Bulkhead question

I am going to be doing alot of work to my boat this winter and one of my planed projects is to replace the bulkhead that is just past the dash/footwell area. My question is this, I have always heard/been told that the top of the bulkhead should be tabed to the deck and not touching the deck. My current bulkhead is a tight fit to the bottom side of the deck and on the out side there are a few hair line stress cracks on both sides of the boat where it is in contact with the bulkhead. So do I tab in the new one or do I shoe horn it in, Thanks.
Chris.

The bulkhead should not touch the sides or bottom of the deck. This will eventually cause stress cracks. Leave a space and tab it in.

Depending on what type of flat you have you probably have some type of flotaition in the front, we used to install nothing but air bags and there still all in tact

I am going to be doing alot of work to my boat this winter and one of my planed projects is to replace the bulkhead that is just past the dash/footwell area. My question is this, I have always heard/been told that the top of the bulkhead should be tabed to the deck and not touching the deck. My current bulkhead is a tight fit to the bottom side of the deck and on the out side there are a few hair line stress cracks on both sides of the boat where it is in contact with the bulkhead. So do I tab in the new one or do I shoe horn it in, Thanks.
Chris.Hey Garth give me a call at the shop.