1969 Alumacraft Alpex repairs

[evinrude enthusiast 93]

I'm new to the boating scene and have run into a problem with a boat I purchased. its an alpex fiberglass row boat 14 ft I have to repair the transom now I have already started by removing the seats seat mounts and cutting out the old transom and punked out wood pieces I don't know if this boat has stringers or not I would assume so but the sub floor and the hull are so close together I cant tell if its all fiber glass. I guess my question is when I replace the transom can I use pressure treated plywood? I always use marine but my grandfather has made plenty of wooden run abouts out of pressure treated and has left me with some old motors and such with his passing. any knowledge is greatly appreciated. :joyous:​ I also have two motors I'm trying to rewire a 1957 30 hp lark and a 1959 golden jubilee fast twin any tips on these projects would also be appreciated. or any knowledge of value as well.

 

[Texasmark]

Marine plywood is premium veneer and twice as many plies (give or take) with waterproof glue......can be the same pine or fir but Philippine mahogany finds it's way due to resistance to rot. Reason for the increased plies is less thickness (weight) of the sheet for the same structural strength. Treated wood has water resistant/proof glue also as it is made for outdoor applications. I doubt I'd worry about it depending on the service and long term weather exposure to which it would be subjected. I redid an I/O once with just 2 layers of ? CD plywood and hung an I/O on it and lasted longer than I cared to remember....still running I guess. I know I've seen toon decks made from it with nothing but a little spray paint over it to make it look pretty....doubt much protection there so it must hold up pretty well.

 

[evinrude enthusiast 93]

so in other words trated should be just fine? I'm going to coat the transom with a full sheet of fiberglass after instillation and the motor I'm rebuilding for it is a 1959 jubilee fast twin. I'm hoping to get it finished and out this summer considering I bought the boat with no trailor last year for 20$ and didn't get the project done before the cold weather.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Fiberglass resin does not stick as well to wood as it does to fiberglass cloth. For this reason, if you want to do a really good repair, if you use two layers of wood for the transom put a sheet of fiberglass cloth between and use epoxy resin rather than styrene. If you do decide to use pressure treated, let it age a couple of months in a dry place before using it. The pressure treating does leave some moisture and chemicals that tend to migrate out.

 

[sphelps]

Yep we really don't recommend using p/t plywood for transoms ... It needs to be bone dry or the glass don't adhere very well ..

 

[gm280]

I have to agree with sphelps above. Don't use pressure treat plywood. Use either marine grade, or if you can't find that, use regular "exterior" grade plywood. Not interior grade or pressure treated. Marine and exterior grade plywood are assembled using water proof glues and therefore will hold up longer then interior grade plywood. And pressure treated wood has some chemicals that will keep epoxy or polyester risens from adhering to them as well. JMHO!

 

[Blind Date]

Yep stay away from pressure treated plywood. Exterior vs marine grade plywood discussion is always a heated debate as is epoxy vs styrene.. Read up and decide for yourself. What many do as an extra step is soak the plywood(couple of coats) with a mixture 50% acetone and 50% resin which helps strengthen the wood and make it more rot resistant. Do that and your repair will last forever provided everything else is done right.

 

[evinrude enthusiast 93]

thanks for the advice we have a local marina but its the only one its locally owned and the prices are surely outrageous. so I was looking for an alternative I think ill go with the exterior plywood I already have mesh cloth for the inside of the two transom boards as well as the inner side of the transom a have normal boat fiberglass resin I believe made by bondo I have heard of mixing fiberglass particles and silica to pack and roll along the edges is this necessary? and do I need fibers underneath the mesh or can I just use multiple 2-3 layers of mesh and roll the air bubbles out? I'm sorry if these questions sound dumb iv done plenty of research and watched hours of videos but everyone does it a little bit different and the professionals use fiberglass guns or something. I also was wondering on my 77 galaxy some of the gelcoat on my open bow seats are cracked and chipping would it be ok to use bondo to patch the chips before I prime and paint my boat? or would the bondo not bind properly to the gelcoat? ill need a large can of gel coat to redo the whole thing my hull is spotless so that'll just get sanded and repainted. also has anyone ever used the spray on gel coat for cracking??

 

[Woodonglass]

Welcome to iBoats. I'd recommend that you read this...Fabricating Decks, Stringers, and Transoms
It should have all the information you need on how to build and install your transom correctly using the suggested materials. You can just use TiteBond III wood glue to glue the two pieces of plywood together I'll hold up well and make a very "TiteBond" Waterproof too, once it's cured. Post some pics of the GelCoat damage and we can /willguide you to the best solution.

 

[evinrude enthusiast 93]

thank u very much woodonglass ill get some pics up tonight the article is informative thanks for the link

 

[jbcurt00]

If you plan to work on the Galaxy, start a new topic about it here in the resto forum where I've moved.this topic. Thanks

WOG and others will find it and help out on it

 

[evinrude enthusiast 93]

I new thread concerning the galaxy restoration has been posted thanks jbcurt00
​here's the link if anyone else cares to check it out
I will post pictures of the gel coat issues tomorrow along with pictures of the boats unaltered current state

 

[ondarvr]

Since some of the transom questions have been responded to here, I'll put this here too.

It's OK to use pressure treated ply, you just need to make sure it's dry, the resin will bond to it fine when dry. You can buy PT ply designed for use use in boats, it been kiln dried and is better quality than the box store stuff though. You do not want to mix acetone or any other solvent with the resin, this only weakens the resin, adding 50% of anything makes it junk. It does not help reduce rot.

It sounds like the glass you have is cloth, it's not of much use when using polyester resin, but works fine with epoxy.

By reading other threads about doing this type of repair you will learn a great deal, then be back with more questions.

 

[evinrude enthusiast 93]

the resin I have is polyester so I would most definitely have to purchase chopped strand to do the transom repair then should I put the cloth or woven glass down over it? my grandfather always used polyester and just this mesh type fiberglass cloth. according to WOG's article the 1708 goes voer a layer of gsm would this be cloth?

 

[ondarvr]

Part of the problem is the the term "cloth" is many times used in a more generic way when someone means any type of fiberglass, but there are so many different types of glass that a person needs to use the terms correctly.

Cloth is the fine woven material, it looks like roving, but is a much finer weave. CSM needs to be used as a first layer, and between every layer of glass, so when a very fine and light woven product like cloth is used, you will need many layers to build strength, resulting in many layers of CSM. CSM sucks up resin and has comparatively little strength, so you are adding weight and cost with little benefit. When cloth is used without CSM it can normally be peeled off rather easily, the bond is poor, so you set yourself up for failure.

 

[Woodonglass]

When using Poly you must use CSM and then follow up with Fabric. the 1708 is a combination Fabric. This means it has CSM stitched to it which allows you to apply it all at once. I still like to apply a Layer of CSM first on the transom but the MFG says it's really not needed. If you use the methods and materials described in the link I provided your transom installation will be totally successfull. I would recommend that you buy your Resin Online and NOT locally from the Big Box stores. It's not the kind of resin you need to use.for large projects like this.

 

[evinrude enthusiast 93]

so what is the best way to go about it? bc I have seen in my teens on old rowboats they got patched with cloth only then after a year or 2 it comes off as a whole plate but iv also seen gsm on older bahammas and such on the deck two layers seem to be paper thin almost so what is the difference between 1708 cloth and any other that makes it applicable to this situation

 

[oldboat1]

Hello ee. Not sure where you are so far with the project. You can cut out the transom skin from the back of the transom, and put it back in place after core repairs. (Wanted to just mention that option in case you are thinking about approaches.) Maybe you can post some pics (and maybe post model numbers for the motors over in the J. and E. section, so we can get clear about what you have).

 

[evinrude enthusiast 93]

I can take some pictures tomorrow hopefully but its snowing I cut the transom out already from the unside using a hammer and chiseled it away from the pre existing hull to remove shards still glued to the inner hull now I'm currently using a grinder to grind away the outside where the old pb was patched between the wood and hull sides then when that's done ill sand it down smooth then make a cardboard template for the new transom the one big problem besides how to go about the fiber glassing is how to remove the old brass plug pipe without damaging the hull do I cut it out? then how easy is it to replace?
​
I also started a thread which the link is below about wiring 12 v to my 3 main outboards it has info on them there but I have 2 long shaft 1956 evinrudes one lark black model and a blue big twin both 30hp with electric starts the other is a 1959 evinrude short shaft golden jubilee fast twin 18 hp the lower unit seals need replacing the lark I haven't inspected and the big twin needs a new cork float. all carbs need cleaned haven't pressure tested any of them and plan on rewiring all of them new plugs plug wires and I guess ill go from there the lark seems to be in the best condition besides rotting wiring that's all original. my grandfather had it running when he was alive but that was about 5 years ago that I remember it was last ran. I'm not very experienced but graduated from vocational school and have a degree in small engines diesel and heavy equipment so I do understand basic mechanics but boats are different everything ik iv learned from researching and reading online

 

[evinrude enthusiast 93]

I actually did have a recent picture of my progress but it wont upload it says exceeds limit of 2mb