Closing up the gas & motor pod

[teecro]

While I don't see it really hurting anything I just don't like seeing so much water running out the back end of the gas and motor pod on our Sun Tracker 18" Party Barge. Has anyone ever bothered with closing up the portion of the pod that is under their deck? While typing this it leads me to another thought would I be better off adding underskinning to the bottom of the decking as well as perhaps closing up the gas & motor pod? I've been doing some reading and see where most folks use 1/16" alum and self drilling SS screws so that seems simple enough. But I can't help but wonder if anyone has tried using any other material such as plastic or rubber sheeting in place of the alum?

[Tlowry]

I think the opportunity for leaks and filling it with dead weight while under way would far outweigh the minor annoyance of seeing water run out of the motor pan.

[teecro]

No chance of filling with dead weight as I plan on leaving the exposed section and back end open. I just want to close up the section that is under the decking as that's where most of the water flowing through is coming from.

[sgpwayne]

not an expert by any means and probably don't know from where I speak. The thought did occur to me that just maybe it was designed that way for a reason. I would check with manufacturer before trying to modify the pod. Might have something to do with directing flow of water at the outboard for cooling purposes or something to do with turning the boat by releasing water from under the boat. Just my .02 cents worth

[STEVEBRENDA]

I don't know exactly what you are doing, but any time you enclose gas, you are supposed to put a venting blower or have adequate ventilation to avoid excessive gas build up. This may not be relevant here as you are not going to have any spark in the area.

[pontoonMoose]

being Aluminum is had to come by around where I live. I used R-panel and have not had any problems with it. it's lots cheaper than Aluminum and you don't have the popping sound I read about with some that just have the flat aluminum. I just used the Galvanize R-panel but you could even used the color

[teecro]

No there will be no build up of gas fumes as the pod is nearest to 7 or 8 foot long with least 2 foot of it hanging out past the end of the deck and I'm only interested in covering up the 5 or 6 foot section that is under the deck itself. Take a look at the spray coming out from both sides of your boat; the same thing in going on under a pontoon due to the twin sponsons.

On my toon when carrying a extra load a lot of that spray in going into the pod itself where it channels out the openings in the transom area; obviously the transom has opening for this exact reason. After seeing this and thinking about it I can definitely see the benefits of underskinning the decking as the cross members have got to be catching a lot of spray as well as wave action and causing undue drag which is likely slowing the boat down and surely keeping the plywood decking very wet indeed.

I can easily get sheet alum but can't help but wonder how the likes of 1/8" thick plastic sheeting would work out as it is quite a bit cheaper and easier to work with too...

[teecro]

Starting to really think hard about underskinning with .125" thick HDPE plastic sheeting... Think plastic cutting board material... It is highly impact resistant and nearly impervious to chemical and UV exposure too. I've found a source local to where I live that will sell for 31.00 for a 4 x 8 sheet. The dense plastic should also work well as a sound deadener; weight should not be an issue either at roughly 20 pounds a sheet too...

[Liquid Asset]

I sealed my transom up but mostly because I hated seeing my gas tank surrounded by water when not underway. It has a tracker fuel tank that I installed in the transom when I built the boat. The water drained out once the boat got moving but it just seemed weird to have my gas tank surrounded by water if I was stopped. At first I just cut a piece of 1/8" aluminum to fit the opening in the bottom of the transom and siliconed it in place . It worked great but water would splash in while going fast and eventually need to be emptied. To solve that I got a drain plug with one way check valve (it's a brass drain plug fitting with a floating ball inside. It's supposed to save you if you forget to put the plug in the boat. Since it's just a transom drain I leave the plug out and use the check valve feature all the time ) and put that into the sealed transom. The aluminum plate I sealed the transom with is now welded in and it works great. Sitting still there is never more that 1/2" of water in my transom and underway it all drains out ! I know my issue was a bit different than what teecro asked about ,but I think keeping water out of a transom with a gas tank isn't a bad idea.

Also my boat is under skinned with polycarbonate panels . It weighs nothing and is very strong ,it's even rated for snow load. It's been on my boat for 3 years with no issues.

[teecro]

Thanks for chiming in L A I'm pleased to see similar thoughts and solutions to the what's not really a problem just an annoyance....

[wickerbill]

Liquid....how thick is the sheeting you used?

[Liquid Asset]

I believe the sheeting was 1/4" off the top of my head. I have pics of the project over at pontoonstuff in my rebuild thread if it's still there l.o.l. It's great to work with. You cut it with a razor ,hang it with one guy because it's light weight ,rigid and bring clear makes it easy to see where you need to fasten it.

[RcgTexas]

most folks use 1/16" alum and self drilling SS screws

I had SS screws and aluminum pop rivets holding my old skin up. Some of the screws were missing but the rivets were all there. I'll be going back with the pop rivets.