Having 'loosely' stitched together the 5 panels, I am now fitting the bulkheads. I have sanded down all of the smaller tabs from the factory cutting - but have left the larger 2 tabs at the base. I'm not sure whether to get rid of these two larger tabs at the bottom of each bulkhead (i.e., are they structural or meant to be sanded?). When I place the bulkheads into the boat they seem to fit really well at the designated spots where the pre-drilled stitching holes are located (fairly flush with the side and bilge panels and coming in nicely underneath the sheer clamps). However, if I don't sand them down, the bulkheads will not be flush with the bottom panel and I will need to fill a large gap with the upcoming fillet to maintain the watertight intention. Any thoughts about leaving the tabs or sanding them off? Many thanks, John
Thanks SB. My MC 13 doesn't have any slots in the bottom panel to fit the tabs, so my guess is that they need to be sanded off the bottom of the bulkheads. If I end up with any gaps they will likely be at the top where the bulkhead meets the sheer clamps - if that happens should be relatively easy to fill with glue, or if too large, glue a small piece of excess shear clamp in the hole.