Engine Cover Rebuild

[billandlori]

Hey guys,

Has anyone used the honey-comb board for an engine cover? The cover on our SRV-190 is pretty heavy and could use replacing, just looking for a lighter alternative to plywood.

Thanks in advance!

Bill

 

[Quint4]

Not familiar with honeycomb board? I recently used PVC board to redo a deck chair. I really like it over wood for the marine environment. I think it is a bit lighter in weigh than plywood.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Is it heavy because it is old and water soaked?

The only "honey-comb board" that I can think of is basically heavy duty (thicker) cardboard.

Quint mentioned PVC board - I was going to mention "expanded" PVC board as it has air pockets in it. That could be the same thing that Dave is referring to.

 

[billandlori]

Here is a link: https://www.plascore.com/honeycomb/honeycomb-cores/thermoplastic/pp-polypropylene-honeycomb/

My engine cover is dry, its just real heavy to lift out when I need access to the engine. I have a 455/Berkeley combo so she's pretty wide in the hips lol!!

Bill

 

[Lazy Daze]

Interesting. That is something I haven't seen, before. Because I haven't worked with it, a couple questions I would have...

-- First, the typical way to attach your foam/vinyl would be with staples. Will that HC retain the staples? There are a lot of (inherent) voids in that material. You may have to add a piece of plywood to the bottom side - say 3/8", to get the staples to stick.

-- Not being overly familiar with your boat... when the engine cover is in it's down position, how much of it is unsupported and will the HC span that gap with enough rigidity/strength to support a person standing on it? Or, is this HC material meant more as a "core"... meaning, it's not super rigid by itself - it needs to be part of a "system" to add the proper strength to the hatch.

To better explain what I'm talking about with coring... My Grady (like many other boats) has a large, removable, fiberglass floor hatch above the fuel tank. It is approximately 6' long. It was built with a plywood core and fiberglass top/bottom. When it came time to re-core it, I tried an experiment and used that pink/purple foamboard insulation that you can buy at HD or Lowes for about $10 sheet. By itself, it's certainly not something you would stand on. But once it's encased as a core, it is SUPER strong.

 

[billandlori]

Interesting. That is something I haven't seen, before. Because I haven't worked with it, a couple questions I would have...

-- First, the typical way to attach your foam/vinyl would be with staples. Will that HC retain the staples? There are a lot of (inherent) voids in that material. You may have to add a piece of plywood to the bottom side - say 3/8", to get the staples to stick.

-- Not being overly familiar with your boat... when the engine cover is in it's down position, how much of it is unsupported and will the HC span that gap with enough rigidity/strength to support a person standing on it? Or, is this HC material meant more as a "core"... meaning, it's not super rigid by itself - it needs to be part of a "system" to add the proper strength to the hatch.

To better explain what I'm talking about with coring... My Grady (like many other boats) has a large, removable, fiberglass floor hatch above the fuel tank. It is approximately 6' long. It was built with a plywood core and fiberglass top/bottom. When it came time to re-core it, I tried an experiment and used that pink/purple foamboard insulation that you can buy at HD or Lowes for about $10 sheet. By itself, it's certainly not something you would stand on. But once it's encased as a core, it is SUPER strong.

It is meant to be a coring material. The foam idea is cool. I'll have to look into that.

The current engine cover has a few aluminum braces going side to side and a 1/2" plywood top that slides off. The sides are 1/2" also but have glass on them and the vinyl, and the bracing.

Bill