99 Tracker PT175 - Flotation removal/replacement, and back deck question

Well I just recently posted about getting the dead mouse/urine smell out of my boat, but after a ton of cleaning solutions, the smell remained. In addition, I found out that I had a problem with one of the trim switches being shorted in the up position, which I'm pretty sure was the front deck switch. Anyways, I decided to pull the front deck out, and do some more thorough cleaning. When I did, I found a huge nest on the starboard side, down in the foam. Once I got all the debris cleaned out, I realized that the foam is wet and somewhat deteriorated underneath where the nest was sitting. (about a 6"x6" area)

So my question is, should I just clean it and let the foam dry well, or should I dig down to see if there is more damage? I stuck a screwdriver down in the worst spot, and it seems solid, and there is still a lot of foam before you get down to the hull. It does appear rather saturated right now, but since the boat was dry for three years, I'm pretty sure the water is just from me cleaning it this weekend. If I would go through removing it, my next question is, what do I replace it with, can you buy the expanding foam somewhere? Also, when I pulled it apart, I found a ton of loose pieces of foam that Tracker left in there when the boat was built. It was equally disgusting, so I've pitched it, but should I replace all of that? Can I just pour more expanding foam on top of what is there?

My other question is, where else should I look for damage. The floor looks pretty straight-forward to pull out, but the back deck looks impossible to remove without tearing up carpet, and drilling rivets out. Is there any way to get into there without causing major damage?

Thanks for the help!
--Mike



Modified by mjfrank at 5:10 PM 6/30/2009

If there is a way to get under that back deck without alot of work, I never found it when I had my PT175.

I removed my gas tank and all so I could get underneath.

As far as the foam...i would remove all the bad or wet foam. If you really think it is from you cleaning it, give a few days open, with a fan, to see if it dries. Really though, if the foam is wet deep into it, doubtful that is from you cleaning.

There are alot of sources for the two part expanding foam
US Composites
Jamestown Distributors
I boats

I believe a few board sponsors carry it as well so you might want to look there first.

Thanks for your response. As far as the wet foam, once I got the basketball sized nest out of there, and put a fan on it for a few days, it dryed out pretty well. I have cut the majority of the foam out in the area of the nest, which was about the size of a basketball.

I thought of getting some more of the pour-in foam, but given that most of what I removed was loose already, I think I'm just going to replace it with some blueboard foam insulation from the hardware store. There really wasn't that much removed, and there is plenty left to keep the boat afloat.

I've kind of punted on the rear deck thing, once I got the mess out of the front, and sprayed some deodorizer in the bilge, the smell has pretty much been eliminated. That's good because I really didn't want to tear into the back of the boat.

Thanks again!
--Mike

I would remove the foam if you think it got all the way to the bottom. The foam is really easy to use, it can be messy but not hard. I cut all of my foam and replaced it, here is a link http://www.bbcboards.net...ation. Who knows maybe your smell may go away as well.
I bought my foam from Jamestown Distributors.