[Mark42]

My 1985 Capri Cuddy (outboard) was stored in a garage until I bought it in 2007. So it was dry and clean and showed no rot or water damage, although there is a shaddow in the bilge/ski locker so I know water has been in there from time to time.

While working on the boat I was impressed on how much glass and gelcoat they put on the inside of the transom and stringers and floor. It rained on the boat the other day and water sat in puddles and did not sink in (that I can tell). BUT on close inspection I found something that really made me shake my head in disbelief....

After doing such a great job of sealing up the wood from water, they went and drilled the hole for the drain and didn't bother to seal the exposed wood in the transom!!!!! Gee, ya think it should be sealed?

I'm going to remove the entire drain assembly (the big brass disk that takes the brass pipe thread plug) and paint the inside of the hole with epoxy.

The good news is when pressed with a screwdriver, the plywood is solid. And I can clearly see that this is a plywood that is made of many thin veneers, not the 4 or 5 thick veneers that regular ply is made from. So my guess is this is a marine grade plywood transom.

I pulled out the brochure for the Capri line, and it states "Wood components are preservative-treated. Sealed for lasting strength." Does not specifically say they are Pressure Treated, just preserative-treated. Don't know if its one and the same.

Maybe that's why they didn't seal the exposed plywood in the drain hole?

[gcboat]

I'm thinking that the preservative treatment would be more on the line of Thompson's Water Seal - or something like that. Big difference than putting lumber in a big ole' tank and actually 'pressurizing' the whole mess to force the chemicals into the wood.
As far as them not sealing the open cut - well that just makes me think it's just another shortcut. Could also be an oversight on that one particular vessel - kinda' doubt it though.
All the lumber in my ole' 1988 Bay was nothing more than 5 or 6 ply. Just Home Depot junk in my opinion. Probably spent more money replacing with Okume than the whole boat cost to originally manufacture . Small joke there .
Gotta' remember that during those years Bayliner had a bad rap for using inferior products and shoddy worksmanship to produce a pop out boat. For all of the 20 plus year old Bayliners there will always be an issue with that problem. But, when I bought mine it was the boat I wanted so I just sucked it up and made up my mind to restore it correctly. Which by the way is still 'under construction'.

[Mark42]

After seeing some of the post 1985 Bayliner rebuilds, I am really surprised how badly Brunswick cut the quality of Bayliner. Boats with no gel coat or glass on stringers or floors, etc. In my '85 everything from the deck down has a heavy, if not lumpy, layer of glass and gel coat. It does not look like a finished surface you would want to show off, but it sure does seem to keep the water out. In fact, in 1984, the 19' Capri won the editors award from Powerboat Magazine for design AND BUILD QUALITY. I doubt Bayliner got an award for build quality from 1986 to 2002.

[azlakes]

Originally Posted by Mark42

I doubt Bayliner got an award for build quality from 1986 to 2002.

... dunno about 86'. mine has been pretty stout and a lot like you have described your 85' in this post and others. i just picked up a set of smart tabs from a fellow iboater. i'll post back if the drill falls thru the stern when i push on it