transom repair on 1979 glastron

Our family just purchased a 1979 Glastron Carlson. There are two cracks on either side of the motor transom. Does anyone have any ideas on what is the correct way to repair this and maybe even strengthen it for future use. This boat is really important to our family and we would like to restore it and want to do it correctly.

Re: transom repair on 1979 glastron

The cracks are stress cracks and happen often in glass boats. The question is, how sound is the transom and are the stress cracks just "blemishes" if you will, in the gel coat and going no farther. If your boat has been stored out of the elements over the years, one would surmise that the wood in the transom is intact, hence your transom is ok mechanically.

However, if the converse is true then you might want to explore your transom and determine if the wood is in new condition. Drilling small, like 1/4" holes in it from the inside, down 1" deep max, in an area that is not that noticeable can tell you that by observing the shavings. Most transoms are 1.5 to 2" thick so you don't have to worry about it punching out. Seal with 3M 5200 or RTV when finished.

As I recall, Glastron didn't use a full width transom and the outer parts of it may be exposed whereby you could take a sharp pocket knife and test the wood for soundness.

Last, I have gotten on the engine with my feet on the anti vent plate and holding onto the cowl sorta jumped up and down having someone watch for flexing of the transom in the process. If no flexing and the other testing was ok, then you could go to Glastron and get some gell coat patch to match the color of your boat and seal the cracks, or just RTV over them if looks aren't that important. One thing about the RTV is that you won't see those cracks break out again unless you have a real problem.

This is how I would handle it.

My brother in law had a Well craft that had to have a new transom but it had green gungie growing out of it and it was obvious that the wood was shot.

HTH,

Mark

Re: transom repair on 1979 glastron

A couple of photos would be useful.

If the cracks are inside the splashwell, they are there from the transom bowing out with age. You can reinforce with aluminum plates and re-glass from the underside. If the transom wood is punky, you can try Git-Rot or the generic equivalent. It is expensive but it works wonders.

You can not see the cracks in the splashwell of this Glastron, however, you can see the aluminum angle I installed to strenghten the transom. In this case, the transom was bowed out from years of having the engine hanging on it. It stressed to fiberglass inside the well and cracked it. The wood was sound and I did not need to use penetrating epoxy on it.