Keel Sump Rebuild
Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 5:30 pm
Hi all;
I'm soliciting advice about rebuilding the keel sump on my E 32-2, Zingarella. The back
story is that I purchased the boat late last year, knowing that the keel sump
had a delaminated area on the port side, at the trailing edge of the keel.
Once I started to grind out the delam'ed part, I ended up removing a big
section of the sump, and exposed a hollow area at the rear of the sump, that was
filled with rotted synthetic (not balsa) core, diesel fuel, and water. Here's a
couple of pictures of the hole:
a bit closer:
I've filled the hole with divinylcell foam core sandwiched with epoxy reinforced biaxial mat, and
will finish it off with 10oz mat on the surface.
My concern is how to reinforce the rest of the keel sump. I have 4 internal stringers, but I'd
like to beef up the sump itself. My plan of action was to sand off all the baltoplate (that stuff is
a bear to remove) down to bare gellcoat and reinforce from the lead part of the keel up to the
hull with a layer of carbon mat and epoxy. Once I have the sump to keel joint reinforced,
I had planned to then fair the keel with West 407/epoxy, then barrier coat, then bottom paint.
Any opinions? My concern is that the mixture of water/diesel/freezing that caused the
delamination in the first place may have compromised the integrity of the sump and I'd like
to beef it up using carbon fiber to maximize strength while minimizing buildup on the sump
to attempt to keep the proper shape on the foil.
TIA,
Steve
I'm soliciting advice about rebuilding the keel sump on my E 32-2, Zingarella. The back
story is that I purchased the boat late last year, knowing that the keel sump
had a delaminated area on the port side, at the trailing edge of the keel.
Once I started to grind out the delam'ed part, I ended up removing a big
section of the sump, and exposed a hollow area at the rear of the sump, that was
filled with rotted synthetic (not balsa) core, diesel fuel, and water. Here's a
couple of pictures of the hole:
a bit closer:
I've filled the hole with divinylcell foam core sandwiched with epoxy reinforced biaxial mat, and
will finish it off with 10oz mat on the surface.
My concern is how to reinforce the rest of the keel sump. I have 4 internal stringers, but I'd
like to beef up the sump itself. My plan of action was to sand off all the baltoplate (that stuff is
a bear to remove) down to bare gellcoat and reinforce from the lead part of the keel up to the
hull with a layer of carbon mat and epoxy. Once I have the sump to keel joint reinforced,
I had planned to then fair the keel with West 407/epoxy, then barrier coat, then bottom paint.
Any opinions? My concern is that the mixture of water/diesel/freezing that caused the
delamination in the first place may have compromised the integrity of the sump and I'd like
to beef it up using carbon fiber to maximize strength while minimizing buildup on the sump
to attempt to keep the proper shape on the foil.
TIA,
Steve