I made a boo boo. Need advice patching transom screw holes.

[m_steiger]

Well guys, I messed up. I was in the process of installing some Bennett SLT10 smart tabs on my 1995 Bayliner 2050. I had drilled the four bottom bracket mounting holes per the instructions and as luck would have it, realized I did not have enough room to mount the spring actuator because of the molded in swim platform. The holes were drilled with a 5/32 drill bit at a depth of .850 inches. I know they are through the transom because I used one of those red aerosol can spray straws to probe the hole I could feel what felt to be flotation foam on the other side. I cannot see the back side of the holes due to them being below the deck of the boat. I have done a quick search and seen a couple remedies. For aesthetic reasons, I don't want to dip some #10 SS screws in 5200 and snug them in. I also read about using a fluted dowel pin and another way of using 404 high density filler with resin to patch them. Can you guys help guide me to repair my mistake in the most effective way possible that a professional would repair it? I deeply appreciate y'alls input on helping me get this fixed!

 

[bruceb58]

404 high density filler with resin to patch them.

That's what I use.

 

[82rude]

If it was my boat I would get some hardwood dowels and hammer them in there,then use marine 2 part epoxy to cover and sand and paint .If you do it correctly you will never be able to tell there were ever holes there.P.S. ive done this a few times myself.Only epoxy the hole and no more and the same with sanding and its just a small dab of paint .Its a bit of a pain but the results are virtually impossible to detect.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Does Bennett have shorter actuators like the do with their hydraulic ones? I did that on my sea ray vs moving the tabs inboard. I still had to make little mounting spacers for where the actuator hit the transition between the transom and swim platform.

Pm tabman and ask

However if you have to fill the holes and move, a good marine putty like marine tex works well

 

[fhhuber]

Well the dowels aren't a terrible idea but you want a SLIGHTLY loose fit and have the dowel well coated with epoxy. Just hammering in tight fit dowel with no adhesive is going to allow easy wicking of water into the wood. This can occur from inside as well as outside... so you need to coat the dowel and glob some epoxy into the hole and you want to have the dowel force some epoxy back out as proof that you have enough (too much is almost enough)

Shove the dowel in so it about 1/16 inch inset so you can patch over it with gelcoat after the epoxy cures.

 

[82rude]

Theres no issue with epoxy on the dowel but its not needed atall if you can also epoxy the inside of the boat holes which I neglected to mention and was important actually..No water will get in ever and the hardwood dowel will outlast the rest of the transmon.Ive done many a boat that way usually with 1/2 or so dowels to fix up old motor mount holes to bia standard.

 

[Woodonglass]

If you want to gelcoat over the hole repairs, I'd recommend using thickened Polyester resin. Gelcoat and Epoxy don't work well together.

 

[DeepBlue2010]

Here is how I would do it,

Mask off anywhere you don't want to worry about cleaning up latter

Use Loctite or 3M marine epoxy two parts injector from Lowe's or Home Depot to epoxy in a hardwood dowel. drive the dowel about a 1/4 or 3/8 of an inch inside the hole. Yes, you can use these products in this application since you are not glassing any fiberglass fabric with it, you are just gluing a dowel.


After the epoxy cures, Drill the hole again - up to the visible part of the dowel only - with the same size drill bit you used originally to clean up and traces of epoxy on the sides and the dowel.

Fill the hole with 3M 5200 and let it cure. Add a mask tape on the outside so the 5200 will stay put.

This will take care of the water proofing part of this job. Water will not penetrate this fix. If you are not so big on cosmetic looks, you can stop here and call it good.

If you are a pain in your own nick type person like myself, read on...

Next, take the next size drill bit (11/64) and drill the hole + the 3M5200 wider and about 1/16th- 1/8th inch deep only. The goal will be to provide a reasonable depth for the filler.

Order this kit...

http://www.iboats.com/US-Marine-199...5573179--session_id.641290254--view_id.994327

The three different models(BE, CX and CZ) of your boat produced for this year (1995) used Dream White gelcoat, so the above kit will work no matter what model you have. Mix the hardener and fill with the past and leave it protruding a little for sanding latter. Apply a second layer if the first one shrank.

Use a 320 grit dry to remove the high point and then switch to wet sanding to remove any scratches. It will be almost invisible unless you are really looking.

 

[Tabman]

Does Bennett have shorter actuators like the do with their hydraulic ones? I did that on my sea ray vs moving the tabs inboard. I still had to make little mounting spacers for where the actuator hit the transition between the transom and swim platform.

Pm tabman and ask

However if you have to fill the holes and move, a good marine putty like marine tex works well

The SLT series only have one length of actuator, no shorter ones.