I did this job about 10 years ago on my 1986 C27. I spoke to Catalina how to remove the bulkhead and followed their directions even though it sounded crazy, and dangerous. The mast must be down. Remove everything that attaches to both sides of the bulkhead. Table, shroud plates, medicine cabinet; everything. Then comes the scary part. Using a 2X4 placed on top of a small hydraulic jack, placed near the compression post, slowly jack up the cabin top, I placed a small piece of wood under the jack to spread out the load on he floor. When jacking, be very careful because the 2X4 or the jack can slip very easily and it fly's out with a lot of force. Trust me, it happened a couple of times until I got it positioned just right. While jacking, the boat creeks and groans something fierce. Keep jacking until the fiberglass around the compression post is just high enough to tilt the top of the compression post out. Once the post is out, you can then slide the entire bulkhead out. Again, use a lot of care not to jar the 2X4 while removing the bulkhead. Once the bulkhead is out, you can let the jack down until the new bulkhead is ready to be put back in place. I took a piece of marine grade teak plywood and the old bulkhead to the cabinet maker that made my kitchen cabinets. He was able to cut the new bulkhead using the old one as a template. He also was able to match and apply the laminate to the head side of the bulkhead. He matched it perfectly. He told me that the bulkhead has seven different compound miter cuts. That alone made it worthwhile having him fabricate it. Very minor sanding made it fit perfectly. You just jack up the cabin top and install everything in reverse. By the way, I used Cetol on the cabin side of the bulkhead and it matched almost perfectly to the rest of the factory stained wood. Also, it's a good time to run any new wires you need up the compression post and out the top. I know this whole thing sounds crazy, but trust me, it just took a lot of guts, planning and care. I gave you the real quick explanation, let me know if you need any more detail. John Wamboldt C27 #6287 ZuZu's Petals Lake Michigan In a message dated 5/19/2010 4:10:04 P.M. Central Daylight Time, [email protected] writes:
I've search archives for information related to replacing the starboard bulkhead on a mid eighties catalina 27. I have an 87' that needs a new bulkhead. Has anyone documented their effort to replace a late model 27's starboard bulkhead? I don't want to quess and start removing parts randomly. It appears that a least a portion of the compression post might have to be removed in order to slide the bulkhead out. The post looks to be four pieces of solid wood lamenated together. There are four bungs visible on the side of the post next to the drop down table. I'm assuming these hide the screws that anchor the bulkhead to the post. Can the post be removed to allow access to the bulkhead? Looking for some help! Steve
