1983 Lund American 16ft Transom Replacement

[jrenneker]

Re: 1983 Lund American 16ft Transom Replacement

Thanks Woodonglass! I haven't had much time to work on it lately but I did today. I think I will have a lot of questions when I start putting things back together. The first two pics are right after I got the old stringers out.. The third picture is along one of the stringers. If you look to the right of the where the stringer was it looks like the glass lifted? It sits up almost 1/2".. I would think I would have to grind that down and put new glass down later?? In the fourth picture you can see how crappy the glass is along another part of a stringer.. There are some spots like this all the way around the hull.. Do I grind these down too and put new glass down?? What if they are in the stringer bed?? When I pulled up some spots of the stringers along came a strans of glass.. Thanks for the help and I have one more question about the transom in the next post.

 

[jrenneker]

Re: 1983 Lund American 16ft Transom Replacement

Ok this pic is from above the transom looking down into the hull. You can see the angle of the back of the boat and the old transom bed.. Do you think I can just bevel the edges of the transom and make it into three parts to make the angle? Sorry woodonglass I already bought the marine grade 3/4" ply before you posted something.. And how far do I have to grind down the old glass to tab the transom in? I know I read Oops thread but he always said just ruff and scuff.. Basically just roughen it up?? Haha well I hope that all makes sense to you guys.. Thanks for the help so far and I still can't believe I'm doing this.. I think I will feel a lot better when I start 'construction' and not all this destruction!

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1983 Lund American 16ft Transom Replacement

Jr,

Those side angled portions of your transom. Did they have plywood glued to them? It appears there is a "Channel" of some sort for the Center portion of the transom. Is that correct? If so How Thick does it measure? Can you get a picture of the transom from inside the boat standing about mid way in the boat. I would like to see it in it's entirety from that view. Also a picture from a ladder or something looking straight down on the transom but being able to see it from side to side would also be good. It appears that this could be a three piece job but I need more views.

You are doing a good job so far.

 

[jrenneker]

Re: 1983 Lund American 16ft Transom Replacement

Thanks woodonglass!

There was no plywood on the corners of the transom.. That is the original fiberglass the way it was.. I haven't did anything to the angles.. The channel that you see is glass built up to where the stringers were glassed to the ply.. I have since grinded them down to the hull. But the measurement before I did that was only 3/4".. When I pulled off the cap that was the only piece of ply on the transom.. If you look at the earlier pics after the cap was removed you can kind of see that.. I will get those pics up for sure tonight.. If you need anymore pics just let me know I'd be happy to throw them on here. Thanks again.. Back to grinding..

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1983 Lund American 16ft Transom Replacement

Ok I took another look at your other pics. It appears the splashwell on the top cap has quite a bit of wood attached to it as well that was attached to the transom. Is that correct? If so what would the total width of that wood and the transom total up to be? If this is the case you will need to clean the wood from the splash well and build the transom to that thickness so that when the top cap is reinstalled you can glue it all back together as before.
Send some pics of that portion of the top cap as well. Side and end shots

 

[jrenneker]

Re: 1983 Lund American 16ft Transom Replacement

Here are the two pics looking back at the transom and from the a latter looking down.. There was quite a bit of wood on the splash well that I need to get cleaned off... I will get those pics up for you tomorrow.. Thanks Woody.. if you don't mind me saying that.. The bugs are getting too bad out there now..

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1983 Lund American 16ft Transom Replacement

It is really starting to look like your transom is JUST the wood that is in the central portion and on the Top cap.

 

[jrenneker]

Re: 1983 Lund American 16ft Transom Replacement

Yeah the only wood that I removed was from the central part of the transom.. and that was only 3/4" thick...

 

[phantomv170]

Re: 1983 Lund American 16ft Transom Replacement

Im no expert, but I would say 3/4 sounds too thin. Mine is 1 7/8, made of 3 layers. At min, I would go 1 1/2 inch.

 

[westexasrepublic]

Re: 1983 Lund American 16ft Transom Replacement

my transom was like that too...but it 1"1/2, two 3/4" ply laminated together....

 

[jrenneker]

Re: 1983 Lund American 16ft Transom Replacement

Yeah I was planning on building it out to 1 1/2" thick.. So doubling up the 3/4" ply.. There was no wood on the curves of the back of the boat.. I figured I could add some so there was wood all the way along the back of the boat.. Just for extra support. Westexasrepublic are you just keeping yours original? Just have the one small piece of ply on the back??

 

[westexasrepublic]

Re: 1983 Lund American 16ft Transom Replacement

well I don't know what size motor you're running but my 150 would rip this thing off if it didn't have support...although it is one piece in the middle it was designed with two vertical triangular supports that fiber glassed to it and the hull. Also if you look close on the pics in the back right and left of my transom where two horizontal triangular brackets that support the transom side to side....
If you follow my thread Ill update soon with pics of what im talking about...

****Project 84' Stratos Resurrection*********

 

[jrenneker]

Re: 1983 Lund American 16ft Transom Replacement

I have been checking your thread out because the boats are some what similar.. And its nice knowing someone else is doing the same thing. I will be running a Chysler 75hp when finished. keep the pics coming..

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1983 Lund American 16ft Transom Replacement

jr,

I think the rest of your transom is stuck to the splashwell. Measure thickness of the wood on it and you will know how thick the middle portion of your transom should be.

I'm just sayin...

 

[jrenneker]

Re: 1983 Lund American 16ft Transom Replacement

Ok I will measure that the first thing on Wednesday.. I'm gone for work until then.. And I will get you a couple pictures of the splashwell.. I would like to get the transom at least measured and cut on wednesday.. When do you typically drill the holes in the transom? Is that after you have it good and test fitted and using the existing holes in the hull as guides? Thanks..

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1983 Lund American 16ft Transom Replacement

Yeah, drill your holes AFTER the install

 

[jrenneker]

Re: 1983 Lund American 16ft Transom Replacement

I was able to work on the boat for a little while today.. Man that grinding stuff is for the birds.. The first pic is of the whole top cap... The second pic is looking from the port side of the splashwell looking toward the starboard side along the transom.. The measurement from the splashwell to the end of the cap is just barely 1 1/2" on the port side and is almost 2" on the starboard side.. And the last pic on here is of the grinding I did along the transom.. I just made sure the bottom of the hull was somewhat flat..

 

[jrenneker]

Re: 1983 Lund American 16ft Transom Replacement

This picture is looking in one of the beds of the stringers.. Does this have to be ground out?? and do you grind all the stringer beds down flat to the hull?? How about the transom... The piece of wood that I measured made it 3/4" total for the old wood transom.. Do you think it would be fine to build that out to 1 1/2? I don't see a problem with it as long as the splashwell sits fine against it.. And if I made it in three sections and glassed them all together would I want to grind the glass down to the gell coat?? ha I'm not sure if this is all making sense but thanks for replying anyway!!

 

[jrenneker]

Re: 1983 Lund American 16ft Transom Replacement

Well I had to work all weekend but I did get a little time to work on the boat yesterday.. Basically I just kept grinding some spots getting it ready for the new glass. I went to Carstens Industries to pic up the Resin and fiberglass... Carstens is a company that specializes in custom fiberglass fabrication.. They were really helpful and the materials were pretty reasonable.. I bought a 5 gallon pail of resin, 10 lbs of mat, catilyst, paint brushes, and acetone for $140.. I thought that was pretty good?? And plus the guy who was helping me said if I have a question I should call him and he would take a detour on his way home from work and check out the project. Here is their website if you wanna check them out.. They make everything from duck boats to Ice fish houses.. http://www.carstensindustries.com/

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1983 Lund American 16ft Transom Replacement

OK, JR, lets see if we can make things a little more clear for you. Yes you should grind your hull as flat and as clean as possible. Yes grinding SUCKS but your results will depend on how well you prep your hull to accept the new stringers and glass. Regarding your transom, as I and others have said before 3/4 of an inch is NOT enough and It was NOT the total thickness of your transom. I have asked you before and you have never answered. WHAT is the TOTAL thickness from the outer skin of the Transom to the Inner skin of the Top cap. It appears you have still not cleaned all of the wood off of the top cap where the transom meets the portion of the cap. That wood WAS part of the old transom. What ever THAT thickness is THAT is the thickness that your NEW transom should be. I hope that is clear now. It more than likely is close to 1 1/2 inches thick. Most boats are at least that thick if not thicker. As far as your resin is concerned that is a good price, just make sure you are CLEAR on the correct mixing proportions for the resin and the hardener. Mix up ONLY the amount that you can get layed down and spread out in the amount of time you have for set up time. The guy that sold it to you should be able to help you with that. Temperature, humidity etc. has a lot to do with the FLASH time for resin. The OZ of mat that you have will determine how much resin it soaks up and therefore how much you use. I hope you are using a tyvek suit and a respirator when you are grinding. That fiberglass dust will kill you.

I'm just sayin...