Great question Brian, and one that I've wrestled with also. I have heard and read exactly the same things, and was careful to leave that gap when intalling the floor. The plywood is about that far away from the body. But for the stringers I had to put them up against the fiberglass outer shell as there was no way to stiffen the body or attach them without glassing them right to the shell.

I did put two to four layers of mat as a cushion between each stinger and the body, and wetted it out so it is bonding the wood to the glass. I did the same thing on my '27 and never got any shadowing. I went one step further on the '27 that I won't be doing on this one. I glassed an outer piece of 1/4 plywood to make an inner shell, and then poured in expandible foam between the two layers. The thinking was that it would make a rock solid body. I guess it worked, as the car never got any stress cracks, but in hindsight was overkill.

I think as long as I paint everything between the stringers with the black bed liner it should provide enough of a light screen that there should be no problems. At least I hope so.

Just don't know another way to do it, and even Total Performance, in their wooding kit, provide instructions how to bond pieces of wood to the interior of the body. (by the way, don't ever buy their wooding kit. I got one with the T bucket I bought a long time ago from some guy, and it is nothing but cheap, crooked firring strips. And they get big money for them.)

Yeah, I know this sort of contradicts that rule you and I have come to accept, but since most boat have wood glassed up tight against the hulls, and I have also done this on my '27, I think it will be ok.

Time will tell.

Don