Severe transom failure repair?

[crackedglass]

I'm not one to go looking for big projects but I found a boat today that other than a broken transom, looks like new. It's a 1962 MFG, its been in storage for many years after the transom broke.
It's got an older V4 50 hp on it, which probably would run with a little tlc, but the transom has broken and torn about 6" down on both sides of the motor brackets. The inner skin is pulled through and broken, the top of the transom is completely hollow, no sign of any wood left. The motor was only clamped, no bolt holes. The rest of the boat looks as if it just left the showroom, it still has it's original seats, the gel coat looks new, and the yellow original Gator trailer is rust free.

I can't say how long it's been sitting where it's at, but the last registration sticker is fron 1966. The dash is untouched, no holes, nothing changed from day one.

My concern is that the outer skin is so damaged. The inner skin is no big deal, it would most likely get cut away and tossed when redoing the transom anyway. But the outer skin has been compromised. Can this ever be 100% again? Is it worth the attempt? I know I could probably patch up the outer skin and add a metal reinforcement plate or do a Sea Cast pour but the expense of Seacast is not really in my budget right now. The wood core is easy, I've done one of these boats already, and I'll most likely run a much lighter motor, sending the oversized 50 HP to some collector.
The boat is super clean, even the original plexiglass windshield is mint. The original seats are covered in burlap sacks for storage, entire boat was shrink wrapped and the trailer put on stands up on a rack in a warehouse.
Its got a clear title, for both the boat and trailer, the trailer itself is super cool, just finding an old trailer with the styled fenders in mint shape is cool.

I doubt I'd ever find another one in this shape cosmetically, I can no doubt hide the repairs and make it strong enough to last. I'm just not positive that a glass repair where the transom has to remain at a somewhat uniform thickness will hold up. I can't lay up layers or feather it out too far in an area where the motor must lay flat to the transom, and doing the patch to the outer skin to the inside of the transom cavity, will no doubt affect the fit of the new plywood core. (If doing this with SeaCast, then there would be little concern). My fiberglass experience is moderate at best, I've done two transom replacements and two sole replacements and some light patching but nothing where thickness would affect either fit or structure.

Any suggestions? Is Seacast this boats only hope?
I don't have any pics, it's not mine yet, I'm still debating it. But I do like the boat. I believe it's a Niagara model.

 

[Mark42]

Re: Severe transom failure repair?

Congrats on a nice find! MFG's are good solid boats, but as you see, like most other boats, the transom is still a weak spot when wet.

I've seen a few people fix transoms by cutting off the outside skin and it worked fine. So repairing the torn outer skin where the motor was mounted is no big deal. I would do the traditional transom repair by removing the inside skin and install new plywood (lots of choices, here; cdx, pressure treated, marine, etc). Grind away the damaged outside torn areas to solid glass and rebuild with a few layers of mat and cloth. Fair it all over, paint and you are done.

You can do seacast if you want, and all reports are that it holds up very well. I just feel that not only is it very expensive, it is a lot more work to clean out the transom between the skins than it is to just remove the inside skin and do fresh wood. Just ask anyone who did a seacast transom.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Severe transom failure repair?

I would do the traditional transom repair by removing the inside skin and install new plywood (lots of choices, here; cdx, pressure treated, marine, etc). Grind away the damaged outside torn areas to solid glass and rebuild with a few layers of mat and cloth. Fair it all over, paint and you are done.

I agree 100% with Mark's post. Sounds well worth the effort. I'd love to see some pics. It seems to me that if you did the above....plus perhaps added a layer or two of glass over the cracked area from the inside as well that it'd be good as new. I'd skip the SeaCast idea. It's tough enough to get the $ you sink into a restoration back out without adding all that additional $.

 

[crackedglass]

Re: Severe transom failure repair?

What I was thinking was to glue two sheets of 3/4" ACX ply together, then laminate both sides with glass mat and epoxy, and install the transom wet, this should bond the outer skin pretty well to the wood, pretty much stopping any further tearing, then grind and feather out the damaged area and fill it in with some mat.

My concern is not getting the outer panel flat where the motor sits. I don't want to form a lump or high spot there. Either way, I think I'd feel better running an external motor plate between the motor and the glass. It will not only hide any body work but prevent the motor from working against any repairs there. The inner skin is easy, the hardest part there will no doubt be sealing up where he splashwell meets the inner transom skin. Right now it's only got a piece of hard rubber slid over the edge of the splashwell fiberglass.

The part that amazes me the most is how clean this thing is elsewhere, I find it hard to believe that the transom rotted out. The wood is so rotted that there is no sign of any wood showing, the entire cavity is hollow and clean, but it's not been taken apart or cleaned, there's only the ripped open holes in the top where the motor clamps pulled through and came across the top and down. The motor stayed attached, but barely. Its as if the wood is completely disolved. Yet the wood in the seats and the rest of the boat is mint. Even the trim is still mint, no pitting, no fading. Just dust from years of storage.

I considered the fact that it may have hit something but the motor is pulled the wrong way, down not back. There are two 6" holes in the top inner panel of the transom, and I can look with a flashlight and see both drain tubes at the bottom, with only some splinters and dust at the bottom of the cavity. On the plus side, there's no wood to clean out, but I have no idea where it went.

What sort of power were these boats rated for? The transom design doesn't look like it was really meant to hold a motor like the 50 hp V4 thats on it?

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Severe transom failure repair?

What sort of power were these boats rated for?

You haven't given us any info other than year and brand. What size boat are we talking here?

 

[Mark42]

Re: Severe transom failure repair?

You haven't given us any info other than year and brand. What size boat are we talking here?

Its a '62 MFG Niagara - 14' close bow runabout. Has a 50hp limit. Like the one in my signature.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Severe transom failure repair?

Interesting. Can you imagine the weight difference between one of those old fat 50's and a modern 2 cyl one?

 

[crackedglass]

Re: Severe transom failure repair?

Well, I ended up with the boat and trailer today, but somethings just weren't meant to be. Some cell phone driver decided to make the boat about 18" shorter than it was before. It's now totally missing the transom, rear 10" or so of the floor and lower hull are smashed to splinters. The trailer also took a nasty hit, it bend both axle crossmembers about 2" forward in the middle. The boat is finished now, not worth fixing. It's up to the insurance company what they will pay for it. I had alreay removed the motor and controls for safe travel, and will remove the brand new teleflex and fish finder in the boat. It busted the floor loose somewhere up front, I can feel it moving under my feet now, where it didn't before. The boat no longer sits right on the bunks either, but they too are busted up, as are all the bunk brackets. The trailer came with it, it's an Escort trailer from a bass boat, so no big loss but I can fix the trailer pretty easily with two new pieces of angle iron for the crossmembers and some new lights, one fender, and new bunk boards.

The hit all but completely severed the entire transom, what was broken before, and cracked is now completely gone, the hit broke the transom away from the lower hull, and from all but the upper few inches on eash side, Since there was no wood left in the transom, it just crushed like paper. It's sort of flapping like a dump truck tailgate now hinged at the top.

 

[danond]

Re: Severe transom failure repair?

Holy crap. Glad you're OK. Boats are replaceable!

It was perfect before that guy hit it, right?

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Severe transom failure repair?

I had a boat hit the same way a while back by someone on a cell phone.
He probably yapping on the phone and not really looking.
He admitted he was on the phone and told the officer what happened.
The fact that the motor was in the truck with pieces of the transom and the bolts still attached to it pretty much gives it away that it wasn't perfect before the crash, the trailer will most likely have more value than the boat will. I had nothing invested other than an hour's drive and my gas. The sum of it's parts will no doubt exceed it's value. Besides, that huge white bow light will look great on my other boat if your not using it.

If the floor hadn't moved forward and got so crunched up at the back, it would still be tempting to fix, but to put it bluntly, I've got better things to do than spend time trying to revive a wreck. The trailer I'll fix, I can straighten the fenders, and replace two cross members.

Get some good estimates for insurance purposes Monday. Both the boat and trailer will no doubt be totaled by dollars and cents.

If I had chanced the tow with mine on the original trailer, I'd be out that too, but that's still there, waiting for me to pick it up with my flatbed, I'll get to it the next time I'm up that way. The tires were pretty old looking so I figured the boat was better off on a trailer I knew was road worthy.

I am glad that the guy just admitted what he did, its pretty much what kept me calm, I'm usually a raving lunatic in those situations. He still kept his distance from me. After he saw me pick up the outboard from in the boat and put it in the back of the truck, he stayed well back. He did ask me what it weighed, All I did was grumble a bit as I hauled it over the side of the boat and onto my tailgate. I figured they might tow the trailer or try too since it now had no lights but they didn't bother. 2003 Honda Accords don't fair too well against 2x4 bunks, fiberglass and steel frame rails either. His car looked pretty bad, something was rubbing the fan or motor, he had only one headlight, a hood that looked more like a ski slope, and his bumper had two nice new 2x4" vent holes. His own hood took out his windshield when he opened it to see what was making the rubbing sound. I didn't much care what was making all the noise myself.

 

[crackedglass]

Re: Severe transom failure repair?

I was fine after the guy hit this one, almost relieved I guess in that it made up my mind on fixing it for me, but its a real shame to see such a clean boat trashed. I'll no doubt end up with something from his insurance, plus all the parts. I don't care much about the trailer, it's just a beater trailer I use for stuff like this. The trailer was a by product of another free boat deal.
I never liked the trailer much which is why it only gets used as junk trailer. It's hard to load in the water and too heavy for it's size.
The guy that hit mine was driving a mini van, it damaged the hood a bit and one fender but not really bad. He ran under the boat, lifting it and the trailer up. My motor was in the bottom of the boat, I figured that if they towed the boat, I didn't want to chance leaving the motor in the boat either.
The trailers last cross member is twisted from where the bunk brackets pushed forward. No where's near as bad as on yours. I'll probably not bother even fixing it, that trailer gets used more for other junk than hauling boats. I just slap a sheet of plywood across the bunks and it's an instant flatbed. The bunks don't even have carpet anymore.

The trailer I still have to get is similar to yours, it's a row of rollers down the center with two short side bunks. Not much of a trailer but it is mint. I'm not sure what I'll be doing with that yet. The bow light will go on my other boat or I'll hunt down another one of these hulls. Basically I have everything now to make one mint.
I have a line on another one, but I'm not sure what shape it's in. I will probably have to wait till the insurance co. looks at this before I do anything.

 

[special_kaye]

Re: Severe transom failure repair?

Its a '62 MFG Niagara - 14' close bow runabout. Has a 50hp limit. Like the one in my signature.

I'd do it. In a heartbeat.

 

[F14CRAZY]

Re: Severe transom failure repair?

a shame that happened but good to know you're okay