two above the rot and removed the internal plywood which was poorly adhered to the outer skin. I left the outer skin intact. I coated the outboard side of the plywood and the back side of the exterior skin with construction adhesive before I put the plywood in place, being sure the two surfaces adhered. (I had to use some screws and washers from the exterior side to pull the outer skin against the plywood.) I then glued some teak veneered thin plywood to the inner surface. You could probably use a simpler procedure if you worked from the outside, but since I knew I was going to replace the Formica inner skin I decided to not damage the exterior skin, except for some screw holes I filled with white colored epoxy.

Thank you for the help. On my 87, I have the white Formica on the outside and wood on the inside. Viewing from the outside the right bottom corner is so soft I can push it in with my finger. Most likely I’ll try to cut the bottom from the inside and fiberglass some new product there. Should I be concerned with the door track or is this fastened to the fiberglass step in the cockpit only?

I think you will find that the sliding door track is the main source of the problem with water getting into the plywood core. The wood base the door track is on traps water between the bulkhead and the back of the wood base, and then the water can wick up into the plywood core, eventually causing the core to rot.. When I made my repairs I was sure to caulk around and under the new track base.

Thanks for all the good advice. Something I’ll tackle once she’s laid up