GOING ELECTRIC: PART 9 WHERE TO BEGIN?

Alrighty then! I've removed and cleaned out the area where I will need to install the Thoosa 9000 Lynch electric motor. The question for me is how? As you can see in the photo below there is not a lot of room here:
I sketched up some ideas on a napkin. I showed some of my ideas to some coworkers who are more mechanically inclined than I am. They were greeted with mixed results. So I decided I probably needed some professional help. While I have done some simple fiberglass repairs over the years. I was not about to learn fiber glassing and stringer fabrication 101 on my boat by myself. So I turned to a local fellow named Malcom who I had first contacted when I was considering replacing the Westerbeke diesel with a new Beta Marine engine as he was the local representative for Beta. But, he also refurbishes yachts of all sizes and does repairs. To me he was exactly the guy I wanted to help me with this part of the electrification project. So here is what he came up with:

The first step was to extend the existing stringers all the way to the edge of the cabin as shown above. The existing stringer edge was routered out and the new stringer additions were glued and screwed to them.

Here's a shot from above showing both extension stringers installed. The next step was to rough up the area around the stringers to remove the paint and provide a surface that the epoxy would better adhere to when fiber glassing begins:

The above photo shows another angle. Notice the bilge blower hose in middle of the picture. Here is a tip: As I mentioned in a previous post using the bilge blower came in handy to help remove the dust and particles created by grinding down the surface around the stringers. It will also help with the removing the fumes involved with the next step: Fiber glassing.


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