Wilson Flyer Renovation

[Just M]

Hi,

I am renovating my Wilson Flyer 23ft....So far I have taken out the Volvo penta 171c engine and stern drive and filled in the transom ready to fit a new Evinrude 115. After cutting away about two feet of the deck so that I could re-inforce the transom I decide to remove the deck and raise it by three inches so that I could put in drain holes in the stern, I then decided to remove the the deck from the wheel house and this is where I would like some advice! I have found that under the deck of the wheel house, is full of foam which was sodden so I have at to remove it....Do I need to replace the foam, is it there for floatation purposes or is it there to absorb the pounding of the front of the boat?

Many Thanks

Just M

 

[jfm]

I've had a couple of these boats.

I'm a bit confused by your terms. The place where the wet foam is located is under the deck (=sole), in the forward wheelhouse area, right? So it is in the V shaped space below between the deck (sole) and the keel, maybe a foot high?

If so, there is no need to replace this foam. It is not structural. It is low tech suff to give some minor rigidity to the deck and deaden noise. If you totally removed the foam, the boat would be fine.

If you have totally removed the deck (sheesh!) so you now have access to the inside of the hull moulding, I would squirt in some of that builder's closed cell expanding foam. Doesn't do any harm and will make the boat quieter, and if you can get the deck to stick to it when you reassemble it you will get a bit more rigidity

Does the wilson (which is a clone of earlier boats made using these moulds) have a fibreglass box section moulding between the hull and the deck to give the whole thing stiffness? Sort of a backbone moulding along the keel then several arms coming out sideways? Many clones did have this but perhaps not all

Can you post a few pics?

What you need to do is fit a screw cap drain bung in the outside transom, right at the bottom of the V of the keel. Then simply tip the boat back on its trailer after use and the water will drain out, whether it has foam in there or not. Um, remember to put the bung back in befiore you launch!

Good luck. Please post a few pics if you can in case there is any misundersntading here (on my part) about what you mean

 

[Just M]

Wilson Flyer

Hi JFM,

Thankyou, your comments have been very helpfull!
I have taken a few photos on my mobile and will down load them so you can see where I am at.

Again many thanks.

Danny