Can styrofoam be removed

[shuka]

On 2001 sportster the driver side engine compartment has styrofoam block.( the other side is where the battery is with no styrofoam. Can i remove this if so can it cause any problems. Its seems to be a waste of needed space.

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

The styrofoam blocks are there to make the boat pass USCG regulations which say the boat can't sink below the gunwhales with XX amount of weight on board, mine has a block on the battery side (PORT) at the corner of transom as well as starboard.

 

[shuka]

So they can be removed

 

[racerxxx]

So they can be removed

Yes they can be removed, as long as there is room to remove them. The real question is SHOULD they be removed, NO. The titanic never would have sank if the captain hadn't ordered the styrofoam to be removed. Just push them back up if it fell out, and a little silicone to help it stick back. The piece on the starboard side of my Speedster fell down and I just pushed it back up and wedged it. I could see where they glued it but the glue eventually gave up.

The styrofoam blocks are there to make the boat pass USCG regulations which say the boat can't sink below the gunwhales with XX amount of weight on board, mine has a block on the battery side (PORT) at the corner of transom as well as starboard.

Oh no, not the GUNWHALE!!!!!! No "h" in gunwales, sorry Sports, the first thing that came to mind was a whale with guns, and low and behold Google has one, LOL

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

Okay racer, I'll work on my spelling!

As an additional aside, many boats have a liquid polymer foam poured into the hull at the factory for the purpose of flotation and sometimes it's necessary to remove this foam in order to gain access to perform repairs. A knife can be used to carve out large chunks and a weed whacker works pretty well for removing the remainder of this type of foam, but you'll need a shop vac to clean up the resulting mess!

 

[racerxxx]

LOL, I knew what you meant though and your description was correct. We all have some horrible spelling as well at time. It was more comical than a jab at your spelling. Like the ebay post a few months back for the Dual Crabs not Dual Carbs.

 

[hotrodssnova]

I like the weed whacker idea. I would love to see a video of that! . I used I saws all to trim that stuff from around the battery area so I could get to it. I have a 94 speedster.