The general "should i or shouldn't I" question...

[rwelts]

Re: The general "should i or shouldn't I" question...

this thread has been inactive for 90 days. lol. its been about that long since anyone would want to be outside in this miserable winter.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Re: The general "should i or shouldn't I" question...

I hear you. I have been feeling bad for anyone trying to get boat work done this winter. I don't think I could have finished my boat last year if we had a winter like this one. I would never have been able to get the garage warm enough to work in.

I was looking at your picture above in post #20. I don't think the channel you ask about will be a problem if everything is sealed properly. I would think the goal with those compartments is to make sure water doesn't get in there in the first place...

On my boat, the foam infiltrated into all those little nooks and crannies (which made it a pain to remove....), so just the presence of those contours should not be a problem.

For the sections that you know will get wet -- like a ski locker -- you have to make sure there is some way for water to drain out. For compartments like you show, that will be filled with foam, I don't think it makes sense to add drainage. You're more likely to get water into those compartment via limber holes than the other way around, I think...

Hope we get some Spring weather eventually and you can get back to the boat.

 

[MikDee]

Re: The general "should i or shouldn't I" question...

I really like the style of the Celebrity, I had a 22' Cuddy for awhile, but couldn't keep up maintenance, it was stored at a distance 125miles away, so I sold it.

 

[rwelts]

Re: The general "should i or shouldn't I" question...

i was back in it a bit last week, getting the engine lifted out this next week. weather is improving, although incredibly slowly so.... thanks for the tips, I look forward to restarting the process. winter did make getting all the foam out more challenging but at least some progress is better than none!

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: The general "should i or shouldn't I" question...

take a 3" cup wire brush and install it in the end of a 2' long drill extension. then take and chuck into your cordless drill.

wear leather gloves , one hand holding the drill, one hand acting as a bearing or support for the drill extension. the wire brush will chew the foam up, down to the fiberglass, and clean the top surface of the fiberglass.

then simply shovel out and vaccuum up.

 

[rwelts]

Re: The general "should i or shouldn't I" question...

so first day of have decent weather. got about 4 hours of cutting and prepping the engine for removal. during the part near the transom found interesting setup. the sides of the transom port and starboard were simply 1/2" plywood and completely wet. the middle of the transom has at least 2 sheets of 1/2" (can't tell as i haven't quite got there yet). not sure if its wet, but if like the rest it will be.

pics of progress coming next weekend

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: The general "should i or shouldn't I" question...

your center section should be 1.5" of wood and about 1/4" of fiberglass on both sides. where the transom shield mounts, the dimension should be between 2.0 and 2.25" thick.

 

[rwelts]

Re: The general "should i or shouldn't I" question...

great day of work finally. the weather may be helping a bit (ok, now its pouring so not so fast, lol)

engine out, which is of course a huge step. pics attached. entire transom is wet, rotten soft wood around specific points. but, taking all out and replacing. the normal sources appear to be at issue, trim tabs (huge, huge problem), swim deck points and believe it or not the anode screws had poor gaskets and they leaked a bit.

either way, progress being made now.

 

[rwelts]

Re: The general "should i or shouldn't I" question...

Scott,

well hum. the left and right sections are about .5 inch wood, glass was so thin it peeled off at lower levels. the middle section (all of it) is the full thickness (2.5-3). the bar near the top is also about 1.5 all the way across (where the tie downs and hand bar is on the stern). so, too thin port and stbd, but lots of tree in the middle. lol

rob

 

[bvetter]

Re: The general "should i or shouldn't I" question...

Hopping aboard to watch the action.

 

[rwelts]

Re: The general "should i or shouldn't I" question...

OK, so another decent day (these are miracle times people, two days in a row of relative cooperative weather lol). part of the day involved putting engine on mount, and checking things there. no sense in not going through the engine completely while its patiently waiting for its return.

did some minor grinding with a couple of hours I had. QUESTION 1. the transom appears to be 1/2" then very thin glass, 1/2" then stern on the port and stbd sides (there may by one more level, haven't dug in enough as you can tell. being exceptionally cautious at this point)

the middle is at least 3 of those sandwiches, probably more. its thickness is 2.5 all the way from top to bottom, about 3' in width as you can tell. pictures are close up to try to give some definition but basically you can see the wet section i pulled away, then the thin section of glass i found, there is a hole there (trim tab hydraulic) that you can see another sandwich waiting)

anyone seen this setup? dear god, should i repeat (i would think it would make for a very heavy pita to reinstall). general comments?

 

[rwelts]

Re: The general "should i or shouldn't I" question...

ok. so, 8 hours of "gnarly" work and i have about 95% of the transom wood off. it was like an onion as shrek says. 1 layer of wood, 1 layer of glass, 1 layer of wood, 1 layer of glass. up top near the ski pole support it was 1/4" thick glass and wood. ugh. but, by next week weather dependent I should be sanding off the remaining pieces and moving on. satisfied but very very glad i went all the way up. about 4" above the keyhole things were dry as a bone. debated figuring out how to not rip rest out (mostly cus it sucked much) HOWEVER when i got to the top it was completely rotted out. i believe it came through the tie down brackets and hand rail for getting out of the water. also, factory installed trim tabs were def a source of leakage.

 

[rwelts]

Re: The general "should i or shouldn't I" question...

UPDATE...
transom completely out. the stringer for motor mounts are so thick they took a bit, however they are wet as well so they have to come out. the good news (if you want to call it that) is I should be starting grinding next week.
QUESTIONS FOR THE PROS:

the leak sources that caused the issue were the screws through the transom for the swim deck and the trim tabs. additionally the anodes on the bottom of the gimbal assembly were poorly installed causing a leak there.
what is the best technique for sealing the items that must go through.

 

[GT1000000]

Re: The general "should i or shouldn't I" question...

Two or three ways to seal things up...
1- drill openings slightly oversize, refill w/PB then drill to correct size...works best for NON-structural bolt through...also works for structural bolts if you add a backing plate to the inside...would still recommend using 5200 as a sealant...see pics below of what I did for my stern eyes...

Dry Fit...








Permanent Install using 5200...





2- drill same size as needed for fastener, coat the inside of the hole with some resin, then when dry, coat the fastener with 5200...


3- drill undersized hole for screw type bolt and coat the hole and the screw with 5200...

 

[rwelts]

Re: The general "should i or shouldn't I" question...

thanks, i will that. beginning grinding this weekend. if this job thing would get out of the way more I could make real progress. lol

 

[rwelts]

Re: The general "should i or shouldn't I" question...

grinding beginning. oh what fun (but better than boat payments). found out that the stringers for the motor are 2 2x6's glued together at the middle. the middle is dry and white so, i cut off the ends and will make a joint. this is good as it means re mounting the engine will be a tiny bit easier.
the transom is pretty much ground down and the first horizontal stringers are done. not bad for 5 hours of amateur work (i am being extremely cautious after reading the "oops went to far and looking at the ground" comments. pics to follow. hoping grinding done by end of April. then maybe June re-float is still possible. ....... ........
update - pics include little gift from mother nature (water) while i went to shower. lol

 

[rwelts]

Re: The general "should i or shouldn't I" question...

Looking at pictures on prior post, how would you all experts get the final bits out of the corners?

 

[rwelts]

Re: The general "should i or shouldn't I" question...

UPDATE. much more grinding completed. To the admirals and experts, please review the transom work in general. i believe i have it where it is about ready for re-build work. the rest of the boat is coming along nicely (although the 1/4" thick resin/gel coat bilge in the engine bay is ......... difficult. )comments and pointers always welcome. the second pic is where the hole for the drain of the live well went. of course, it rotted everywhere. debating not even putting live well back in but its a great beer holder :joyous:

 

[rwelts]

no update due to having to add the cuddy to the repair list. the helm to sterm is done and ready for rebuild though. getting there.