Filling gaps between transom and hull.

[ddavisr]

Whats the best method for filing around the new transom and the hull? I have a small gap and I was thinking of shredding fiberglass, adding resin and packing it in the cracks with a 1 inch knife. Any pros and cons would be great.<br /><br />Thanks

 

[Wimperdink]

Re: Filling gaps between transom and hull.

This maybe? I've used this but not marine tex. The bondo stuff is short strand fiberglass hairs in a puddy that you mix with a hardener. You'll have a lot less trouble with it than just using shredded glass and resin as it is a puddy and wont drain down before it hardens. This is available in most auto parts stores in the body repair sections. So easily obtained if your in a hurry.<br />

<br /><br />Or<br />

<br />I'm not familiar with this but I see its popular hole filler with the group here. May work for what your doing too. <br /><br /><br />I'm not sure of the strength of these two products considering the area your filling. Others will probably chime in and correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[gspig]

Re: Filling gaps between transom and hull.

I did something similar to what you suggest. I got fiberglass mat and cut it into strips. I saturated the strips and pushed that into the gap around my new transom wood.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Filling gaps between transom and hull.

ddavis, If you need the repaired area to have strength, you will need to use cloth and resin. If it just needs to be filled(little or no strength), any marine putty will do. The epoxy putty products (Marine Tex) are a bit harder to work with, take longer to harden, but are significantly stronger.

 

[crab bait]

Re: Filling gaps between transom and hull.

first off,, what is boat made of.. ?? <br />( glass, alum ,ect ).. <br /><br />how big is the crack..??<br /><br />what's the new transom made of..?? <br /><br />did you fiberglass the transom ..?? an if,, with what.. ( cloth,epoxy,poly,ect)

 

[dolluper]

Re: Filling gaps between transom and hull.

I used short strand fiberglass and resin mixture to fill the gap before Woven Roving was glassed in.It was sanded smooth first then the woven<br />Click my link below "transom repair"

 

[ddavisr]

Re: Filling gaps between transom and hull.

The boat is a 1977 baja. Fiberglass boat with a plywood transom. I cut the new transom the same shape as the old one that came out. Problem is I probably ground of a bit to much trying to clean up the surface. I plan adding cloth with polyester resin over the transom when I install it. The part I need to fill is about 1/4 inch on both sides of the transom. I was a little concerned about the resin running down before it drys so maybe the filler is the way to go. As far as strength goes would it be better to use the cloth and resin and pack it in? Im not concern about witch one is easier, just want it to be strong. There is a post called "1977 baja", ther is a link showing the progress of the boat at the bottom<br /><br />Thanks!

 

[CalicoKid]

Re: Filling gaps between transom and hull.

Here is Bob's boat. http://www.shareaproject.com/pages/projectTut,p,139,00.html <br /><br />Yes filler added to your polyester will thicken it. You want it about the consistency of peanut butter. Microfibers or milled glass will do well. There are others, like wood flour, chopped glass (that might be what you want). Fillers add much strength to straight resin also.<br /><br />After the gap is filled you'll need to do the joint from transom to hull with tape or roving or both. Did you use a filler when installing the transom?

 

[crab bait]

Re: Filling gaps between transom and hull.

what kinda glue/adhesive did you use to secure the transom ..??

 

[ddavisr]

Re: Filling gaps between transom and hull.

I havent installed the transom yet. The plan was to cut a piece of cloth mat and resin it between the outer skin and the transom. Fill in the gaps around transom and hull. Cloth the whole thing in over lapping it into the hull. The cloth is called bi-ax?? Not sure if that is how they spell it but I got it from a guy that had alot left over from a job. <br /><br />Thank you Calico for posting link to my boat project.

 

[crab bait]

Re: Filling gaps between transom and hull.

that's cool.. <br /><br />one thing you should know about poly resin,, is that it's not a glue an doesn't really truly bond to wood.. in the long run..<br /><br />if you use epoxy,, then you hafta stay with epoxy..an epoxy grade fibreglass.. most bi-axial cloth is E-grade.. <br /><br />E sticks to POLY but not visa-versa..<br /><br />in order to apply the bi-axial cloth (or any cloth for that matter ) you can't have abrupt right angle/inside corners.. the cloth will NEVER stick..<br /><br />you gotta apply a fillet/swell/half-pipe.. so the cloth is not in a tite right angle.. <br /><br />bi-axial is very thick an strong.. best when it's 2 plys.. one layer installed over the other..<br /><br />but always stair-step it.. say a 6 inch strip piece first ,, then a 4 inch on top..<br /><br />this stuff is thick an nasty.. if you try an sand it down,, good luck.. but if you do,, you'll be sandin' away the strenght of the cloth..<br /><br />best way is to make up putty with 40%-60% silica & microballoons.. apply as spackle an sand feather edge..<br /><br />the best an the surest an the strongest an the easiest is to epoxy.. <br /><br />best way to fix the crack.. is to cut slivers of the bi-ax.. epoxy soak 'um good an stuff 'um good with a stick..

 

[ddavisr]

Re: Filling gaps between transom and hull.

There are a few orners that are sharp, would there be another method other then the bi-ax? Maybe another form of mat that works well with polyester and also form sharp corners? The transom has already been screwed together with polyester in between and the outside and edges coated with poly. At this point I don't want to switch to epoxy. I did poly/bi-ax some wood to the bottom for seat mounts and I see what you mean by tight corners. The bi-ax lifted in the corners, more rework.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Filling gaps between transom and hull.

When using poly, you need to use mat (the fuzzy stuff) as a first layer or you won't get a good bond to anything. You will need to round the sharp corners a little for any type of glass to conform to the shape. You can use a small amount of putty to fill an inside radius, or sand down the edge on an outside radius.

 

[ddavisr]

Re: Filling gaps between transom and hull.

The corners do have a small radius. Seeing that this is the way it came from the factory shouldn't it be ok to glass?

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Filling gaps between transom and hull.

Mat is easier to form around corners than most other types of glass, so if you use 1 or 2 layers of it under what you have it should work. You can also cut some very narrow strips of mat and lay them in an inside radius to soften the corner some.

 

[ddavisr]

Re: Filling gaps between transom and hull.

I just built these clamps to help hold the lower transom in place. They work better then I thought they would!<br /><br />

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Filling gaps between transom and hull.

Those clamps look good.