1971 larson boat (fiberglass). BAD crack in the back.. Whats the best way to fix it??

[dom_litty09]

had this problem the other day.. i noticed the boat wasnt getting up on plane. so i pulled up to the shore and went back to the engine and noticed this huge crack (i think it was from hitting a barge wake to hard)View attachment 97091... and looked in the back behind the seats and there was about 4 inches of water.. luckily the pump was working and i got it out. i also had to run the pump all the way back to the boat ramp.. when we got to the ramp there was still a couple inches of water even with the pump running.. so what is the best way to fix this problem?? and fix it so it doesnt happen again? id appreciate any help.. there is a pic below of the crack.. thanks in advance for the help.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1971 larson boat (fiberglass). BAD crack in the back.. Whats the best way to fix

Your transom has completely failed. I'd bet the wooden core is completely rotted. Can we see some more pictures? We'll need to see just how much of the boat needs to come apart to access the wood for replacement. If the rest of the boat is in great shape, it may be a good candidate for a SeaCast or Nidabond pourable composite transom.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1971 larson boat (fiberglass). BAD crack in the back.. Whats the best way to fix

Welcome to iBoats!

Yep EZ, hit the nail on the head! What size motor are you running on her? Need full shots of the transom from inside and outside. Does the Deck have Soft Spots? I would suspect that if the transom is in this bad of shape you are going to have issues with the stringers as well.

 

[dom_litty09]

i dont have any more pictures at the moment.. the boat is out of town and right now i have no way of getting to it.. the wood in the spot of the crack is a lil soft.. but most of the other wood isnt.. i was thinking about coating it with bondo and then diamond plating the back of the boat to reinforce it. then putting silicone around the edges to make sure no water gets behind the plate.. would that work? and i have a 120 chrysler on it

and yes the rest of the boat is in good shape.. no cracks or anything.. the floor has no soft spots either

also, how hard would this be to fix? and how much money would i have to put into it?

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1971 larson boat (fiberglass). BAD crack in the back.. Whats the best way to fix

i dont have any more pictures at the moment.. the boat is out of town and right now i have no way of getting to it.. the wood in the spot of the crack is a lil soft.. but most of the other wood isnt.. i was thinking about coating it with bondo and then diamond plating the back of the boat to reinforce it. then putting silicone around the edges to make sure no water gets behind the plate.. would that work? and i have a 120 chrysler on it

Sorry, that WILL NOT WORK. How big is this boat? The damage to that Transom has put your boat in a DANGEROUS condition and the TRANSOM must be REPAIRED properly or the entire stern of the boat could be compromised. Your recommendation of repair is in no way a safe method of repair.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: 1971 larson boat (fiberglass). BAD crack in the back.. Whats the best way to fix

I agree .. Transom is Shot !

NO quick fix .. Do NOT run this boat until you repair ( take the motor off..grind and replace basically everything on the transom ).

More pics needed in the resto process ..

YD.

 

[emoney]

Re: 1971 larson boat (fiberglass). BAD crack in the back.. Whats the best way to fix

Consider the transom as the foundation on your house or the frame on your car. There is NO quick fix. It would be like having a river wash away your foundation and you trying to shore the walls up with drywall. You are VERY lucky that something catastrophic didn't happen and/or that motor didn't end up at the bottom of the lake. It's decision time: do you like the boat enough to put the effort of restoring her back to her original glory.....or, is it time to shop for another hull?

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1971 larson boat (fiberglass). BAD crack in the back.. Whats the best way to fix

We aren't fans of band-aid transom repairs on here and NO ONE will agree with such fixes on here. As mentioned, it's literally the most important structural component of your hull. It would not have cracked like that if the core was in good shape. Do a search on here for transom replacement and you'll find lots of threads dealing with the same thing. It's very labor intensive but the cost isn't too bad. (if you DIY. To have a professional do it would definitely be more than the boat is worth). We'll help you through it.

 

[dom_litty09]

Re: 1971 larson boat (fiberglass). BAD crack in the back.. Whats the best way to fix

im not to sure where to start with this or what to even do... i wasnt sure if the fix like i was talking about would be ok or not but now i know it is not. so thanks. but where do i start with this? i wanna keep the boat.. but id rather do this work myself as i do not really have the money to pay a professional.. and the boat is a 1971 larson, 18ft, 120hp chrysler

 

[BWT]

Re: 1971 larson boat (fiberglass). BAD crack in the back.. Whats the best way to fix

Yup, she's cooked. Welcome to the cut and grind club.. It's really not that difficult, just take it one step at a time rather than think of the entire process as a whole. Search around on here and ask lots of Q's (don't forget the pics!) You'll find everything you need to know. Good luck!~ One suggestion I have personally is to use ply for the repair; given the glass work required for that crack, you're essentially looking at removing half of the outer skin anyway. Generally speaking, take the entire skin off and do the repairs from the outside and layup all new glass. A transom that small can be finished with paint quite easily and it will look like new..

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1971 larson boat (fiberglass). BAD crack in the back.. Whats the best way to fix

The best way to do it is to split the boat in half. We call it "popping the cap". Most boats are two parts connected at the rub rail. The transom is usually sandwiched between. Scroll about halfway down the page on this thread http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=442612&page=5 to see that I'm talking about.

 

[Friscoboater]

Re: 1971 larson boat (fiberglass). BAD crack in the back.. Whats the best way to fix

There is a youtube video of a guy who's transom snapped and the boat sunk.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1971 larson boat (fiberglass). BAD crack in the back.. Whats the best way to fix

If you want to do this right then here is what you need to understand. In order for your boat to have gotten to this stage there has been significant water penetration into the wood in the transom and more than likely to the substructure of the boat below the deck. This means that you will need to do a LOT of wood and fiberglass repair work to the boat. Can YOU do it. If you have basic woodworking skills and tools and the willingness to follow the instructions of the guys here on the forum then YEP you can do it. How long will it take. Probably around 80 to 100 man hours. Depending on how much rot you find when you get her all tore down. How much will it cost? Somewhere between $500 and $1,000 dollars. All depends again on how much damage the rot has caused when you start tearing into it. IF, BIG IF, it is ONLY the Transom, then $500 bucks should be close to gettin er done. Maybe less. IF the stringers and deck are all toast then you'll be pushing a Grand to get her all back together. The good thing is when you're done she'll be BETTER than new and will last as LONG as you want to keep her and YOU'll NEVER have to worry about this again. Time to make a decision.

Take a look at this thread. it will show you basically everything you will need to do.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=441929

 

[dom_litty09]

Re: 1971 larson boat (fiberglass). BAD crack in the back.. Whats the best way to fix

so how do i split the boat like that? "pop the cap?" this doesnt look like to bad of a job... and im sure i can figure it out.. i have a couple friends that are kinda boat smart that could help.. but how do i pop the top off like that? and what kind of price am i looking at for doing the fix? also what will i all need?

 

[dom_litty09]

Re: 1971 larson boat (fiberglass). BAD crack in the back.. Whats the best way to fix

ok thank you guys very much.. if i have any other questions ill be sure to ask.. thanks again and in advance for the help

 

[BWT]

Re: 1971 larson boat (fiberglass). BAD crack in the back.. Whats the best way to fix

The best way to do it is to split the boat in half. We call it "popping the cap".

In most situations I would agree with this, however, IMHO given the size of the crack on the outer skin, you're going to be looking at re-doing half of the glass on the transom anyway; popping the cap would add additional steps to the process and make doing a proper glass repair (laying up glass on both the inside and outside of the skin) a little more difficult due to restricted access.. There's usually more than one way to approach a situation and get similar results; I suspect that there is cracking on the inboard side of the transom as well which would need to be repaired. Just my $.02

 

[dom_litty09]

Re: 1971 larson boat (fiberglass). BAD crack in the back.. Whats the best way to fix

ok. im thinking about popping the cap anyways just to have more space to work in.. but what would i need to do for the fiberglass repair?

 

[BWT]

Re: 1971 larson boat (fiberglass). BAD crack in the back.. Whats the best way to fix

is there any cracking on the inboard side of the transom?

 

[dom_litty09]

Re: 1971 larson boat (fiberglass). BAD crack in the back.. Whats the best way to fix

i think there is a small one yes

 

[dom_litty09]

Re: 1971 larson boat (fiberglass). BAD crack in the back.. Whats the best way to fix

also how do i know if the stringers are bad as well?