[Public-List] Bilge below engine

[penokee at cheqnet.net]

When I bought my (former) A-30 there was a strong fuel smell, and it turned out
to be coming from the bilge.  That's how I discovered the construction you're
talking about (yours sounds just like mine).  I've posted at length about it (and
sent a couple of private e-mails), so that information should be in the e-mail
archives (?).  If not I will see if I can dig it up.

I decided not to put the "false bilge" back, and at the same time I wanted to
fully encapsulate the ballast pig (which is exposed in the false bilge and - on
mine - at the top), so the short version is that I excavated it all and built a
fiberglass "wall" at the after end of the pig, which also gave me a nice little
bilge sump.  Then I also sealed off the top of the ballast pig in the aftermost
two compartments with epoxy and biaxmat.

That's only the short version, but I was very happy with the results.  Although,
it was a LOT of work and I wished my arms were a foot longer.  The smell never
would have gone away without digging the bad stuff out, as it was saturated with
old fuel smell. Ugh.

If you can't find my previous posts on it in the archives, let me know, okay?

Rachel
ex #221


 1240894513.0