Transom repair

[SkunkBoat]

broke out the chainsaw...

yesterday was slow going. Tried to remove the remains of the wood from the edges using the auger bit and a tiny flat bar. Wasted most of a day before making the move to the chain saw. I had bought a 14" electric at Harbor Freight (under $50) just in case but I was kind of afraid to try it.

GREATEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD!!!!!!

Of course, you do have to be careful (said the guy using a chain saw for an unintended purpose).

Starboard side was super easy because of the angle. Port side got pretty awkward toward the top because you had to be sort of upside-down. Still way faster than my other method. You would be surprised how the side of the chain rides along the fiberglass.

 

[bradford]

Sweet!

 

[SkunkBoat]

OK! Poured the transom today!

Working on a video of the full project but here are some pics.

Had a problem but turned out ok.

In pics, watch the drain hole on the stringer. There were small holes between the transom & the bottoms of the stringers (plural) that I did not forsee.

Luckily paper towels stopped it up quick. Only lost about a pint into the bilge area.

2 buckets (10 Gal) reached to about 3 inches below the transom cutout.

It cooked for a couple hours. Solid as a rock now.

I will glass over the cutout and pour the rest tomorrow.

 

[bradford]

Looking forward to the video.

 

[Striper80]

Looking good. I'm getting ready to cut into mine in a few weeks.

 

[captpete13]

Looking good. Are you coming back to Garden State when it's all back together?

 

[bgreene]

Good for you - doing it yourself, likely learned a lot, saved $$ and will be proud of the job.

 

[SkunkBoat]

Looking good. Are you coming back to Garden State when it's all back together?

yes, paid for the slip already so I would be motivated!

 

[SkunkBoat]

So! A question about the hardness of cured ceramic compound has come up from another guy on the forum who just poured a transom also, saying
"it is supposed to be as hard as a rock and you can’t drive a nail into it”.
His is not. Mine is not.

Now I figured that, as a core material, it would not be that hard.
There is no official info about it on Carbon-Core's site or Arjay's site

I have a hockey puck shaped piece that I made in a measuring cup during my pour.
It is dry. Not tacky.
It seems solid to me but it can be easily screwed into, easily drilled, and while I can’t get a finish nail into it, a cement shingle nail goes in readily. It does not split or chip at the nail hole.
The edges can be shaved and the shavings hold together somewhat.
I drilled the drain hole in the transom with a 1 inch spade bit and it was like smooth fine grained wood.
It is not brittle and it certainly is not “hard as a rock”.

The transom itself is solid, no flex with my 200 lbs jumping on it.
It got really hot so it definitely kicked and it is not tacky.

Before I glass everything back together and hang a 429 lb motor on it, can anyone with first hand experience set my mind at ease (hopefully) or tell me not to put the motor on without more life insurance.

 

[bgreene]

Suggestions......

1. Put your question on the Hull Truth web site - likely get fast, experienced feedback.

2. Call the product mfg. and ask about it.

 

[never satisfied]

transom

Ok,
Heard back from Arjay.. First I want to say how grateful I am they took my same issue with great importance
Second by the time they received my sample it had fully cured along with the sample I have on my desk. They said it was exactly what you would expect with the material. I am waiting another week to hang my engine but I feel so much better knowing, that they said it was good

John

 

[SkunkBoat]

Yes, I feel better too.
...back to work!!!!

Now I'm adding a layer of woven with epoxy to cover the repaired inside skin.

I have some new deck drains, scuppers, flush rodholders and flush cleats to add before I glass the motorwell back in.

Raining like hell though...

 

[SkunkBoat]

Since I have clear access with the back cap off...

Added the new rodholders and flush cleats.
I wanted some 30 deg rodholders angled out 90deg. There is no way to get them in gunnels because they are too narrow.
I found these from Gem-Lux. They don't have screw holes so they are only 3.5 inch on the diagonal instead of normal 4.5 inch.

Put the rodholders right over the old holes for the cleats.

Thought they would clear the tubs in the transom hatches but they don't. 15 deg holders would clear or angling them out 45 instead of 90 would work. There no changing your mind...once you cut an angled hole thats it.

so now I have to figure out what to replace the tubs with. Only use them to hold boat soap & hand cleaner I think I'll tab in some rails to inside transom and the cap wall to mount a shelf. Thought about mounting a bucket in there but it would never come out once the cap is on.

If I ditch the tubs I'll post them here cause people are always looking for them.

Cleats went in easy. I like them. Don't use the stern cleats much since I clip to transom u-bolts.


solid week of rain has me behind on the project and just not enough time.

 

[Striper80]

Can you notch or make the tub smaller so it clears the rod holder?

 

[SkunkBoat]

yes, thats one possibility we've discussed. The tubs are small to begin with so cutting it makes it hold almost nothing
Having a rodholder that points out is way more useful than the tub.

I was thinking of mounting a bucket in there. It wouldn't ever come out but it could hold a lot of stuff and I could reach in to get it

you know, at one point I was trying to design a livewell into that space but I just don't have the time for that now.

 

[bradford]

I've thought about cutting access hatches into the face of the transom gunnel above the deck drains to gain better access to that area. Might be something to consider to make the space more useful for storage etc?

 

[SkunkBoat]

getting it done so I can go fishing

Well, we left off with me deciding whether to escalate this project to a cap-off full paint restoration or just slap it back together and go fishing...

Today we started slapping it back together.

Here are some pictures pulled from video.(I will post a complete transom -pour video when I'm done.

Next step is glassing the cuts from the inside and glasssing over the lip of the transom.

Don't expect to see a pretty paint job when complete. Gonna get her fishing for a few months while I PLAN out a full resto- and secure a large garage space for winter work.

 

[Blue_Runner]

Good job Skunk....looking forward to you getting back out there.

 

[SkunkBoat]

moved scuppers

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[SkunkBoat]

Motorwell is back on and painted

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