Installing the transom.
As I mentioned, When I originally reworked the transom, I had some thin air gaps between it and the outer skin of the hull. This time, I had multiple holes where I could use threaded rod and get much higher pressure between the new transom and the hull. Wooden shims were...
Time to LAMINATE!!!
Using the alignment holes. I inserted 1/2" rubber tubing as I did the lamination. I used epoxy and 1708 glass between the 2 panels.
It went very smoothly.
Once aligned, I used 1 5/8" drywall screws and started from the center and worked my way slowly to the edge. As I...
New transom time
Using 2 sheets of 3/4" Coosa 30.
Template made and marked. Ready to cut.
Checking fitment. As the original transom had been bedded with thickened epoxy and glass, it was not an exact fit so I had to adjust the bottom edge of the first piece. I left a very minimal amount of...
Transom Insanity!
Well, I had some air voids when I did the transom the last time and it came back to bite me as seen here. Lessons learned.
The typical, "Yeah, that's a wet transom." To quote Chong from Up in Smoke... "Hope you're not busy for about a month"
With the cap off, it was much...
Picture time. Been too busy to be posting.
Stratos made their boats with a 2 part construction method. The hull was built out with a rough deck. and the cap was a bathtub that was then dropped in and glued to the deck of the hull and secured at the mating edges.
When I did the initial rebuild, I...
My Stratos is a fairly deep vee center console and I realized that there would be flex once I pulled out the bulkheads. This kept it in place pretty simply.
When I ground down my Stratos to the hull, I originally used a heavy sandblasting hood. Most miserable day of my life.
I do automotive painting as a hobby so I already had one of these. When you grind, get something like this. Compressor air is not healthy too...
Can you get access behind it?
Do you have some resin on hand and glass?
I'd fabricate a backer plate and see if I could fish it in place behind the current fiberglass. Put a screw into the new glass backer to be able to pull it against the existing glass to test the fitment. If it fits well...
Steve, just be aware that you are not alone. Many of us here have cracked open a can of worms just like you did and have lived to tell about it. In fact, I missed a couple of things on my current Stratos and had to dig back into it. My stringers and bulkheads are all still dry and solid as a...
I covered a bit of this in my previous post. I like to seal the inside first and address the filling of holes on the outer skin later.
Joe Buskin runs a youtube channel called fishbumptv that is an outstanding resource for us DIY types.
I just put 3/4" sheets of Coosa 30 in my latest project...
Love to see the work!
Myself, I'd go with 3/4" Coosa 30 across the board if you can find it. It is more expensive but lighter and will never absorb water in case you miss something. Experience talking here which is why I am redoing a transom.
For the transom. On the inside I grind out where...
Deck is off today! YAY!
There are 2 small bulkheads that might have gotten wet so I will replace them with Coosa and glass. We're talking not even square foot.
By the end of the week, the deck should be back in place.
