Newb with a boat and lots of questions!

[wvff525]

Hi I have a 73 15' SeaStar open bow boat. I have alot of questions about this boat. The guy I got it from said he replaced the floor and by pulling up the carpet it appears that he did. The floor feels very solid and I'm not worried about it.

What I'm worried about is the transom. It is weak, very weak and the wood inside is really mushy.

Isn't the transom tied into the floor stringers?

Shouldn't the guy have done the transom at the same time?

What I was planning on doing was cutting through the first layer of fiberglass(on the outside of the boat) down to the rotted wood. This would leave the inner layer of glass intact. Then removing all of the rotted wood and putting new in. then re using the original fiberglass panel that I cut off and just reglassing around it where I made the cuts. Does this sound like a good method to do this?

Will i need to glass the inside joints as well as the outside joints?

Will I be able to see the floor structure this way?

What is the best way to tie the new transom to the stringers?

I am new to this and have never done this before. Also, I think I read on here that you can use treated plywood. Obviously, I would want to seal this to prolong it's life. What would be the best way of doing this?

I was planning on getting 2 sheets of 3/4" and 1 sheet of 1/2" and joining them all together to make a total of 2" of thickness. Is this sufficiant to hang a 50HP mercury off of?

Also, I have never worked with fiberglass before, and to be honest all the things I've read about epoxy, resins and catalyst etc. are pretty confusing. Could someone point me in the right direction on what to buy? I want to do this job right.

I have also looked into the seacast for the transom and would like to go that route but due to the cost of the stuff I won't be able to.

So I will have to use plywood. I realize that this method is not a lifetime fix and will eventually fail in years to come. I'm and avid DIYer and am looking forward to doing this project. I'm just a little confused about what products to buy and where to get them for a good cost.

I also want to make sure I seal the treated plywood the best I can to prolong it's life. Is there a good how to article on this somewhere on the net? I have searched through the forums and have been doing alot of reading but none have answered all my questions. Looking forward to the advice. Thanks in advance.

 

[JB]

Re: Newb with a boat and lots of questions!

Howdy, wvff.

Your post is very difficult to read. 500 words with no paragraph breaks is just a block of words and not many will take the time to try to mine your questions out of it.

Try breaking it up into short paragraphs with one question each.

Click on the "interact" box, go to "edit post", then edit your entry. That will make it easier for we oldsters to make it out.

Thanks, and good luck.

EDIT: Nice job on the editing! 8)

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Newb with a boat and lots of questions!

I am going to be the one who recommends against cutting from the outside on your transom repair. As evidenced by your narrative, you are new to boat repair and working with fiberglass. It is possible to do the repair as you suggest, but only a pro should do it this way. Someone who has done it successfully many times would end up with a safe result.

I have worked on boats for a good amount of time and I would never attempt a transom job from the outside. The majority of your strength comes from the hull shell having been laid up as a single unit. When you cut the outer shell and reglass it, you end up with a lot of secondary bonds. Even with epoxy, an improperly done job like this could result in the outboard ripping the transom off of the boat under acceleration.

The better way for a novice to do this job is from the inside. Remove the entire upper section from the boat, its not that hard and is necessary. An alternative it to cut the back area of the upper section and remove just that portion. The goal is to have complete access to the transom and to have the splashwell out of the way. Speaking of splashwell, it will only allow so much thickness to the transom. Your best bet is to reproduce the original thickness, it will be enough.

Once you have access to the transom, you would need to cut the floor 1 foot back from the transom. You will want to try not to cut the stringers, you will want them intact so you can glass them to the new transom wood. You can cut and glass your new wood in, then glass the section of floor back in. This will give you a much, much stronger and safer repair.

I shudder every time I see people wanting to do a transom job from the outside unless they are old timers that have done it a million times. Good luck.....

 

[oncebitten]

Re: Newb with a boat and lots of questions!

I'll probably get flamed in a huge way for these suggestions, but I'm going for it anyway. First, the two guys ahead of me are absolutely right.

Second, try reading all the how-to files at http://www.bateau2.com first. They've got excellent proceedural how to's on doing stitch-n-glue boat building, which is basically what you're going to do on this boat to repair it. Nothing will take the place of study. You should start there and read everything you can. Also there are lots of books on the market about boat building. Try a couple of the better ones.

The thickness of the transom material is only half the battle (as JasonJ suggests above), the fiberglass/epoxy schedule for the transom to hull joinery is the second and no less important part of the equation. Make sure it's biaxial and layed up in sufficient layers with overlaps to hold the whole thing together. Make sure you encase your plywood (hopefully you'll buy marine grade Meranti at the least) in several coats of epoxy and at least a single layer of biax inside and out for durability. That's my suggestion. I'm a big fan of epoxy resins, they're hugely more expensive than poyester resins, but, call me crazy, that's all I'll use after several years of boat building/repair. You'll no doubt get other opinions on that matter.

You can definately do it, and I hope I haven't discouraged you with my careful answer. I'm new to this board myself, and I'm trying not to step on toes.

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: Newb with a boat and lots of questions!

Another method of transom replacement involves removing only the rotten wood in between the inner and outer fiberglass. Use the "search" button and look for Sea Cast. It is an alternative method that seems to have had a great deal of success.
http://www.transomrepair.com/transom/transom.html

 

[wvff525]

Re: Newb with a boat and lots of questions!

Sorry about not separating my post into paragraphs. I was kind of in a hurry.

I have edited it and hopefully it will be easier to read.

 

[oncebitten]

Re: Newb with a boat and lots of questions!




Ah... never mind.

 

[wvff525]

Re: Newb with a boat and lots of questions!

ok so I need to separate the upper section of the boat from the lower section? I assume this joint would be behind the rub rail? Is this a joint I will have to cut?

Just I thought, would it be possible to cut just the section off directly above the plywood in the transom? Then remove the old plywood that way?

I guess this would be similar to the prep work you would do if using SeaCast. Then I could slide the new plywood back between the original two layers of fiberglass, crawl under the splashwell and make my cut in the floor to attach the transom to the stringers.

Just a thought that I had. I would like to do this as quickly as possible but still get good results. I'm looking for other alternatives because I don't really have the manpower or the means to hoist the upper section of the boat off.

 

[wvff525]

Re: Newb with a boat and lots of questions!

Well, here is my plan for the weekend. I am going to cut the fiberglass off directly above the plywood in the transom. This will let me see the condition of the plywood, which I think is extremely rotted. If possible, I will attempt to remove all the wood out of the transom this way. I know it will be hard to do, but I'm willing to try.

If that doesn't go over very well. I will remove the whole upper half of the boat. Then grind out the inner layer of glass and remove the plywood from the transom that way. I assume I will have to remove the rub rail to do this. I also don't know what kind of joint will the behind the rub rail, but I guess I'll find out. Here are my questions.

What is the easy way to remove pop rivets? I was planning on drilling them out. Or is there a better way to do it?

Do the two sections usually overlap each other?

Are they joined by a thin layer of fiberglass or anything?

Can I rejoin the sections back with screws or should I do pop rivets like is originally there?

Do I use a waterproof adhesive when putting the two sections back together? Or thin layer of fiberglass?

Here is a link to some photos I took when I first got the boat. http://s52.photobucket.com/albums/g24/wvff525/Emily/boat/ It has been cleaned up alot since those photos were taken.

Looking for guidence from some of you that have done this before. Any help will be appreciated! Thanks in advance.

 

[oncebitten]

Re: Newb with a boat and lots of questions!

I'll give it one more shot. Here's an excellent tutorial on transom replacement.

http://209.190.4.227/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11294

 

[andy6374]

Re: Newb with a boat and lots of questions!

Also....

If you want to replace portions of the stringers that option is just not viable if you decide to work from the outside. Also consider the fact that there will be a good amount of fairing of the outside skin if you repair it that way.

 

[wvff525]

Re: Newb with a boat and lots of questions!

oncebitten.... thanks for the link. very informative tutorial.

I worked on it this weekend,and ended up separating the boat and am replacing the transom the conventional way.

The plywood in there was completly rotted and waterlogged. I was amazed, it just falls apart when you touch it! No way it would have withstood the weight of the motor. I am hopeing to get it finished this weekend.

Thanks for the help.