drilling holes in my boat

[QC]

Re: drilling holes in my boat

I have been playing a lot with Epoxy lately on my Chris replica project. I have been using microsphere fillers to thicken for vertical areas that I am going to sand, however I am concerned about strength. What I am doing now is that after a large load to seal and or laminate big areas I go back to my mixing bucket or roller tray after I have done the big job, I can scrape out very thick, partially hardened, epoxy with a putty knife. I can squish it into a hole or depression, or shape it pretty well. It looks like I am screwing up as it is almost elastic at this point, snaps back a little etc. However, if I can keep my hands off it, and leave it alone, it drys clear as the surrounding stuff applied wet and is VERY hard. Basically, as long as it is even slightly pliable, it seems to retain all of the characteristics of the originally mixed stuff when they both completely harden . . . Hope that helps.

 

[mdunn]

Re: drilling holes in my boat

Not to hi-jack but I have a 17.5' Smokercraft (aluminum) and am just getting ready to mount the smart tabs when I came across this thread.
I was just going to drill an appropriate size hole for the supplied screws and put 4200 on the screw and call it good.
Like a glass boat the transom must have a wood core, right?
It sounds like I should do the oversize hole and epoxy method I guess. Right?

 

[amynbill]

Re: drilling holes in my boat

And I agree, there's nothing that sticks well to plastic or starboard

Get the name brand of PVC called "sintra". We use it all of the time at work for many applications. Heck, Ill send you a piece for free. It holds glue perfectly, and we use it for weight bearing applications where it becoming unglued would not be good

AVailable in 1/4, 1/2 or 3/4" thickness.

 

[jeffnick]

Re: drilling holes in my boat

I'm serious about finding someone who has actually used this epoxy hole method. Sure, West has a process, and we all quote their 'proper way', perpetuating the myth, but who uses it?

Anyone?

Can anyone tell me an OEM that uses it?

Like I mentioned, for a repair, fine, but for proper installation, I still think it's totally unnecessary.

BTW, lots of us folks like the looks of wood on our boats, and teak holds up pretty well.

amynbil,
Thanks, I'll look for the "sintra" stuff.

 

[erikgreen]

Re: drilling holes in my boat

I use it. Works fine for me so far...

Erik

 

[dingbat]

Re: drilling holes in my boat

I'm serious about finding someone who has actually used this epoxy hole method. Sure, West has a process, and we all quote their 'proper way', perpetuating the myth, but who uses it?

Anyone?

Can anyone tell me an OEM that uses it?

Like I mentioned, for a repair, fine, but for proper installation, I still think it's totally unnecessary.

BTW, lots of us folks like the looks of wood on our boats, and teak holds up pretty well.

amynbil,
Thanks, I'll look for the "sintra" stuff.

What doe a transom rebuild cost? I have way too much money invested to do things half ***** on my boat.

I?ve pulled and reseated everything that protruded into and thru my transom. That included the garboard drain, both the cockpit and motor well scuppers, the rear tie downs and two sets of sensor holes. I was fortunate and didn?t find any water intrusion but I know of way too many people that ended up needing transom rebuilds due to improper sealing of the transom and stringers when Harry Homeowner made modification to his boat.

Do a search on transom and stringer rebuilds and perhaps you will reconsider the time and effort spent to do things properly as a useless endeavor

 

[willamettejeff]

Re: drilling holes in my boat

First heard about the oversize hole filled w/epoxy method on this site and thought it was a great idea. When I rebuilt my transom I used that method for all four outboard mounting holes and the bilge and motor well drain holes. Bored each hole from the inside with a spade bit 1/2" bigger than the final hole size to the inside of fiberglass skin, then filled with epoxy (peanut butter mix). After that hardened, drilled through the correct hole size. Now have 1/4" of epoxy surrounding each hole. If the sealant should fail, water will get into the boat yes, but it will not get into the wood in the transom.

BTW, the blue painters tape works well to seal the little hole made by the spade bit on the outside of the hull while filling the big hole from the inside with epoxy as the tape can be easily & cleanly removed from the outer skin and the epoxy once the epoxy hardens.

Going to drill the holes oversize and fill with epoxy from the outside when I mount my smart tabs and speedometer pickup also.

In the same vain, there are also no screws through my new deck. Everything including the seats, battery box, and fuel tank are mounted to 1/2" thick epoxy coated plywood with stainless steel T-Nuts installed from the back side in epoxy filled oversize holes and the plywood then epoxied to the deck. Fared out with epoxy peanut butter, the mounts look really good and there are no holes through the deck to allow water intrusion.

-- Jeff

 

[PaulyV]

Re: drilling holes in my boat

have just built a new transom and am using the oversized hole/epoxy method. 1/2" bigger hole. I used duct tape on the bottom of the hole and spread the epoxy on the top of transom (transom was lying flat on saw horses) Spread the epoxy on transom and filled oversized hole..i was pleased to see all the holes filled...when the duct tape started to fail..and all the holes emtied out within an hour or so. What should I have used to "stop" the epoxy from seeping from the bottom hole? I will let the first coat of epoxy cure..and I will attempt to fill holes again.

 

[Capt'n Chris]

Re: drilling holes in my boat

"Old Seaman's Proverb" "A Seafarer who abides by the advise of another who professes to have drilled proper holes in his boat, is devoid of sea-sense and should be sent to sea alone".

 

[PaulyV]

Re: drilling holes in my boat

"Old Seaman's Proverb" "A Seafarer who abides by the advise of another who professes to have drilled proper holes in his boat, is devoid of sea-sense and should be sent to sea alone".

Ahh.. ya feel better now Capn Crunch...Hows that pertain to my question.

 

[cuzmondo]

Re: drilling holes in my boat

ok forgive me for being slow, so i just cant glue it to the transom. I really dont want to drill any holes at all. I dont care if the plate ever comes off tbh. I just want something that i can mount the transducer to and anything else i need to mount. If i were going to just install two screws to mount the plate i might as well just mount the transducer directly to the transome. Thanks for the help, do you think some sort of super epoxy will work with 5200 around the edges?

People always say "nothing sticks to starboard." Hogwash!!!! I mounted my 'ducer to a piece of starboard that I "glued" to my transom 3 years ago with no screws in the hull for the same reasons you want to do. I bought a new boat, and after having transom issues on previous boast from poorly installed equipment, decided to do all my installs on this boat my way and I hate drilling holes unless absolutely necessary. I've mounted pumps, electronics brackets, my transducer and other items to starboard and all are holding well after 3 years and have seen lots of rough seas.

Clean the boat and starboard with acetone, then sand the starboard, clean with acetone again and glue it with 4200. On the transom mount you'll need to find a way to hold it firmly in place while it sets up. I glued mine between the s-board and hull, then made a bead around the perimeter, after which I came back and made another thicker pass after the first had set up. Probably was unneccessary, but just for added comfort. The bottom side will try to sag, but I just occasionally smoothed it over to keep it neat.

 

[oops!]

Re: drilling holes in my boat

has any one realized this is a two year old thread?...

still good discussion tho

 

[PaulyV]

Re: drilling holes in my boat

yes..found it in a search for a question I had..learned quite a bit from it. I am glad it was still open.