Bigfoot (old vs new)

Bert the Welder wrote:
Don't worry about coming to Canada. Our poosy gov't doesn't have the walnuts to actually close the boarder like they should.
I'm on Van. Isl and I've seen, Texas, Florida, Utah, Mass., Arizona, Cal., New York, etc, etc, etc..... license plates. And there's no way they are all new residents that just haven't changed their registration and they can't have 'accidentally' come to the Isl. going from Wash State to AK.

I'm in Victoria so I'll have to check out T.C. Though I've not the need for one, always nice to see what's going on locally.

One thing I never figured out is given how quick and cheap it would be, why don't manufacturers prime and paint the wood components. It's not the be all, end all. But would certainly help.

Also, since you guys seem to know about fiberglass, something I wondered about was the holes for the windows, vents, etc. Why are they not built into the mould? Not like they custom move windows around for each order. Rather then hacking in a hole with a flat edge, a small curb could be moulded in. Just a 1/2" would do the trick. Would work for both roof and wall penetrations I'd think. But I'd be please to hear if you think this is not possible.

I've got a boat stuck in Canada (Sidney) and they won't let me in. Friends of mine tried twice, once driving through Vancouver and another time flew to Victoria, both times got turned back without humor.

Now, on fiberglass, why indeed do the penetrations not have molded features? I think the answer for Bigfoot lies in that they use the same mold for several models, which have roof skylights and windows in different places depending on floor plan. On a boat, you would have flat bosses for the flat windows and hatches, the core would be closed out around those holes to eliminate the possibility of leakage. On the roof, the boss would be raised, and since from the beginning of time water has run downhill that alone would cure 90% of roof leaks. These things have been done since the 60's on fiberglass boats.

Even if you do not have specific features in the mold, on a boat when you penetrate a cored surface you rebate the core for about 1/2 - 1x it's thickness, and fill the gap between the skins with a watertight filler (usually thickened epoxy on a boat). This closes the core, and makes a hard rim to attach the window. Bigfoot kinda-sorta does this in some places, they replace the core with wood at the edges of known penetrations, sometimes. This is what I would do with a T-C built shell. If the core is very thick (which the T-C shells are), after rebating the core I'd bond in a fiberglass U channel or rectangular tube all around. Stiffens the hole edges, waterproofs the core, and provides a hard spot to fasten the window.