Hi all, couple of questions to put forth. 1981 V20 Steplift. I'm looking at this thing and the transom sounds solid (will know more when I remove the outdrive) and the stringers are hard as a rock (glassed over) Did Wellcraft originally glass in the stringers? The boat just got home and is dirty as sin so I'll be cleaning it this weekend to see what I'm really working with. Pictures to follow tonight (on my lunch break now and the army dosnt pay me to post pictures ;-)
Yes they did, hand layed hulls too, they used some heavy glass (woven roving like 28 oz. layed into mat for complete wet out). They got a little sloppy here and there where the sisters meet the main stringers. But they are built pretty tough. Congrats. on the new project.
BTW- Transoms aren't near as critical on a I/O as they are with the outboard counterparts. In your case, the transom has to be able to hold the gimbal mount and outdrive up. The engine rests on the stringers inside the boat. The main reason so many transoms fail is due to all the holes the owners poke in them and fail to seal the holes properly and the way Wellcraft sealed the top of the transoms on nearly all of the outboard models leaves much to be desired. Yours has a full transom where the cap shields the top of the transom from the elements. That is a good thing.
Yes they did, hand layed hulls too, they used some heavy glass (woven roving like 28 oz. layed into mat for complete wet out). They got a little sloppy here and there where the sisters meet the main stringers. But they are built pretty tough. Congrats. on the new project.