transom replacment on a 2003 Crestliner FishHawk

[gunner76]

I have an '03 FishHawk 1650 with a bad transom. I'd like to do it myself to save money but I'm a little unsure whether I should or not. How bad of a job is it really, some guys say it's a solid 40hr job then the next says it's not that bad.

Next question. Where should I go to get the parts I need? There is so much info on the internet I'm not sure what exactly I need and where to get it. I'd like to go with a composite material but wood is ok if I can make it last.

 

[Drivewayboater2]

Go to the “how to sticky” at the top of this category. Tons of detailed information listed there. Frisco boater has very in depth you tube videos you may find helpful. Time for the job depends on how much rot you’ve got. Good luck. Pictures are always worth more than a thousand words. Take lots in the process.The folks on this site are very helpful.

 

[Scott Danforth]

its an aluminum boat. your looking at a weekend with the right tools.

remove motor
remove transom cap
remove hardware
remove old transom
make new transom
seal transom
install transom
install hardware
install motor
go boating

if you actually seal the wood, it will outlast you and your grand kids.

 

[gunner76]

its an aluminum boat. your looking at a weekend with the right tools.

remove motor
remove transom cap
remove hardware
remove old transom
make new transom
seal transom
install transom
install hardware
install motor
go boating

if you actually seal the wood, it will outlast you and your grand kids.

That's what I was hoping for but in reality things never go that way for me. My fear is that I'll have the boat taking up space in the garage for half the summer because I found more wrong than what I anticipated. I already ran into an issue, the transom cap needs to be cut at each end to remove it and I don't know how to weld aluminum to put it back together. And who knows if I'll find anything inside that'll need to be welded once I get the boat apart.

I think I'm just going to take my beating and sell the boat as is and be done with it.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Plenty of places to get aluminum welded, including your local radiator shop

 

[gunner76]

Besides the marine grade plywood what else do I need to complete this job? I see some guys say to use some sort of epoxy sealer on the wood and to use 3m 4200(I think that's right) on all the bolts and fasteners. I know I can reuse the bolts and screws but what about the scuppers, this boat has plastic drains. Also should I try and locate a 1.5" thick board or just use two 3/4" board and screw them together?
If I do this I want to have everything on hand (if I don't find a disaster) to finish the project in a three day weekend if possible since it will be tying up half my garage.
I really want to get this boat in the water this year and not spend a small fortune going to a specialty shop that does transoms year-round (the ones I called want $4-$5k to do one).

 

[gunner76]

Forgot to mention, I pulled one of the lower motor bolts out and the wood send to be all there but it is soft like particle board. The exposed wood at the bottom is all there but the back half (facing the outer wall) is black and soft. I do believe some of the wood along the top is missing because I pulled a couple screws from the top plate out and it was hollow around the screw hole but the other screw tightened up into good wood.

ETA. Found a place somewhat close to me called Midwest Boat Appeal that sells sheets of marine grade wood. They have a bunch of different types with names I've never heard of.

 

[chevymaher]

2 sheets of 3/4 inch exterior grade plywood. It don't have to be marine grade. If you just go through the stack you can get good stuff in the silver graded stuff. Wood i used had knots 1/4 as big as what four winns originally used. On the sealing I got a glass boat so let the tinny guy tell you that part.

 

[Scott Danforth]

depending on your width, most likely one sheet of plywood, cut and laminated to make the 1-1/2" thick

use tite-bond III glue to glue the plywood together. shoot a few screws into it to clamp it.

either paint the wood with rustoleum, use the old-timers wood preservative (use the search function on iboats) or use some epoxy. all your trying to do is to seal the wood.

you may need new thru-hulls as plastic parts only last about 10-15 years anyway.

 

[gunner76]

Thanks guys. Buddy has a friend that builds aluminium trailers and he said he has the good plywood for around $65/sheet so I'll going to look into that before I drive three hours to get the special fancy stuff. Probably will order some new drains if the plastic ones are part their prime.

Just need to figure out how to go about removing the motor. I have access to either a loader or portable house that will do the job but need to see the best way to attach to the motor and figure out a stand for it. It's a four stroke motor so I don't really want to lay it on its side.

Eta. With the titebond III do you need to leave the screws in permanent or can they come out when it cures?

 

[Scott Danforth]

use the motor hoisting points under the cowl

you can pull the screws. tite bond iii is the same glue the exterior plywood has to begin with, so your good to go

 

[gunner76]

Do I need to drill some holes in one of the boats so the glue can ooze through to help with the bond?

I apologize in advance for all the questions but I want to make sure I do this right. I'll probably have more once I get started. I'm probably going to try and get things tore apart this weekend but reassembly will depend on how quickly I can source everything I need. The wood I can have by the end of the week but not sure if I can get the proper glue and sealer(is rather use epoxy over paint) without ordering.

 

[Scott Danforth]

no, however start clamping from the center out

I generally take a box of 1-1/4" drywall screws and about every 8" starting from the center and shoot them in.

 

[gunner76]

Starting to look things over closer and I can't decide how thick my transom board is. I measured in the spots I could access and I'm getting measurements between 1 3/4"and 2" with 1 7/8-2" being the most common measurement.

I also pulled the drains out and they were leaking also, the wood on the left side is totally gone around the drain and the other side is there but very bad. There is enough good the wood around the bottom and in other areas I still think I'll be able to get it out in one piece. I just hope I have enough to use it as a template.

Trying to figure out how to disconnect all the lines going into the motor so I can remove it. I think I have a easy way to unhook all but two of the lines

ETA. I figured out how to unhook everything that will make it fairly easy to put back together. One of the plus had grease in it so I'm assuming that just regular dialectric grease (it was dark colored).
Noticed a couple other things while I was looking. There is a small hose going from the lower unit up through the motor and through the boat with the bundle, this house had a section missing between the lower unit and block so I'm wondering if this is the pressure line that runs the speedometer since that does not work.

The plastic drains seem to fit tight so I wonder if they are still good. They weren't sealed hardly at all so I wonder if that's why the water got in there.
.

 

[gunner76]

How far up the side should I cut the transom cap? Go all the way to the top where the cap meets the top rail of cut it down a bit farther? Also, there are a bunch of holes where the previous owner had some transducers mounted, should I JB weld them shut or just run a screw with some 3M 4200 on it into the holes? I have a bunch of pictures but can't figure out how to post them.