Replacing the Ceiling in a Sun Shine 36

[msafiri]

Dear All,

I am a happy owner of a Sun Shine 36, which is living her second life after a major refit (new sails, new engine, new deck equipment).

The next project I am planning to take on is to make the interior rebuilt.

My major headache is the ceiling in the boat. To be able to replace the deck gears, I had to remove the ceiling almost everywhere. As it was directly fixed on the deck, I was not able to fix it with the original screws, so I had to make new holes, new fixings. Now the ceiling is full of holes.

I tried to make small plastic pills, with a nut glued into. My intention was to glue these pills on the bottom of the deck and use them to fix the ceiling.

Plus, I planned to rebuilt to wood panels to replace the old ones with new, this is the most complex part of the work.

The project is on hold, better to go sailing, but I plan to restart it in October.

I am looking for ideas, advices, tips and trick on how to tackle such work.

All info is appreciated.

Cheers,

MSafiri

[MartyB]

Not sure where you are at in the world, BUT, those pills and caps are available at least in the US at West marine in three colors, or colours depending upon you part of the world. A Black, white and a brown, as I recall the brown is called teak. This is what I used on the Arcadia, a 30' version of your rig when I replaced all of the linings, ie hull and cabin top liners. If you go to the main jeanneau owners site, into the hints and tips section, look for Ardacia headliner replacement articles. There are two of them, one for the Head area, and the other the state room.

Marty

[msafiri]

Hi Marty,

I am writing from France. The pills you are talking about are those which holding and hiding the head of the screw?

To be able to change the deck gears I had to remove the ceiling panels. When tried to put it back, I realised that originally it was fixed to the deck itself. Of course the screws were holding nothing and I had to use different locations to be able to fix the ceiling.

I did small blocks from plastic to hold the ceiling. It has a diameter 20 mm, a place in the middle to hold an M4 sized nut. My plan was to glue these blocks to be deck then use M4 sized screws to fix the ceiling. It would allow me to be able to remove the panels easily.

The idea is great but does not work that perfect. the original wood panels were only painted, now it is full of holes. I either have to use something to cover the holes, or create new panels. I am thinking about the second option.

What do you think about it?

Cheers,

MSafiri

[MartyB]

My plywood was vinyl covered, and the screws went into the actual fiberglass on the bottom side of the ceiling. I was able to by some of the new plastic caps and backs from West Marine for area's that I added new paneling where it was just the foam backed vinyl glued to the hull. In area's where I would/might need to get to deck gear later I made up my own plywood through the use of a paper template, then made the plywood a bit big, then down to the boat to cut and sand into place.

Here is the aft bunk area link at the hints and tips area
www.jeanneau-owners.com/hintsandtips/headliningcabin.html

West Marines link to the screw caps
www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/producte/10001/-1/10001/299183/377%20710/0/screw%20caps/Primary%20Search/mode%20matchallpartial/0/0?N=377%20710&Ne=0&Ntt=screw%20caps&Ntk=Primary%20Search&Ntx=mode%20matchallpartial&Nao=0&Ns=0&keyword=screw%20caps&isLTokenURL=true&storeNum=13&subdeptNum=null&classNum=0

I would think, that doing something to what I have done should work. You are also working on the main cabin top are you not? I have vinyl covered plywood there too. Probably 4mm or 3/16" of so. Being from the US, we are a bit back wards for some dumb reason on measuring, still preferring non metric measures, which is a LOT easier to use. For the new panels, I got a door veneer from the local lumber/hardware store, as I recall it was 4mm in thickness.

Marty

[msafiri]

Indeed, the screws went straight into the fiberglass. I guess the previous owners were removing the panels as often as possible, so the screws are not holding any longer.

I will try to rework the main cabin ceiling as well, guess it will be the winter project together with the rewiring of the whole electric system.

Thanks for the links, will have a look on them in a min (I had no time yesterday to check it out)

Cheers,

MSafiri

[MartyB]

You may try one size fatter, and slightly longer on the the screws. The other I did in some of the areas that were really drilled out per say, is fill with a fiberglass filler and redrilled the holes. This worked in some areas. Otherwise, many times, I choose a different spot to put the screws when I redid the covering, so no existing holes were showing.

It is not that hard, just takes some thinking, just a bit out of the box, and it will be fine in the end.

Marty

[paulhille]

Hi, I am kinda new to this forum, however seem to (as they say be in the same boat), with an older Gin Fizz 38. I still need the engine , any advice?. As far as the ceiling goes I had lots of leaks over the years and my ply veneer ceiling delaminated and came apart badly. I removed it all carefully saving the 3/4" half round mahogany moldings that were used as a sort of batten on the seams. I found pieces of single double and triple stacked glued 2"x2" pieces of paneling glued in various strategic places to screw the new ceiling to. Keep in mind to try to remove the old pieces and mark them as it will be a lot easier to make your new panels with a template. I was after a brite ceiling as my entire interior is a kind of dark mahogany. I picked up 4'x8' FRP panels, approx 1/8th thick.( Fiberglass Reinforced Panels), I got mine in Home depot, any building supply store has this it is used commercially all over the world in public restroom walls, kitchens, It is impervious to water, has a kind of pebble finish, comes in white or a beige tan color. I screwed it to the small blocks I glued to the under ceiling, basically where the old fasteners were. I used small Phillip's, SS, wood screws with a small SS kitchen cabinet washer. The head is flush when in the washer. When you are done reinstall the battens you had or make new ones pre drill and use the same hardware.Oh, and they make a very small channel you can glue and screw along the the outer upper edges of the windows. Mine really brightened up my interior, and it is removable , 5 years later it still looks brand new. Sorry to be so wordy, feel free to contact me if you have any questions... Red