New Guy, New Project! 12Footer

[Njbassman48]

Hey guys! My name is Ed, and im from South Jersey. Heres my new project. Picked her up for the low price of free! Except now its costing me some $$$ (so much for a free boat). After some inspection of the shoddy transom reparirs that the Previous owner made, i decided a full replacement was in order. I dont have any pics of what it looked like before, but it was bad, like real bad. Anyway, I ordered some epoxy and mat from RAKA... Excellent prices and shipping by the way! Well, heres some pics of where i am. Im also having one hell of a time identifying this thing. No HIN, no plates or anything... It does have a molded in ruler on the middle cooler/ seat though. She will primarily be used for back bay fishing and clamming. I also have a 60s 18hp evinrude for the back of her that i will be restoring as well. First the boat though, so i can get it to the state police for inspection and hopefullly registration numbers!!!

 

[Woodonglass]

What happened to the Transom!!!!

 

[Njbassman48]

It was super rotten, someone had "fixed" it by putting new wood in there, and nailing the old outer skin back on then, glopping resin all over it. which popped right off. So, had to take it down to what you see now. Wish i would have taken pics, it was god awful

 

[Njbassman48]

No Title

Spent some time with my dad getting the wood cut for the transom. Going to end up working out to be 3 full layers of 1/2 inch ply, and one small rectangle piece in the back. I have an old 60s evinrude 18 for the back of this gal. Think the transom will be plenty strong? I've worked with poly resins before, but i gotta say, using this epoxy resin is both a blessing and a curse. Its amazingly strong, but it takes FOREVER to set up. Anyway, i got the first layer of the transom installed tonight. Just going to do one piece a night, i wanna give this stuff plenty of time to cure. Quick question though, beings im using epoxy, is there a good mixture for PB? I have wood sawdust that i ordered from raka, along with my resin and mat. Is the wood enough or should i add CSM to the mix too? I know epoxy doesnt NEED CSM, just wondering

 

[Woodonglass]

Wood Flour works just fine with epoxy to make PB. Adding some mat fibers won't hurt anything.but IMHO really not needed.

 

[Woodonglass]

Not quite sure what I'm seeing. Why is the back of the boat brown?

 

[Njbassman48]

its more like an off white, but the lighting in my garage sucks haha

 

[pckeen]

Looks like that needs a complete transom replacement - entire back of the boat. Is that what you are doing?

 

[Njbassman48]

yup, the only thing that stayed was the outer fiberglass skin. there will be 4 layers of 1/2" ply laminated together with epoxy, then glassed in with 2 layers of 6oz mat to seal everything up.

 

[pckeen]

Good - looking forward to seeing this done. Those old 18' Evinrudes are bulletproof. Check for compression, and if that's good, get a carb kit, rebuild the carb, think about replacing the points, coils and condensors, and if the lower unit is leaking, do a seal kit - she'll be like new....

 

[Njbassman48]

Shes a runner, got it from a good friend of mine, shes just a bit ugly haha

 

[Woodonglass]

Most transoms are only 1 1/2" For a 18hp OB that's plenty thick and strong enuf especially since your using Epoxy. What's your plan for the square you cut out??

 

[Njbassman48]

Going to replace it, originally it bumped out half inch. Really the whole reason I started the project. Lol it was squishy, so I cut out that square and was just going to repair that, but then I found the rotten horror that lie in waiting for me. So at the thickest part the transom will be 2ish inches

 

[Njbassman48]

Put another hour or two into the boat this evening.... Mixed up some wood flour/epoxy PB and filleted the gaps between the hull and the first layer of ply. Mixed up another batch of epoxy and installed the second layer of ply, and screwed it into the first layer of ply. Didnt take any pics, looks the same as the first layer lol. Making progress, hoping to splash it soon.

 

[pckeen]

Nice - splash next week?

 

[Njbassman48]

pckeen, im hoping! We shall see, depends on how much i can get done. Im off wednsday and thursday, so maybe one of those days, well see!


Worked on the boat for a bit tonight, got the larger transom board in, while the epoxy setup, took the admiral and kids to see fireworks in the next town over. Just got home a little bit ago and put the belt sander to work leveling out the transom. Got one more piece of ply to laminate in, then i can start laying the mat. Also got the drain plug hole drilled, Should i get a brass liner for it, or just seal it up with epoxy. Its only 1/2 inch thick though. My plan for tomorrow after work (yes gotta work on fathers day UGH!!!!) is to epoxy last piece on the outside of transom,mix up some more PB, Fillet some gaps, clean up the drips and drabs. Then roll it outside, flip it over and belt sand the outer fiberglass skin and get it somewhat level and prepped for some 6 oz Volan mat. Ill get the mat done hopefully between monday and tuesday nights, put the the final touches on wednsday, and hopefully splash it thursday, then down to the state police for inspection to get the registration process going. Wish me luck!!! Gonna need it!!

 

[Njbassman48]

 

[Njbassman48]

Been trying to get some work done on the boat. This epoxy cure time really sucks i gotta say. So hopefully everyone had a happy fathers day! I, myself did not... Got stuck working, then ended up having to get 5 stitches. NOT FUN! Anyway, took the rest of sunday off. Hit it last night and made some PB and filleted with a busted hand, came out ok i suppose, little messy. So i sanded off all the big globs and cleaned the area up pretty good, and threw some fresh mat in! It goes 6 inches up the transom, and 6 inches into the hull. Im off tomorrow and thursday so i may be able to make some strides and get it done. Just difficult to work when you cant use your thumb on your right hand, and your right handed haha!

 

[pckeen]

But at least your thumb is still attached. Always look on the bright side of life.

 

[Njbassman48]

well, despite the bum thumb (LOL) i managed to get the majority of the project done over the weekend! Finished all the glass work, managed to get the inside painted tonight. I decided that the 25hp outboard was gonna be a bit much for a 12foot boat with no stringers. So i traded her for a 9.9 evinrude. only thing left is to pick up some green paint and paint the outside of the transom and do some touch up work. Thank you guy for your advice. Maybe a splash tomorrow, then its off to marine police for inspection and hopefully registration numbers