1972 bomber bass boat

[kenny33]

I recently purchased a 1972 bomber bass boat didn't know too much about boats only had one other for a short time. The transom seems to be completely rotted out on the inside on this one and there is a new painted board bolted onto the back would this hold out for this summer till I can get more time and money to repair it. I have an old 1958 35 hp evinrude big twin on it.It seems pretty sturdy and I have had it on the water just on 10 hp lakes so far so I have just trolled except to load it. And also can anyone tell me if this boat has styrofoam in the flooring as well as the sides. I am looking to restore and add more storage areas on it. but mainly bought it so I can take the wife and kids out on the lake and enjoy family time out fishing. Since I know the transom needs to be redone would it be easier to pull the top hull or cut out the fiberglass to redo it?

 

[5150abf]

Re: 1972 bomber bass boat

Welcome to iboats.

Go to the restoration forum, there are hundreds of posts on this.

I really doubt just the transom is bad, you probably have rotten stringers also which could be really bad as that gives the hull most of its strength so it woudl be worht checking that out before you take your family out.

Generally you separate the hull and redo it that way but as I said the resto forums have ore info than you could ever use.

 

[Cadwelder]

Re: 1972 bomber bass boat

Welcome to the Dry Dock,

Post some pictures so we can see what we're dealing with.....we'll be glad to help with anything you have.

 

[kenny33]

Re: 1972 bomber bass boat

I had the boat on the water several times already this year and it seems to be a really strong and sound boat other then the transom the floor is really strong. what are we talking about when we say stringers. I had it out on the lake today though and the board on the back popped so I know it is time to do something with this transom thank you for the replies and I will post pictures as soon as I can I work alot and just had today off this week and spent it on the lake I am not too boat literate but I am mechanically inclined and noticed the motor wouldn't throttle up at times when I would hit the throttle I thought maybe the cable was getting wore out at first but found the problem to be else where not sure of the name of the part but it was the piece the throttle cable connects to had the bolt fall out of the bottom and let it kick back put it in to place and it raised the front en up and scooted down the lake bet it hit 25 to 30 mph until I heard the pop I also put a small hole in the bottom of the boat today though hit a stickup under the water I couldn't see so it started letting some water in nothing really major but it was coming in I will have to patch that as well now but if this is going to get too costly I will probably scrap this hull and get another I don't have to much to put into it and people sell hulls without motors all the time pretty cheap around here don't want to part with the 58 evinrude 35 hp big twin though love that motor

 

[5150abf]

Re: 1972 bomber bass boat

Stringers are normally 2x4s that are glassed into the floor and they are what gives the hull its strength, once the stringers go all you have between you and the water is 1/4'' sheet of fiberglass.

I would really stop using this until you get it fixxed, if the transom popped it is time to stop, on throttle the outboard is putting hundreds of pounds of pressure on it and when they get really bad like yours they will tear right out adn your boat sinks in a matter of seconds.

As I said inmy earlier post, go to the restoration section and they cnatell you pretty close to what it will cost to fix.

 

[metriccrescentwrench]

Re: 1972 bomber bass boat

Kenny, my "other boat" is a '81 Bomber on which I had to rebuild the transom, replace the stringers, and totally rewire everything. If you don't want to put too much time, effort, or cash into repairing the hull it sounds like you'll be better off scrapping this one and finding a motorless boat in good condition. To repair the transom you'll have to remove the fiberglass on the top of the transom at the splashwell (to remove adhesive filler between the splashwell and transom), remove the cap (top half of the hull), and remove about a foot of the deck in the rear. To do the stringers you're probably talking about removing the entire deck. If you're able to do the work yourself you're looking at $800 to $1000 in materials to do a good proper job.

 

[kenny33]

Re: 1972 bomber bass boat

yes I agree that is why when I heard the pop I headed back to the dock at an idle speed it really scared me I knew exactly what it was and when I turned around I expected to see just that the transom gone and us about to go under I am very fortunate I heard that and idled down imediately but we turned straight around and loaded the boat up and left I have already priced the treated 2x12 for the transom and have plenty of 2x4's treated I might as well just go ahead and replace the stringer while I have it apart I am planning on starting on it in the evenings when I get home from work this week so I can try and have it complete and ready for the lake this weekend. I really appreciate all the helpful information and seen some pictures in the restore forum on exactly what I need to do to get it going I use to frame houses so the stringers should be a breeze for me then and should have them in in just a couple hours after I split the hull and do my patch work on the hole going to do it all right and work the fiberglass from the inside so I dont have a huge bulge or anything and seen where the guy had patched a place as well and going to remove that bulge and redo it as well thank you very much for all the useful information and for caring for my families safety

 

[kenny33]

Re: 1972 bomber bass boat

ok almost done with the boat now got a good thick fiberglass cloth and some mesh and reworking the hole now it wasn't one in the bottom it was in the actual transom where the guy who had it before me put a steal plate on it after he broke the fiberglass and bondoed it to the transom to keep the water out you could tell it was an old break though it was black around the broken fiberglass so it wasn't a fresh break it has been like this for some time but I am repairing it now one of the problems I am running into though is the fiberglass I bought seems to be a little old had a hard time getting the cap of and it was dried up some on the top but pulled out the dried up part on top and mixed it right even put a little extra hardener in it but it isn't wanting to harden I even tried using a blow dryer on it as I seen in another post could this be caused by old resin that has set on a shelf too long or could it just need a little longer to harden then some of the other fiberglass I used in the past although it is still even sticky on my fingers a few hours later

 

[kenny33]

Re: 1972 bomber bass boat

but my stringers seem to have been redone at some point they are good and solid i even beat on them with a hammer to see if they would break and didn't

 

[kenny33]

Re: 1972 bomber bass boat

well got it all done today taking it to the lake tomorrow thanks for all the help and informaton