Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

[Bob_VT]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

Interesting..... so the PO took a shortcut and you are paying the price. Your work so far looks great. Keep the picures flowing! I can see a very solid transom in your future.

 

[special_kaye]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

Interesting..... so the PO took a shortcut and you are paying the price. Your work so far looks great. Keep the picures flowing! I can see a very solid transom in your future.

Thank you, Bob_VT. Yes, PO tried a short cut that didn't work. Looks like they had a leak or soft transom, knew about it, and tried to slap a patch on, but, to slap the patch on, they cut the splash well and then tried to scab it back in a slightly different position:

Actually, this probably would have worked had they done a decent job with the fiberglass. They didn't. They also added a piece of aluminum held on with regular bolts, not stainless.

This is what it looks like when I pulled it away; you can see the aluminum brace on the left side of picture.

As far as paying for it, that's not that big a deal. No, I'm not rich yet but I was planning on building another boat anyway, have been for years, and I was about to order the plans for it when I got up the nerve to go ask if I could buy this.

The plans cost more than I bought this boat for. So far, I have $600 for boat/motor/trailer, $700 for new-to-me motor (delivered), $167 in plywood, and it'll be about $250 for the glassing supplies. So I'm up to $1717 for a classic 21 foot cuddy cabin with styling and lines that I absolutely love. Plus my time. And, this is way less time than I would have spent building another boat. It'll take about $350 in tires/bearings also. Everything else is cosmetics and can wait until I get around to it. Which won't be long.

I did buy an expensive engine hoist but I won't count that in the total because I will definitely get my money out of it over the years. And, I should have bought one several months ago when I had to change the engine on one of my kid's jeeps. We (I) rented one and for the weekend I had it, I could have bought the one I bought for the boat.

 

[lowkee]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

Kaye, any update to this? Have you poured or built a new transom yet? I'd to hear about someone else getting stalled on their project. I'm FINALLY back on mine. Catting the transom wood today (taking a break.. it's HOT out!)

 

[Mark42]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

Special Kay, I could use that piece of aluminum, if your done with it .

The transom looks solid, and I wouldn't worry about the third layer top pieces not being there. Although a piece of 1/4 round moulding in 3/4" would make the glass lay nice over it. Inside corners are not as bad as outside corners when it comes to glass pulling away before curing, at least that's what I found.

It also looks like the previous glass work was not prepped right, or it would have stuck better. Poor workmanship all around on that prior "fix". P/O probably just did not know better.

 

[special_kaye]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

Kaye, any update to this? Have you poured or built a new transom yet? I'd to hear about someone else getting stalled on their project. I'm FINALLY back on mine. Catting the transom wood today (taking a break.. it's HOT out!)

Yes, and yes. Lot's of info to add but I have both my boys home on leave. One is stationed in Whidbey Island, WA, and the other just graduated Marine boot camp in Parris Island, SC. Spending some time with them and will get the update online soon. With lots of pictures.

 

[special_kaye]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

Hey all,
Sorry for the delay in getting this thread finished but a lot has happened since I started it. I've even graduated a new Marine and moved.

Okay, here goes:
Last picture posted shows the inside of the bilge/transom area.

I took the old motor off:

And started ripping everything apart.

Just starting to dig into the transom.

It was pretty easy to pull a crow bar through the rotten wood. Most of it was actually dry but nothing holding it together. I did find a few patches of wet wood. And 64 holes through the fiberglass skin into the old transom. Most of the holes were not sealed in any way.

After digging around a while, I decided to take the splashwell off. Here's the first cut.

 

[special_kaye]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

Continuing the cut.

Splashwell out and laying in the yard.

Transom exposed. You can see where I took the crowbar to the old wood.

Whoops! Here's some wet wood. At this point, I'm about four "days" into the project. Really just a weekend because that's about the only time I could work on it.

This is the largest piece of transom I took out. But it's still easy to see how rotted this wood is.

Okay, the old transom is out. Yay!

 

[special_kaye]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

Transom is out and with a little sunshine, you can start counting holes....

We're going to skip ahead a bit and miss a bunch of grinding and sanding. I found some delaminated fiberglass from the factory. Plus, I've cut the stringers back. In this photo, I'm doing a final fit of a cardboard template.

Cutting the first piece.

I found some 3/4" marine grade plywood at the local 84 Lumber for about $80 a sheet. I bought two. It's in another post, but be sure to really look over your wood. Don't expect it to be really nice even at that price.

A convenient place for this one while I cut two more.

Three layers of 3/4" plus the existing out skin, fiberglass, and epoxy, should get me pretty close to the recommended thickness of 2.5 inches. Here I'm cutting the third transom layer from the scrap of one of the previous pieces. Yes, I know the template doesn't quite fit. It'll be okay.

All three layers in place, just a test fit. Someone may have noticed earlier, that I DID NOT cut the gunwale. How did I fit these in?

 

[special_kaye]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

How did I fit the transom pieces past the existing gunwales? I cut them. You can see the cuts in this picture, on the right side. I measured and made sure none of the cuts over lap. Not a one. Then it was just a matter of fitting them back together, in place, like a puzzle.

Working the glass. Yes, that's me. Sweating my you-know-what off. It' some 90 degrees in the SW Florida humidity. I used 6oz cloth and some biaxial tape with System Three Epoxy Resin and slow hardener. I love System Three. Notice no respirator? Don't need one with System Three.

I glassed the inside of the existing outer skin. Sealed each layer of transom, plus put cloth between each layer, and used biaxial tape at the corners, including on the bottom. Then used biaxial tape around the stringers. But, I had to made a few bits to get everything to work just right.

I cut some knee braces out of the scrap from the transom cuts. Here you can see one knee starting to get glassed in, the closer one is just sitting in place. All three layers of transom are in place with most of the glassing work done. I also made a couple drain tubes out of some plastic pipe. There were no drain holes before except a couple ragged holes through the end of the stringers that might have helped the transom get wet.

New knee braces getting glassed in. You might not notice, but the old battery tray has been cut out, and the area ground smooth.

At this point, I took some time to fix both rear cleats. One was a bit loose, something that will drive me crazy, and both had a lot of rust around them. Something else that would drive me crazy every time I looked at them. I figured that now was a really prime time to get to the back of them. No, I did not add backing plates. Both cleats are on a raised, glassed in, backing plate. I removed them, cleaned everything, including rust, and reinstalled them with properly sealed mounting holes.

Both cleats done, battery tray next.

 

[oops!]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

good job.....but did you say 2.5 for the transom thickness?....

ya might wanna double check that.....seems a bit thick.

 

[special_kaye]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

Starting to glass in the new battery tray. This was made entirely from scraps. The old tray would hold one battery with another stuffed off to the side. This tray will hold three batteries. And the one in the middle position may be turned either direction for convenience. I know I'm going to eventually run at least two batteries. So, now I'm ready. Besides, the old tray was one layer of crappy glass work that I would have been ashamed to have next to the new transom.

The old controller. Once battery tray was curing, I started to change out the engine controls because I was changing engines too. I took the old control off but had to use the cables because the new-to-me controller came off a smaller boat and things wouldn't stretch far enough. I decided to do the controller now because it was a straight run and easy grab for the cables with the splashwell out. See that tangle of wires? That's another thing that'll drive me crazy.

We're going to skip over some more grunt work of sanding and re-coating the epoxy. And sanding. Then a bit more sanding. Here the splashwell is in position getting ready to get glassed back in. No, it's not glassed in right here. It's adjusted and put in the right place. It's just hard to hold the splashwell and camera at the same time.

Another look at splashwell almost in position. Had to get the Admiral's help at this point. Just figured a couple extra hands wouldn't hurt. Notice the board to the top left of picture? That'll be the plug for that gaping hole the PO created. Did I mention I had to sand this?

Skip ahead a bit more. The splashwell is getting glassed in. The plug is getting glassed in. Every thing is getting glassed. Including the Admiral.

It's pretty tough to see but that plug is actually tied into the tops of the knee braces. Any weight in the splashwell area actually transfers to the knee braces and stringers.

 

[vegasphotoman]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

A bit thick but what the hey as long as the engine mounts! lol
strong enough to survive a torpedo hit!

NOTE: I have seen people cut transom wood in a "wiggle" zig zag pattern, then overlaid the next piece with the zig zag cut on the other side (next layer) so there was no straight cut....works out to be about 4 times as strong as a straight cut lapped over (on a transom, and in case you want super duper strong with a cut).

Great job on the repairs and upgrades!
Cheers!!

 

[special_kaye]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

Getting ready to paint.

A couple coats of paint later and she's starting to look pretty good. I gave the first coat a light sanding before the second coat.

Here's another look at the splashwell from inside the boat. I've already cleaned up the jackplate and had to buy a corded drill to do all the engine mounting holes. The two holes in the corner of the splashwell will be the drains eventually.

At this point I'm getting a bit anxious to hang the new-to-me motor. Another Suzuki but this one is a 150 Super Six. You can see some new transom eyes and the transom light was from PO but I decided to leave it. I have already redone all the wiring but that's in another post.

Must have done something right, the new transom is holding the 500lb motor.

After mounting the motor, I was left with this. Notice the two holes? This just won't do.

 

[special_kaye]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

This is where I changed all four hubs. I was just going to repack bearings but I could get new hubs from Northern Tool (on sale) for less than it would have cost just for the bearings.

As luck would have it, when I jacked things up to change the hubs, I found a broken spring. Trying to launch soon, this is NOT helping!

Skip ahead about three hubs and I've found a set (2) of new springs. Here's the spring but the new hub is not on yet.

I also scrounged up some newer tires and wheels off Craig's List. She's standing on her own feet!

I cabled the cables, used the upper hole for the steering cable, and installed a couple splash boots. That little brass thing is the new garboard drain plug. It does not stay there. I made oversize drain holes so that little plug will slide right through them. I keep several of them in a tool box along with the wrench.

Doing a last minute system and engine check before heading to the Caloosahatchee River. Will she float?

 

[special_kaye]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

Splash! First time in the water for at least three years!

She's floating! I can tell you that at this point I was checking the bilge like every 30 seconds. I had my older boy with me and he wasn't near as paranoid as I was.

I left a thin layer of dust because I figured it would be easier to see ANY leak that way. So far, so good.

Let's fire this sweet girl up!

After a bit of learning near the dock, first fast run. THIRTY-EIGHT MPH on the GPS! Awesome. And so Smoooooth, you'd think she was running on greased glass. That's a friend of mine in the chase boat. He offered to come along in case something went south. It didn't and we smoked him. That's a 17' center console with a 125hp.

The ultimate test: My youngest boy, the new Marine, home on leave after we picked him up from boot camp. We're doing about 36mph towing a large inflatable. At one point, I slung him around so hard he actually busted out of his life vest. Zipper totally disintegrated.

Thanks for sticking with me this far. Right now, I'm gearing up to take the boat out again this weekend. I've got a few minor things to do. We've had her out only three times since the transom replacement. Work and life have been getting in the way.

I've skipped over quite a few of the pictures but have a ton of them. If there's any questions or you just want to chat, speak up.
Dennis

 

[special_kaye]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

good job.....but did you say 2.5 for the transom thickness?....

ya might wanna double check that.....seems a bit thick.

Bit late, it's already installed.

 

[special_kaye]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

A bit thick but what the hey as long as the engine mounts! lol
strong enough to survive a torpedo hit!

Great job on the repairs and upgrades!
Cheers!!

Thank you. It really wasn't that hard but it was kinda time consuming. I took about two months working weekends. Big thing was I got it done on schedule and kept the promise to my boys that we'd take it out when they came home on leave.

It might survive a torpedo. I hope. I do know that I jumped up and down on the engine and it moved the trailer, not the transom. Wouldn't bother me at all if it lasted 30 years or so.

 

[joeld]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

Really impressive work, great post. Gives the rest of us mechanic wanna-bees confidence that major boat surgery is possible.

Thanks for taking the time to post.

Joel

 

[wrecks1971]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

Brilliant job well impressed with your work and know how. May you enjoy the fruits of your labour for many years to come.

 

[jonesg]

Re: Here's what a cast-in-place transom repair looks like years later

Good job, I did the same thing.
My transom is almost 3 inches, doesn't harm nuttin except it displaces the cut out splashwell fwd, no biggie.
I would put the batteries in plastic trays though, acid will rot that plywood real easy.