Cutting my '76 20 SF apart

[Grisk]

I've made my cuts on the transom with an eye to keeping as much of the boxes and bait well intact. Any advice on how to break the "Potter Putty" free? I'm replacing the transom from the inside. Sole will be raised. cap will likely need to be recored. First things first. Removing the boxes. Any tips from those who have gone before?
Thanks,
Tim

[MakoMike19]

Good luck my friend! I just tried to pull the livewell out of my 18. It ended up having to come out in 8 pieces! Some of the potter putty is STILL attached, with nothing but some fiberglass matt attached to it. (the white blob on the center bottom of pic)





The floor itself broke free relatively easy, just a little back and forth on gunnels. Pretty much lets go right about when you think fiberglass will start to crackle.

[strick]

The best way I know is with an air chisel





strick

[Grisk]

How did you break the initial bond? there seems to be three, maybe more, places where the rear box mold is bonded to the inner fiberglass skin of the transom.

[strick]

Note the crow bar in the second Picture.






strick

[muddywater]

I did mine a couple months ago and it was not fun. I made some cuts around the cutout and then bought a piece of flat iron (like 1.5"-2" wide or something like that). I then proceeded to use it as a giant chisel and separate the liner from the hull. I got everything separated except the livewell. It became obvious that nothing was going to separate that livewell from the hull bottom. It was even glassed with some mat in some places, not just putty. I cut a board the size of the livewell interior, sank a giant eye bolt through it and hooked it up to a hoist (oh yeah, I had already made the cut all the way across from gunnel to gunnel at this point with the circular saw on the flat parts and the sawsall on the corners). So, I hooked up that eye bolt on the board to the hoist and picked the whole boat off the trailer by the livewell. I jumped up and down on it, beat on it, used a crowbar, cursed at it, but that live well was not going anywhere. In the end, I cut the livewell in half with the sawsall and the liner came off. Eventually I was able to pry the bottom of the livewell off the hull bottom with a crowbar. That puppy was on there! Good luck!

[Grisk]

Thanks fellas. I had a hunch it wasn't going to come gently. Jacks and timbers it will be. I posted this in the wrong forum. Any way to move it to Repairs/Mods? Thanks again.I'll update as I succeed.

[Grisk]

Do the aft cleats mechanically tie the cap and hull togehter in the corners ? I can't imagine but that seems to be the area that is resisting seperation. any thoughts?

Thanks,

Tim

[hermco]

Wood wedges help a lot. I take a couple of 2x4s and make various sized wedges when doing a tear apart.

[Grisk]

Bingo!! Wood wedges and a piece of flat bar 1"x36" sharpened a little to go between the inner skin and the first (or last) plywood laminate. The wedges allowed me to see where I needed to attack.Put constant pressure from underneath with a small bottle jack and a piece of 2"x4". Boy I was getting nervous. The flat bar was key because I could get remnant areas with skim putty tying things up. I'm chipping away at soaking wet wood now. India Pale Ale very soon! Thank you everyone. I groaned when I saw Srick's crow bar but I went and grabbed mine off the wall. Two neighbors and the princess bride have been by to roll their eyes. I am tickled. Whoo! Hoo!