1960's Wooden Cruiser Repairs

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Mahjo

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Hi, I have a 1964 widen cruiser which I am in the process of replacing the front cabin plywood panel. In doing this, I have had to break through the original sheathing on the cabin roof to access screws as well as drilling extra screw holes in it.
My questions are :-
1. Can /should I repair the sheathing with new fibre glass cloth and resin or not ; if so how do I go about it?
2. I have some gaps between the old and new timber and screw holes to fill, what sort of folder should I use - the original seems to be a resin based filler I think.

Thanks, Andy
 
Sorry to respond with a question but what is the original sheathing? If it glass cloth and epoxy, you should be able to sand back a patch and replace it with epoxy and e-glass cloth. If it is Cascover, it will need patching with resorcinol and nylon cloth. You will need appropriate dust extraction and respiratory and eye protection in any case. If it is canvas and paint, it may all need to be replaced at this stage!
Screw holes are best filled with grain plugs as stopping will not last as long and will block the screwhead slot. However, those under the new epoxy sheathing may be filled with thickened epoxy. Gaps between the new bulkhead and the hull are best dealt with a combination of a mastic, such as a polysulphide or butyl that will retain some flexibility and can be overpainted, and appropriately fixed pieces of wooden fillets, on either side of the ply. It is particularly important to keep the coach roof repairs waterproof, as otherwise the underlying ply will rot!

Good luck...
 
Hi, thanks for all the information; I am not sure of what the sheathing would be, the details of her if anyone is interested is, she's a 1963 38' Moreland Classic Motor Boat built by R & W Clark (appointment to HRH QE ll ) of East Cowes in the Isle of Wight. That might possibly help if someone knows the boat builder and their methods of the time!
When I scraped the paint off the roof to uncover the screw heads, I found that the sheathing is a very thin/finely woven mat with a thin layer of resin over it and then painted on top. I would say that it is definitely not canvas and paint but as to the other two methods I couldn't say which - does the age help with its identification?
Thanks for your help, Andy
 
Would have thought epoxy is extremely unlikely at that age (if original). Some sheathing was done with polyester/glass cloth then (we did the deck/coachroof on our 20 footer a bit earlier.) and we sent one of them to Africa with Cascover sheathing in around 62?
Cascover was a bit brown IIRR.
 
Bit more.. Sheathing decks, or cabins, other than canvas, was a bit unusual back then esp from a trad builder, so likely later, which opens up the choice of materials. If you are sure it is not canvas..then prob later.
 
I say not canvas as my understanding is that canvas is reasonably thick and this isn't, it definitely has a clear reason type compound on it almost like fibre glass. As far as I can tell at this stage, this sheathing is only on the coach roof, there certainly wasn't any on the front panel I removed at the weekend.
Andy
 
From a distant past memory R & W Clark used Cascover as original deck sheathing, although canvas was a popular method in that era. I had a Caprice yacht built by them which was just painted plywood. At a guess I would think that the deck sheathing had probably been replaced and is not originai. Be aware that epoxy (and resourcinal resins) will not adhere to conventional oil based jointing compounds used in those days - its essential to clean back to bare wood.
 
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