Rotted Transom AND Stringers (NEW PICS)

[lucid484]

Well I stared dismantling everything on my 77 columbian for the rebuild...what a PITA it is to remove hundreds of screws!!! had to drill alot out cuz they were stuck!!! but after remiving a bunch of stuff on the transom i noticed the ply wood was rotted! well the transom is 1/8" fiber 1/8
" or less ply then another 1/8" fiberglass...the transoom on the outside is rock solid and only in 2 spots on the inside its a little soft...there is alot of diff shapes in the splash well so it might be a tuff rebuild...think its worth it to try to rebuild or should I dump the boat...was planning on a good 2-3 years for the restore and as my first boat Im totally in love with it.

 

[NoKlu]

Re: Rotted Transom

Re: Rotted Transom

Can you post some pics of your boat? It will help the pro's here,[I'm not one of them],advise you on the action you should take. If you can't get pics you could search the completed thread to see if there is a similar transom and splashwell setup and how they handled it.

 

[lucid484]

Re: Rotted Transom

Re: Rotted Transom

Yeah Ive posted on other threads but here links to my pics...I like the setup of the boat and as my grandmother stated I got the itch of my grandfather! He started with a 23' Chris Craft Constellation and he had 8 yachts and his last was a 60' Chris Craft Constellation....spend every weekend fixing her up and building her only rarley took her out to sea...and well I think i inherited it from him...although he would be rolling in his grave at the thought of me working on fiberglass (he detested them).

 

[oops!]

Re: Rotted Transom

Re: Rotted Transom

pics are great....sometimes they dont show all the stuff......the stuff under the floor !

but id rebuild that puppy in a second......wouldnt even think about it....that is one smokin rig !...as long as everything (the motor) works....id do it...

HOWEVER.....

if the transom is rotted....other things may be as well......search core sample and take a few from various places......that will determine the condition of the stringers and any foam that may be in the boat......

once you have a really good idea of what the condition of the rest of the hull is in... then you will be in a far better place to determine the amount of time and money you have to spend on the boat.......

but again...if it was me....it would be stripped and ready for the new transom allready

cheers
oops

 

[lucid484]

Re: Rotted Transom

Re: Rotted Transom

well I already started to dissaemble her today..the bimini is out a ton of snaps and oth misc. attachments are out the electrical and steering cables are out. i tried to remove the bow rail but the screws are rusted...so im gonna have to drill those out along with other various fasteners...the whole boat it seems except the transon is solid fiberglass...no core on the front deck or anwhere else. ill rip up the floor next...but under th floor is solid fiberglass except for a small mid section that i assume was where the old fuel tank sat....

as for the motor its in my basement in pieces..i had another thread going about that. the crank was rusted below a piston and a piston was shot so i think the block was cracked...and i thought about it for a while and as long as I can get the boat seaworthy rather than spend 4k for a new powerhead i might as well invest 9k on a new evinrude e-tec once the boat is restored...i know properly maintained outboards can last many many years so i think it would be a worthwhiel investment...i did get everything for free!!!!

I can prolly part out the motor for some $$$

 

[i386]

Re: Rotted Transom

Re: Rotted Transom

Really nice boat. Like Oops! said, if the motor is good I wouldn't think twice about it.

I see lots of things bolted to the transom. One would assume most of it will need to go back when all is said and done. When that time comes, do consult the forums again. Often these are the points of failure that cause the rot in the first place. There's a right and wrong way to do it. You'll get good advice on that here.

 

[lucid484]

Re: Rotted Transom

Re: Rotted Transom

yeah the wood plate was for an aux. motor and i cant take it off because the bolts are rusted...ill have to cut em off...the onwer prev. to teh friend who gave it to me did ALOT of half *** installs and didnt do anything properly.....and as for everthing thats on the transon i dont plan on having ANY of that there except MAYBE the swim platform and the trim tabs

honestly id prefer to not have a bow rail either....cant really go up there and the cleat that I would have up their can be reached by the hatch. i added up teh parts and new cleats,rubber/vinyl rubrail,bimini,carpeting,interior liner and other stuff would come up to less than $2000....the stripping and repainting of the whole thing is proboly where the $$$ will get me.

 

[i386]

Re: Rotted Transom

Re: Rotted Transom

I think the rail gives the boat good lines.

 

[triumphrick]

Re: Rotted Transom

Re: Rotted Transom

Good looking rig! Especially like the wraparound glass on the cuddy. Seems like your plans are reasonable and new power on that baby will look real sharp. That won't be a bad investment at all when you are done. Good luck!

 

[lucid484]

Re: Rotted Transom

Re: Rotted Transom

Good looking rig! Especially like the wraparound glass on the cuddy. Seems like your plans are reasonable and new power on that baby will look real sharp. That won't be a bad investment at all when you are done. Good luck!

haha yeah about the wraparound glass...i think it was "aftermarket" lol...on the inside it looks like it was cut out with a jigsaw and some plastic just screwed onto it.....I plan of either reglassing that section and filling it in OR getting some nice blacked out LEXAN and redoing them properly with some nice trim.

thinking about going navy blue with a maroon boot stripe when I repaint it.

 

[oops!]

Re: Rotted Transom

Re: Rotted Transom

i was going to go balsk glass on the side windsheild......but i boat at night...so i cant....if you wanna go black....dont boat at night with out night vision on the sides...!!

but, you really need to do a search on this forum......core sample.....

there is more under your deck than just fiberglass.......the actual frame of the boat is under there....called the stringers....if they are rotten.....there is a lot more work to do than just a minor transom.


were behind you on this one....

 

[lucid484]

Re: Rotted Transom

Re: Rotted Transom

hahah yeah i will get to the stringers and check em out...replacing everything anyways...and not sure I would call rebuilding the transom MINOR LOL this will be my first "glassing" job so I'll need ALOT of guidance along the way

 

[proshadetree]

Re: Rotted Transom

Re: Rotted Transom

Thats one cool looking ride build it man and document the pics we love it.

 

[jonesg]

Re: Rotted Transom

Re: Rotted Transom

hahah yeah i will get to the stringers and check em out...replacing everything anyways...and not sure I would call rebuilding the transom MINOR LOL this will be my first "glassing" job so I'll need ALOT of guidance along the way

Many of us have opted to use seacast, a pour in resin transom.
http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/materials/seacast-transom-repair-w-pictures-18939.html

Just did mine , its simple....now for the stringers...

 

[lucid484]

Re: Rotted Transom

Re: Rotted Transom

yeah I'll look into that...thing is the insides where the bolts for that wooden mount are ,are really spongy so it looks like the fiberglass "delaminated?" so dont know if seacast is feasible.....I noticed that the cap (and alot of cover snaps) are rivited....do I just drill thru those to get them off?

 

[oops!]

Re: Rotted Transom

Re: Rotted Transom

to take the cap off.....yes....remove the rub rail...and drill out the rivets....3/16 ths drill bit if i remember correctly.


as far as the snaps....yup....if you want to remove them.

 

[lucid484]

Re: Rotted Transom

Re: Rotted Transom

yeah i'm going to remove all 1,000 snaps also LOL prev owner painted that white who knows what kinda paint all over them...gonna what nice shiny SS ones when my project is complete.

also sorry for the thousand question but the prev owner also drilled into the sides of the splashwell for cables,steering rod etc. and I notcied that there is a very thin wood core in there thats also damp....do i have to figure out a way to get a tiny drill/saw in there and seacast that also!

 

[oops!]

Re: Rotted Transom

Re: Rotted Transom

if the wood core is wet.....its gotta come out......

we'll need pics to se what the heck in goin on there.

a grinder with a rubber backing pad and 24 grit resin packed sanding disc, makes short work of just about any job

 

[lucid484]

Re: Rotted Transom

Re: Rotted Transom

HOLY CRAP..I just got everything removed from the outside of the transom except those tow hooks...stuff is rotted everywhere..and now after removing the gas fill hole on top of the transom i noticed that there is a wood core in there also!!! I'm hoping this job isnt going to be too "complex" for me and now i dont even think seacast is feasable.

havent even gotten to the floor yet....next day off Ill rip the floor up,started to "flurry" on me and my 4yr old today while working! it was damn cold out!

 

[jonesg]

Re: Rotted Transom

Re: Rotted Transom

Its ideal for seacast, watch their video, I thought the idea was nuts at first but it works and saves a ton of time.
If you plan to pull the cap you might as well go with a plywood transom and save the money though.
Itsw a neat boat, worth working on whichever way you do it.

http://www.transomrepair.com/zk/how-to-pour-seacast-video.shtml