Monday, July 29, 2019

7. A. "Important"...READ (Doing the Cab Over Front Window for a 2nd time)

As mentioned in  "Project: 7 New Wood" (in Index on the right side of page), I was rushing the job of rebuilding the Cab Over section including removal and covering the front window opening, so my wife and I could return to our boat in Guatemala.  I also had a cold I was fighting off.  Ever heard of the expression, 'never have time to do it right, but always find time to do it twice'? 

Why is that Important? well folks, my plan was to make a wood panel of 1/4" plywood, cover it with epoxy resin and cloth, install it over the old window opening and paint the entire front cab over.  Done!! Easy and a good fix.
However, when I applied a layer of fiberglass cloth over and around that wood panel, I should have put a 2nd coat of resin on the cloth than being satisfied with only one coat.


Front panel in 2009, looked Great and worked as planned with the exception that I should have:
 #1.    coated the wood panel that covered the old window opening with more resin so as to absolutely water proof it. 
#2.     run a bead of caulk/sealant along and around the entire panel when I was finished. I did not, thinking my panel adhesive would do the job but it didn't... My bad!  I rushed the resin coating, putting on only 1 coat and I could have caulked the finished product.

The Front Window project was completed early 2009 but in early 2017,  I noticed a very slight bulge(delamination) at the very top/center of the panel.  I then applied a 2" strip of Eternabond tape over both the top and bottom horizontal edges of the panel to make sure everything was sealed going forward.  Not as pretty as a job correctly done, but absolutely stops any future leaks from occurring.

 Over the next 2 years, the delamination to show more, as the water intrusion had already rotted the wood in the center of that panel and it just took time to be noticeable.

Therefore folks, I'm writing this to inform you "if" you do the job as I did in 2010....give the panel a 2nd or even a 3rd coat of resin, so there are no pin holes in the cloth that are not sealed with resin.

If I had done that, I would not be redoing the front...which I am doing now but a bit differently. No worries if you do it my original way but adding extra resin for sealing purposes.  The original idea is fine, just give the panel more coatings of resin to completely seal it and then....caulk around the edges.