New Member & My CM23

[nolaboater99]

Nola, What are going to use for plywood to replace your floor?

HH, I don't/didn't have to replace any floor. However, I did have to rebuild cabinets and bulkheads. You want to look for Marine Plywood or a plywood that uses waterproof glue between the layers. Additionally, the more layers the better. The stuff I replaced was 5-ply and I used 7-ply. As great a boat builder Cobalt is, I was quite surprised they only used a 5-ply, 3/4' plywood back then and from the delamination it didn't appear to be marine ply.

You won't be buying this at Home Depot, and most likely will have to buy a full 4x8 sheet. You will need to look for a plywood supply or dealer in your area and expect to pay $75-$100 for the sheet. As an option, if you can't find, or don't want to pay the price, you could get the best plywood you can find, cut the pieces to the size you need and the seal it with epoxy or urethane. You will need to do all the edges with multiple coats as it will soak in.
Shawn

[nolaboater99]

Shawn someone resurrected an old intro thread from a guy registered as norcal. Is that you?

I figured it might be from when you was lurking from the other side before you made jump. No worries either way, I'm super glad your here as an active member sharing your knowledge with us!

Maybe.... I'll have to take a look.

[Ytmsn]

Shawn I'm restoring an old aluminium cabin cruiser and I've been told not to use treated wood against aluminum because the chemicals don't match and it becomes very caustic. I Googled it and found the same thing. Didn't know if you were aware of that? It doesn't matter if its in the floor or not against aluminum, but I remembered your tank in the back.

I'm putting wooden spars back in my transom and backing it on both sides with plywood. Fortunately I haven't bought the plywood yet. That's stuff is exPENsive!

[AsLan7]

Shawn I'm restoring an old aluminium cabin cruiser and I've been told not to use treated wood against aluminum because the chemicals don't match and it becomes very caustic. I Googled it and found the same thing. Didn't know if you were aware of that? It doesn't matter if its in the floor or not against aluminum, but I remembered your tank in the back.

I'm putting wooden spars back in my transom and backing it on both sides with plywood. Fortunately I haven't bought the plywood yet. That's stuff is exPENsive!

.

1. Did not know you were doing this project, Ytmsn.

2. Did not know about the aluminum chemical mismatch.

Thanks for posting this!
.

[nolaboater99]

Shawn I'm restoring an old aluminium cabin cruiser and I've been told not to use treated wood against aluminum because the chemicals don't match and it becomes very caustic. I Googled it and found the same thing. Didn't know if you were aware of that? It doesn't matter if its in the floor or not against aluminum, but I remembered your tank in the back.

I'm putting wooden spars back in my transom and backing it on both sides with plywood. Fortunately I haven't bought the plywood yet. That's stuff is exPENsive!

I did not know that but I'm not a big fan of aluminum boats.

When I first saw my boat again after about 5 years, the bilge was full of water....to the floors There was water between the tank and the floor where it sat. Understandable there would be corrsion. I was going to have a new bottom wedled on but a friend turned me on to a place that coats fuel tanks. They do a lot of them for antique cars. They etch the surface and coat it with the "stuff" and then bake it. It looks like spray-in truck bed liner and has like a 20-year guarantee. The tank is buried in the garage but I will be digging it out next week. I'll take some pictures.

[nolaboater99]

I'm feeling pretty lucky today....

The CM23, and a lot of other Cobalts from that era, had a stern seat that slid forward on tracks. The tracks were made out of 2 pieces of identical aluminum extrusion. The sliding surfaces had a small nylon u-channel as a sliding surface/spacer. A lot of years ago the spacer wore out and broke off leaving a poor fitting metal-to-metal surface. The arrows in the pic indicate where the spacer is supposed to be.

DSC_0024.png

Without the spacer the track got bent and distorted over the years. I called Cobalt looking for some and was told they were no longer available. I then asked for the company that made the extrusions thinking I could just buy them and fabricate new ones from them. Cobalt told be that they made those tracks in-house. Well I know they didn't do the extruding and anodizing. I had resigned myself to just trying to repair the ones I had.

IMG_0703.JPG

So at the New Orleans Boat Show last weekend I met Clark Boone the Central Region Sales Manager for Cobalt. He has been with them for 30 years and so I explain my dilemma. He gives me the name of Reed Wheeler at Village Marina, Lake of the Ozarks, telling me they are parting out a 1985 21BR and the track from that boat might work. I contact Reed and he says he'll check and get back next week. An hour later I get an email telling me they have 3 brand new pieces in stock. I bought all 3 and can make the 4th from one that I have.

These tracks were really causing me issues as I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do. Much gratitude goes to Clark Boone at Cobalt and Reed Wheeler & Rick Sanders at Village Marina. Think I'll go buy a lottery ticket.
Shawn

[AsLan7]

Wow...that is an awesome find NB99. Way to work it, brutha!!

[Big Block Power]

That's awesome. You knew my crownline had the rear bench seat that slid line that. I wonder if they use the same tracks. That's a great story also. Do you still have both of there contact info. I need a table mount for my boat I can't find.

[Ytmsn]

I love it when a good plan comes together!

Shawn there is a guy that might be able to help you source some parts. His name is Bill and he's a wealth of information. I spent over an hour on the phone with him one day and we talked about different suppliers as well as fabricating different things. What be has done with his collection is nothing short of amazing. Here is a link to his site, and you can contact him from there.

Enjoy looking! I know I just robbed you of at least an hour of your time today... His boats are beautiful and absolutely amazing.

http://www.billscars.com/boats

[thunder550]

Good score Shawn! That's awesome

[AsLan7]

I’ve seen that site before Ytmsn. Good guy to know!

[nolaboater99]

That's awesome. You knew my crownline had the rear bench seat that slid line that. I wonder if they use the same tracks. That's a great story also. Do you still have both of there contact info. I need a table mount for my boat I can't find.

Rick Sanders
rsanders@villagemarina.com
573-552-9443

Reed Wheeler
rwheeler@villagemarina.com
573-365-1800

[Big Block Power]

Thanks.

[hoghead54]

Shawn... do you know what Cobalt used on the floors of their '80's boats? Epoxy or poly? When I put the new floor piece down I want to put a layer of resin over the whole floor mostly because I have found a few spots where the mat was not covered with resin very well from the factory there is even some defects in the floor that were marked, you can see where they were circled on the wood, you can see them through the glass, but not fixed. I don't want to put epoxy over poly or visa versa.
Thanks,Scott

[nolaboater99]

I really don't know but if I had to take a guess I would say it was resin. As good as Cobalt is and was back then I doubt they would stop production to switch to epoxy when everything else they were doing was resin. Just an educated gues on my part. Question: When you sand it....does it smell like resin/fiberglass?