Transom repair/reinforcement on an '82 Baja

[Thrilliot]

Hey guys, I have a 1982 Baja 16SS. The boat has a 1977 70hp evinrude that runs strong and will make her go 27mph all day but I recently purchase a 1982 90hp Evinrude to get more speed, because lets be honest, there's nothing better than going fast . However I am concerned about my transom. In each corner of my engine well there are small cracks, they appear to be superficial and had been repaired at one point in time already by a previous owner. Until the weather gets nicer out (currently 27* with 13" of snow) I will not be able to prod further. My question is what is the best way to repair/reinforce the transom so the added weight/power of the new motor will not cause issues down the line. Original factory specs for the boat were a maximum horse power of 115, however the boat is 29 years old (my main reason for going with the 90 rather than the 115). I should also mention it currently has a stainless steel transom plate covering approx. 80% of the transom.

If I do cut the transom and just build a new, overly layered transom will I need to remove the cap or can I do it without removing the cap? Is this the best route to go?

The other idea my father and I had come up with was to fabricate a completely new transom plate that extended up over the top shell of the boat around the sides of the engine well. It would be mounted to the top and transom and be a complete, solid welded piece of treated/anodized aluminum (for weight/strength reasons). Has anyone ever done/attempted this before? Is this just a temporary fix?

I will post picture of the transom area and said cracks asap, but I do have some picture of the boat for you to get a basic idea of how it looks. Thanks for all your help, I know there are a lot of intelligent people on this site and I hope to get their input.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Transom repair/reinforcement on an '82 Baja

Wow where to start...... Hey I am from LI originally

Very nice boat.

I would just rebuild the transom the proper way and you will not need all that steel and bracing. The motor you are going to install is my favorite a V-4. I would concentrate on doing the transom the right way and never worry about it. A good fast strong method would be nidabond or seacast...... you will never have another question about strength.

Just FYI if you can find a used V-4 90 hp that is 1984 or newer or a V-4 looper ........ you will never complain about speed again
The 1982 model year was head mounted HP and in 1984 it was changed to rate prop HP for the V-4's. What that means is when a 1984 or newer motor is rated at 90 HP that rating is taken from the prop and the powerhead might be pushing 115)....... a 1983 or older was rated at the powerhead so 90 HP up top may really be about 80+/- HP at the prop..... confused yet

I am sure many people will chime in but my vote is to do it the right way.

 

[Thrilliot]

Re: Transom repair/reinforcement on an '82 Baja

I was on a budget and able to get the V4-90 for $250 w/ a stand and a stainless prop so i couldn't really pass that up. I plan on doing a complete rebuild on it and putting in some power reeds. As for redoing the transom that was my view as well, doing it the right way. Will we need to remove the cap to redo the transom or can the rub-rail just be cleared away from the rear and the gas tank, etc. removed. Also what is the basic cost for all the supplies to redo a transom?

 

[jonesg]

Re: Transom repair/reinforcement on an '82 Baja

Reinforcement plates don't work, mine had one when I got it.
If the splashwell corners cracked, the transom is shot. Thats a classic sign.

Get under the splashwell and examine the nuts that hold the outboard to the transom, look for compressing around the nuts, pretty soon you'll have a loose engine due to the rotted transom compressing.

The cheapest route is pop the cap off and use PT ext grade ply.
Quicker but more costly is seacast $500 or nida pour $300.

Seein yours is so old, its a safe bet the stringers are gonzo too, its overdue for a rehab.
If you choose plywood then you can afford to replumb and rewire, probably re-tank it too. Its a neat looking boat, worth fixing up.

 

[Thrilliot]

Re: Transom repair/reinforcement on an '82 Baja

Sorry I haven't gotten a picture up yet of the cracks, work schedules been kinda crazy with all the snow (I de-ice planes at JFK airport). Oddly enough due to the boats short length and design, I think at most it may have one or two small stringers ones under the floor, but essentially my floor is the bottom of the boat. The floor is only about 3-4ft wide and its a very shallow V. I'll see if i can get a look at the stringers from anywhere but the rest of the boat is in fantastic shape. All the research I've done on the boat says it was weak in the transom. With the seacast and the nida pour, what is the difference between those and just glassing regular marine plywood? What makes it quicker? Tank is the easy part, its just a 12 gallon outboard tank strapped down behind the rear bench. We were thinking of removing the flotation foam in the rear corners of the boat and putting in a longer, shallower tank and foaming around it or two smaller tanks, in each corner and foaming around them. I'll have to wait for nicer weather to check the bolts as well, seeing as the only way to get to my splash well is by removing the gas tank. But I will try to get photos of the cracks by the end of the weekend.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Transom repair/reinforcement on an '82 Baja

SeaCast and Nida are comparable products. From what I understand SeaCast is more expensive. However, we just had a member for whom the SeaCast ended up being cheaper for him due to a large difference in shipping costs between the two. He also said the support from the SeaCast company was excellent. However, in my opinion, with the price of it being what it is, I really only think the pourable transoms are worth it for boats where "popping the cap" is very difficult. Yours does not look like it would be that hard. You could probably just remove the rubrail, separate the halves, move the cap a little be forward (this may save you from having to disconnect your steering and electronics), and have pretty good access to the transom. A properly sealed wood transom will last a LONG time.

 

[NSBCraig]

Re: Transom repair/reinforcement on an '82 Baja

Don't bother spending time building a plate, that's just a cover up and a sure sign your transom is beat.

Pop the cap! use two pieces of 3/4" ply marine or regular exterior (not PT.).

As for stringers there is only one sort of, but the way Baja did it, it was more a floor support because they didn't attach it to the hull.

Your hull is cored with balsa so be mindful of that while working on it.

I built knees into mine for extra strength.

With a solid transom that hull can take a whole lot more power then it's rated for.

Check out Scream and fly.com

You could use some setback though like 6" since the hull doesn't have a notch but you'll find way more about it at cream and fly.

I have the exact same boat year and all (oh it's really a 160 not a 16ss that year but who wants to call it that?)

I had a build thread going but it vanished and I'm too busy to load it up again.