transom and floor replacement

[david_r]

ok i started on another boat but ended up deciding to redo this one. i didnt take any before pics since i kind of got over zealous and started taking it all apart.

the stringers are good as far as i can tell. the boat is made with 2 rows of foam under the floor and center channel is open im guessing for water to drain. i have felt them as far as i could reach and all the glass is intact. the faom is soaked so it will have to come out. i dug down beside the water soaked foam and the glass is good on that side also..... so far. the floor is dry toward the front but the glass on top had come loose.

heres what ive got so far

my wife was taking the pics since i was filthy. i have the cap ready to come off.... well all but the cutting the piece in the back. i couldnt find any dust masks in my shop and the skeeters were getting thick so i called it a night.

stripping the second boat and getting all the trim and fasteners off is kind of a bummer but i did each in a matter of hours. i just hope the rest goes this quick.

 

[david_r]

Re: transom and floor replacement

ok guys i stayed up all night again to read the wonderful wealth of information yall have so kindly shared.

i have a few questions.

seacast----- better or just more longevity ?....... cost against wood, fiberglass, cuting wheels?

what puond foam do i need?........... or density what ever you call it.

same foam in belly as in the bilge?

it seems i have read a lil of these q & a but never really found the exact answers to the questions................ or it didnt sink in since i have had like 6 hours sleep in the last 3 days or so . i wanna get done so i can do some more fishing before it gets too cold and i have to start wearing my bibs again.

i will have more pics later.......... now im fixing to go cut the cap in the bilge are so i can remove the top

 

[Lightnig]

Re: transom and floor replacement

Seacast; easy application (as compared to a full rip out and replace transom job), but expensive. if you are pulling the floor and cap anyway, I would go the R&R route...


2 pound foam, I would use the same throughout the boat.

 

[Rickairmedic]

Re: transom and floor replacement

Transom I cant help you with but on the foam I would go back with rigid blue or pink foam sheets available at most home improvement joints. Just cut to fit and put it in place .


Rick

 

[david_r]

Re: transom and floor replacement

i finally got the cap loose.......... that dang cutting from the inside of the bilge is no fun.

i am trying to figure out exactly what im gonna do with the cap when i take it off.

i have no new pics as it still looks like it did before ............ only no chrome around the edges.

i am supposed to install a doggie door in mine then one in my moms house tomorrow, but i hope to remove the cap at the very least tomorrow.

the worst part of it all is the only place the transom had good wood is right in the center........... and the splashwell was glued or fiberglassed together........... im not talking the mat holding the two together im talking the splashwell was glued to the fiberglass overlay of the transom

im thinking about going with either starboard or seacast for transom and starboard for the floor.............. i dont want to ever have to do this again.

the main concern i have now is foam......... it seems foam is a matter of opinion------ some say pink or blue sheets held in by great stuff , others say it isnt as buoyant as pourable foam........... like i said though i dont ever want to have to do this again so im trying to do away with anything that could cause problems later.

 

[david_r]

Re: transom and floor replacement

ok i got the cap off and most of the foam is gone, only little pieces to fine tune.

the stringers are all in great shape but appear to e small 1" thick boards with a little cap thing about 1.5" wide on top. i think im gonna cut me some 2x6 to fit and fiberglass them in.

good idea or unnecessary?

got a few more pics from yesterday

 

[david_r]

Re: transom and floor replacement

i do have a few questions about the transom......... i havent took it out yet because in thinking of seacast and have read a few success stories about just removing the wood from the inside of the 2 skins.

my existing transom is original and has a kind of v shape.
see here

im sure its because of the way it is made
see here

the little mold that sticks out in the bottom corner was simply filled with faom.

the transom is all the way from side to side
it has a small 2" gap or so where my thumb is but touches the boat below my thunb

heres a better pic of the angle.......... i thought it may have an optical illusion in pic so i thought my hand may give some depth.

can i just remove wood and fill it with seacast?

should i remove it all form it and our it with seacast?

if i use wood does it need to be shaped the same since i can t glue the the little mold thing?

 

[d_saum]

Re: transom and floor replacement

Hey David, David here.. Man, that transom looks tricky! Im about to do a transom (and probably stringers too) and I also can't decide between seacast or plywood. If you had to do it again, would you pull the cap off? how big of a pain was it? I know you said the splash well was a pain, but was that the only tough spot? Also, when you put the cap back on, how are you going to attach it since you drilled the rivets out? Screws? bolts? adhesive?

I'll be following your progress!

 

[david_r]

Re: transom and floor replacement

im going right back with rivets. i only knocked the head off the rivets, i didnt drill them all the way out. once you knock the head off you can pop them out using a punch............ no oversized holes that way.

my other bassboat i started to take apart had screws and bolts. screws where you could not reach the back and bolts everywhere else........... i still had about 6-8 bolts or so that would not come out no matter what.

im having trouble even finding marine grade plywood in my area.......... so i cannot weigh the difference in prices.

i also dont know if i should use 2-3/4" pieces glued together or 3-1/2" pieces glued toghether.

and i also have to go back and do some more homework i guess.................. i cant find anywhere where it says if i can do all this while its on the trailer.................. i have been reading oops's thread and trying to find a boat more similar to mine ot read the rebuild.

the funny thing is when i got it apart i just made sure i had it braced good with landscaping poles between the cap and hull, my wife (5'2" 115#) my 17yr old son, his friend, and myself lifted it off and carried it over to the sawhorses..................... now i have a strom system trying to form in my area so i had to put the cap back on temporarily for fear that the wind would knock it over. this time it was my wife, son, myself, and my 18yr old daughter (same size as wife). of course its only a 17' 72" beam bass boat

 

[david_r]

Re: transom and floor replacement

when i said i knocked the heads off the rivets i meant i drilled them off with a 1/4 or 9/32 drill bit i can t remember which. you can knock them off with a chisel with almost the same results , but some times the rivet pulls out or has a curve where it cut and can make them difficult to kncok out easily with a punch.

im also still on the fence with the foam.

i cant afford to mess up with the pourable since my budget is somewhat limited.......... the wife says i have to sell one of my boats, ive got 4. of course she said that when i had three and wanted to buy another .

my concern with the pink or blue foam is buoyancy......... dont know where to look and find out if it has some kind of rating like the pourable foam ie 2# , 3# , etc....

if anyone has any advice for me im all ears,.............. this is my first major rebuild. i did my lil aluminum boats but they werent anything like these

 

[bitterboater]

Re: transom and floor replacement

David, the sheet foam being referenced to is made to be put under concrete slabs, against basement foundations and the like. In other words, it is made to be stable when saturated. As to the plywood situation, marine grade is going to run about $75.00+ per sheet. For the equivalent structural integrity you can go with standard CDX ply for about half the price, as long as you poly\epoxy the bottom and poly\epoxy glass the top to seal it and prevent water penetration. Sorry, I cant help with the Seacast transom as I have no experience in that area.

Keep up the good work, and post more pics as you go please.

 

[david_r]

Re: transom and floor replacement

thank you bitterboater!!

i had planned on glassing both sides for that exact reason...... i thought about starboard but thats way out of the budget.

do i need to let the plywood dry out?...........if so how long?

in the transom what is preferred 2 pieces of 3/4" or 3 pieces of1/2"?

it seems i read it about treated but didnt know if it was same with all wood. i have had very little experience with large areas and fiberglass.

i was hoping to put it back together, even if i had to take time off , to get this boat back to fishing again.

i am still tryin to do some research but my eyes need a break.......... i dont see how people work on computers all day.... my hats off to you guys.

im trying to learn just enough so i can get all my materials together, then i will get down and dirty with the printer if i have to........ more like if i can work it lol. when i start scanning and looking for answers to some of my questions i find myself reading pages after pages and eventually forget about my materials list :redface: . ive worked some with bondo but it doesnt burn your skin and it comes off a lot easier lol
thank you very much for your help

 

[david_r]

Re: transom and floor replacement

i finally got back on it today.

i got all the old transom out.

the bad news is i found some rotten spots in the stringers.

i have no access to a shop nor a concrete slab.

can i replace the stringers on the trailer?

i havent found any threads where this has been done........ it seems everyone builds a frame to hold the boat in place.

 

[david_r]

Re: transom and floor replacement

ok i have a few more pics of the stringers. i have the same problem as other people.............. cheap manufacturer. the inside of the stringers where the foam was isnt completely covered in all areas with glass or resin
example

its a small spot but the stingers are rotten about 6" in both directions in these few bad spots........... a little more effort would have been nice..

i also decided to drill some more samples into the remaining wood on the bottom since my first thoughts about the stringers where wrong.
heres what i found

and the transom wasnt even filleted and half of it wasnt even glued to the outer skin ............... heck the glass was a half inch from almost every side

sideways view of corner of transom.......... maybe hard to see but you can tell where the old wood was

 

[david_r]

Re: transom and floor replacement

im still waiting to see if someone can advise me about rebuilding on a trailer.

im not a moron (most of the time lol) i know anything is possible with the right attitude and help from the lord.

what im hoping for is a link to one that i have obviously missed......... about repairs done on a trailer.

i have an idea but it would puch me over my budget............ since my project has grown almost out of control................

my original plan was to set the trailer up on blocks and level it. then i would make sure everything was kosher in the boat , ie no twists, warps, etc.................. and since i wasnt originally going to do the stringers i thought i had it made............ thats what i get for thinking lol


heres a pic of how it sets in the trailer on the back........... i thought about raising the whole boat and making a plywood floor on the trailer...... but like i said cost, and i dont want to jump into anything without some advice from the pros

sorry for rambling and thanks for taking the time to read my dumb questions and ideas

 

[david_r]

Re: transom and floor replacement

ok well i found redfury's thread and i must say i am feeling better about my project............... although i too will be subject to mother nature.

i guess thats what happens sometimes.

now i just have to find the time and money to fix it

i guess its back to the grinder again.

 

[escapade]

Re: transom and floor replacement

I'm rebuilding my boat on the trailer, but i did not remove the cap, if you haven't done so already get some straps around the hull to keep the shape with the cap off as it will bow out making measurements off and the cap not fitting on correctly.

As for either 2 -3/4 ply or 3 - 1/2 ply last time i did math.. they both equal 1and 1/2 it would take less bonding/laminating material if you went for the 3/4 ply

 

[david_r]

Re: transom and floor replacement

thanks for the advice escapade!

i was thinking of using some all thread bolts like on the boat stretch posts.

the weird thing is i ,dont know if it is the way its on the trailer or because i havent removed all the floor support, but i had to put the cap back on it a few days ago because of a thunderstorm predicted in my area................... the cap lined up perfectly.

i am going to take precautions however.

i didnt get to work on t as much as i would have liked over the past week----- honey do list and work has taken all my free time. i guess im gonna have to buy some tiki torches and some off products and do some of this at night............ i have enough work lights to make my yard look like a football field lol............

as soon as i have more torn up i will post some more pics.

one of the reasons i havent cut out the stringers yet is because im trying to figure the best way to cut them out in one piece so i can use them as templates................ or i was thinking last night ,after reading opps's ingenious idea for transferring every bump and imperfection in the hull to the board, that it may be faster to just go to cutting.

 

[SS Flasher]

Re: transom and floor replacement

I would not do the stringers while the boat is on a trailer. When I removed stringers on a 17 foot boat that was sitting on a trailer with rollers, I saw that the hull was deflected inwards in areas that bore the weight. I supported the boat under the transom and close to the bow and replaced the stringers. I could see the deflection in the hull disappear when I took the trailer out from under the boat. It wouldn't take that much to change how the boat is supposed to handle in the water.

 

[Lightnig]

Re: transom and floor replacement

I am doing all my work on trailer. As of right now, my hull is bare of all wood and the cap is off. I can see that it has flexed some and I can move it easily by hand.

Once my new transom is ready to go in, it will be a simple matter of measuring and wedging it into shape for the trans. Once that is done and the transom is in I will be placing the cap back on to the hull and then do the stringers and floor/deck/sole (whatever you care to call it...).