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Is there anything more miserable than sanding a crappy PO paintjob on a hot, humid, Ohio Valley "vacation day"? I finally came into the air conditioned garage and began working on the console. I made some tangible progress. Specifically, I enlarged the port side opening to fit my louvered hatch and frame (the old hole was about 0.5" too small all around):

http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/a...a91f52.jpg

I mentioned about a half dozen problems with the console in a previous thread. As I was looking at the console from the bottom, I realized that BW had glassed the top sides, and face of the bottom plywood reinforcement, but left the bottom edge open to the elements. I couldn't even tell that it had been epoxy sealed. However, somebody had covered part of the edge with a rubbery, incredibly sealant (3M 5200, I assume). Water being water, it had found its way to the wood an caused some delamination and for lack of a better term, erosion. This erosion is not so bad as to constitute rot. Here are some photos (you can zoom in on PhotoBucket):

http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/a...5d9b19.jpg
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/a...83fc22.jpg

Can anybody think of any reason other than cost that BW might not have sealed the bottom edges of these plywood pieces? If not, I plan to invert the console, clean off as much of the mold, 5200, etc. as possible, epoxy seal, and glass in the edges.

Also, did BW use gel coat on the inside of these consoles, or is this paint I'm seeing?

Thanks!

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I can only speak for the wood backing in a 1979 22' Revenge. The underside of my decks have an epoxy for water proofing. The interior wood for the cuddy cabin console has no epoxy protection and if the wood was sealed it is not visibly present. It looks like all the visible areas of the exterior have been gel coated and sealed/varnished. The interior backings lacking. Seeing as this is a 35 year old boat and the majority of the wood is intact, it may have had a brush application of a general purpose wood preserve. Only a guess.

I do not think it was a cost issue as much of "...the gel coat does not let water in aka waterproof, we are sealing with a rubberized sealant on the edge/end grain so good enough..."

Garris

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Just guessing, but if all of the openings cut in the face of the console are not sealed, water can enter the plywood. Leaving the bottom open allows the water an escape so it doesn't pool in the plywood.

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Thanks, Garris. It seemed strange that almost everything was glassed except the bottom edge. All in all, the console wood is in great shape... especially for a 39 y/o boat! There is still a huge amount of work to do on the console.

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Good observation, Walt, the cutouts are not sealed, although I plan to address that problem during the renovations. I also have to cut out block of plywood in the helm area to get rid of the five holes used for my Big-T helm. I'll splice in another piece and move the steering column over about 2 inches. This change will allow me to use a Teleflex mechanical steering system with no-feedback.

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Before sealing that plywood edge I would drill some holes and make sure the plywood is as saturated as possible with Get Rot or some other thinned down epoxy.

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Good advice, Wing; I will adhere to it! I had not thought abouy thinning down the epoxy.