1976 Starcraft Montego OMC 235 HP Drive: Stringer & Transon Repair:

[76Montego]

This is my first posting. I'm looking for information for correct repair to stringers (engine mounts) & transon. Both stringer supports for engine mounts are rotton & need replacement. I have removed the port stringer, which was rotton/part rotton up to the gas tank/floor area (4 ft). Also part of the transon is rotton (5" by 5"), where the stringer meets. Has anyone know or has experience in this type of repair. I am totally new to understanding fibreglass repair/installation. I've searched the forums & could not find a repair to a similar boat as mine. Maybe someone can direct me to a site where this type of repair has already been documented. Tks for any info you can supply. I am presently seeking advice from "Just Answer", but cannot get detailed information.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1976 Starcraft Montego OMC 235 HP Drive: Stringer & Transon Repair:

Often it's an all or nothing proposition to replace stringers & transoms, not a 5X5 spot repair.

Any fiberglass boat build will be similar to the methods & materials needed to repair yours.

Although a Starcraft by name, the SC Owners group is vastly a tinhead group, as B2 noted:

Monte---unfortunately most of us here are tinheads and not glass experts. but stringer/trans replacement on most fiberglass boats will be about the same. have you checked youtube? or Fiberglassics.com?

one suggestion: i wouldn't bother doing a "partial" repair. you only want to do this job once. if the transom has a bad section, replace the whole thing rather than trying to patch it. likewise, if you have the floors out, do the entire stringer....wood is porous, if one section is bad, the rest of it has been wet as well and will eventually need replacement.

but welcome, and post some pix.

You'll get much more foot traffic thru your dry dock~garage & helpful advice for fiberglass boat repair here in the resto forum, and should ask a mod to consolidate your other thread into this one. (Really should keep to the forums guideline of 1 topic ~ 1 thread anyway)

Get some pix of what your working on posted, the crew around the dry dock will help you get it safely back on the water as soon as you can.

Welcome to the iboats dry dock

 

[76Montego]

Re: 1976 Starcraft Montego OMC 235 HP Drive: Stringer & Transon Repair:

Tks for your response. I did make an error (wrong forum) with my 1st tread & was not able to delete it. I sent an E-mail & also don't know how to get to the moderator. So I was stuck & added the same tread again.
Not sure what or how to access "dry dock -garage". I'm still trying to find a tread that details the building & installation of a new stringer/transon. That is what is best material (wood & resin) to use & how do you prepare the stringer before & during installation. For example to you remove all of the original fibreglass box that coated the stringer? Presently I have only removed the Fibreglass on top of the box that the stringer was in. As you can see this is all foreign to me. So if one knows of a tread that is in detail & easy to understand how to install a new stringer, that would really help me in my next step to get a new stringer made.
Tks for any advice you can offer.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1976 Starcraft Montego OMC 235 HP Drive: Stringer & Transon Repair:

On my phone, so I'll be brief.....

This thread is your boathouse or garage, and as guys happen upon your thread, they'll 'drop by' to see what you're working on & help as best they can.

The resto forum as a whole is the dry dock, where we all have our boats up on blocks, working on them.

Strictly speaking there is no dry dock or garage. It was a metaphor, I think. Perhaps not a good one....

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1976 Starcraft Montego OMC 235 HP Drive: Stringer & Transon Repair:

All the mods are listed here:
Contact Moderators

You can contact 1 of them, and ask them to combine the threads if you'd like them too.

Read thru some of the resto threads, the pix & details will help you understand what likely lies ahead.

Exterior or marine grade plywood

Polyester resin w/ 1708 & CSM fiberglass

WoodOnGlass has a great transom, stringer & deck graphic, refer to it:
"Fabricating Decks, Stringers, and Transoms"

There is a fair amount to do prior to the put back, find a comfortable chair, a frosty libation of your choice & dig in to iboats. There is lots of good info in the resto forum. A good place to start is the threads listed in Don's list:
How To's and Other Great Information

Look for the Oops' hull extension & Friscoboater's SeaRay thread on that list. Both have lots of great info, particularly Frisco's videos.

SEEING it done helped pull what I was seeing & reading together.