1975 Lund Fibreglass Transom- Is this repairable?

walter227

Cadet
Joined
Feb 9, 2012
Messages
16
Hello everyone, new to the boards here at iboats.com

I have a 1975 Lund Fibreglass . The transom from either side of the drain hole has a crack in the fibreglass extending almost the entire width on both sides about 2 inches up from the bottom of the hull. When the boat first was in the garage (somewhat heated, cold climate here) the lower 8 inches or so of the transom condensated for a few days. Reading on these boards the cracks could have been caused by the wood freezing and expanding.The cracks have permeated the fibreglass in some areas, the gelcoat as well. I have determined the top 1/3rd of the transom in the middle section has somewhat rotted away , but still supports the 65 horse Johnson with some flexing but nowhere near to the point of the motor falling on the floor.

My plan is to first "V" out the crack pretty much the full depth of the external skin which is 1/4 inch thick, then repair with fibreglass. Second is to remove the top of the transom and determine the extent of rot, remove it and backfill with seacast.

I do have bodywork experience but need to know If my plan will work, should I use repair fibreglass, short or long strand; and do I need to reinforce the repair with entire sheets of fibreglass over the area or will just filling the newly formed "V" void with compound only be strong enough?

Thanks in advance, apologies to the mods here accidental double post yesterday and could not delete.
 

zymox

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Dec 1, 2011
Messages
104
Re: 1975 Lund Fibreglass Transom- Is this repairable?

Hi and welcome to iboats

What you really need to begin with is to supply us with lots and lots of really good pictures that shows exactly what your damage looks like and also the extent of it.

Your wood should not freeze unless it contains a significant amount of water and with that said I suspect that your transom is far more damaged than you think, especially since it cracked 2 inch from the bottom and only the top 1/3 is supposed to be rotten. Also the condensate indicates that something was really cold on the inside. I'm not an expert on this but I can imagine that if your wood has been frozen all fibers in the wood are destroyed.
 

Sleeper-6

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Oct 7, 2010
Messages
114
Re: 1975 Lund Fibreglass Transom- Is this repairable?

I hate to say it, but if the the top third of the transom is rotten, then there is prob another third that is gone and you can't see it. A partial Seacast pour is only a band-aid. the wood underneath it will rot out soon enough and you'll be right back where you started with a few hundred dollars less in your pocket than before. All the transom wood probably has to come out, how you do this depends on if you want to do a full Seacast pour or a traditional wood replacement. That's the bad news.

The good news, All is not lost. Like Zymox said, get us some pictures and we'll get you started in thee right direction.
 
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