The new beam is officially in!! This for us is a huge step forward and a big check mark on the list of to dos! After the removal process, we began figuring out what kind of material would we use for our new beam? Stainless? Aluminum? Galvanize it or paint it? In the end we decided that if the one we took out lasted as long as it had that if we replaced it with what it was, it would far outlast our use! So, steel it is. We did however decide to galvanize it to give it even more life!
Jeff contacted Skagit River Steel and ordered 3/8" and 1/4" flat-stock steel. Then, using the old beam and the drawing schematic we got from the Cal40 owners club, Jeff was able to pattern and cut out all the pieces and prep them to be welded. We had La Conner Maritime do the welding on the beam as well as drilling the holes for the bolts.
After the beam was all welded, we did a few more dry fits just to make sure we were all aligned. Then it was off to Seattle Galvanizing in Arlington.
After we got the beam back, we test fit it again, then we were ready to actually begin the installation! The first layer to go down was a wood/plastic composite material. This served as the base for the beam to sit. We then attached the beam to the base and top fiberglass pan with 3M 5200. We had to shim along the beam in a few places but all in all it was a perfect fit!
Once the adhesive had completely dried and our beam was firmly placed, it was time to replace the pan that we had removed. Jeff ground down the two seams and then layered multiple layers of fiberglass and our floor was back together! On the bulkheads Jeff marked off and scarfed in the replacement pieces and then fiberglassed those in and to the hull.
After the glass had set Jeff sanded the surface and applied a finishing glaze to the new fiberglassed areas. Now we are ready for a light sand and paint! If you have any questions please feel free to ask, this seems to be one of those projects that can be extremely daunting but it is very do able and we are so glad that we choose to do this when we did! I will post more pictures once we have the floor pan all painted!