Rotted Transom. What would you do with this boat?

[jonesg]

Re: Rotted Transom. What would you do with this boat?

The least intrusive way then is cut the outside transom skin off, leave a 2 inch lip all around and do it from the outside.
I think you'll find the damage is limited to the outdrive and platform mounting area only.

Look at some pics.
http://www.hermco.net/boat_gallery.html

 

[Jacket4life]

Re: Rotted Transom. What would you do with this boat?

Spyder:

REALLY?!!?

You changed out your drive seals while paying a wrecker by the hour and you are worried?!?!?

Come on man, most of us are working with crowbars, hammers, and chinese socket sets!!

Hell I took my bottom spark plug out with a set of robo-grip pliers today! (Don't ask, it's not my fault, I inherited it from my Dad!)

Come on, man, you can do this. You are the guy who is going to read EVERY available bit of info, study it six ways from Sunday, and then probably do the entire project in 3 days just to make the rest of us look bad!

Holy cow, man, you know you can, go for it!

And keep the pictures coming! A lot of us have never been on a boat that nice!

 

[Jacket4life]

Re: Rotted Transom. What would you do with this boat?

Oh, and Bob may not want to toot his own horn, but he has done a great job on his project too!

Thanks to his little circle of freinds, I'm about to be banned from the computer in my house because I'm on iboats too much! I feel like my teenage kids!

 

[Friscoboater]

Re: Rotted Transom. What would you do with this boat?

You can do it my friend. I just did mine, although just being one engine. The hard part will be getting the engines out.

We are here to help.

 

[Spyder1234]

Re: Rotted Transom. What would you do with this boat?

Hey Jacket:

I'm not any different than some of you guys here.... I'm not rich or even well to do. In fact, it's quite the opposite actually. And the best tool I own is a small Stanley socket set. The only power tool I own is a twenty year old 3/8 drive drill. Every thing else is from Wal-Mart or Ace hardware or at my neighbors.

When I lived in Maine I was lucky enough to have a family member that owned a huge maint shop and I kept the boat there for free. Forklift, bench grinders engine stands, tools galore and a key to get in nights and weekends. Every winter, I used to pull the original engines and clean and wax the bilge just to kill time. If any of you have spent a winter in Maine or Vermont then you know what I'm talking about.

The new blocks sat covered on engine stands for three and half years. It took me that long to buy all of the new externals for them one part, penny and dollar at a time. I did all of the work myself. When they were finally ready to go in, I put the original engines up for sale as complete drop in engines to recover most of my cost. I figured they were worth more complete and alive than dead and apart plus I was able to enjoy the boat at the same time. The buyer was able to actually test drive the engines in the boat.

It took me another two years just to buy gauges (one at a time). I am the same as you guys, just different circumstances and different style boats. Since I relocated several years ago, I don't even have a garage to work on even small things like my lawn mower, which puts me at a disadvantage. So yes, when the crank seal on the engine is leaking oil, I will unbolt the motor and call a wrecker to lift the engine for fifteen minutes so I can put in a new crank shaft seal. That's easy to do (except for the cost). Dismantling this entire boat and cutting out the transom is a whole different deal for me. I don't have any of the luxuries I used to have. So I have to be much more creative to get this done.

 

[Spyder1234]

Re: Rotted Transom. What would you do with this boat?

The least intrusive way then is cut the outside transom skin off, leave a 2 inch lip all around and do it from the outside.
I think you'll find the damage is limited to the outdrive and platform mounting area only.

Look at some pics.
http://www.hermco.net/boat_gallery.html

Jones....

I agree however, the bilge liner is attached to the rear inner skin. If I go through the rear, I will still need to cut the floor stringers to detach from the old transom. If I do that there will be no way for me to re-attach the stringers to the new transom will there? Or am I missing something?

 

[clockwatcher]

Re: Rotted Transom. What would you do with this boat?

Nice boat.

It seems that those liners are causing issues. From what I can tell from your photos, they appear to be just another layer of fiberglass. With a sharp saw and some straight lines, they would probably come out easier than you think. Epoxy and biax cloth will bond them back together as strong and clean as ever when your finished. And it seems that you really can't get a good look at the condition of your stringers and motor mounts until they're out.

You said earlier that this isn't where you want to be at your age. I know exactly what you're saying. But what do you do? Sell it to someone who wants a project? Strip it and sell the parts. Maybe buy a dry hull that needs engines and do a swap. Or just tear into it and fix it. If you decide to fix it, I'd ask:

Do you have a engine hoist? I just rented one a big one for the weekend.

Do you have a friend to help remove the engines or at least someone who call an ambulance if something goes wrong?

Do you have a place to store the motors and drives while you work?

Where will you work on the boat? If outside, will the neighbors pitch a fit? Do you have a way to keep it dry when it rains?

And the most important question is: do you have time to do this? If you find that the stringers are bad, this job will probably take a while. But if it's just the transom, you'll knock it out in a few weekends.

Also, if the stringers are bad, I doubt you'll need to remove the cap. But you will need to cut into the liners and brace up the keel.

 

[cc190cc]

Re: Rotted Transom. What would you do with this boat?

Nice boat, seems like the gas would be really expensive. Im sure if you are comparing costs, it will be cheaper to repair than any other options you have.

Chad

 

[Jacket4life]

Re: Rotted Transom. What would you do with this boat?

Spyder, I think maybe you took what I was saying wrong. I guess what I am saying is from your posts so far your are clearly conscientious, analytical, and thorough. You obviously have the deep rooted know-how to do a project like this, no matter how complex it gets, because you will do the research and spend the time preparing. I didn't mean to imply you are well off or hoity toity, obviously, if you were, you'd just trade boats and move on. What I'm saying is I BELEIVE in you from what you've posted already. AND that's is a SWEET boat, and it can be fixed!

And just off the top of my head, couldn't you run something like lag bolts with all thead ends into the stringers and then seacast the all thread into the transom? Just off the top of my head. I mean, these smaller boats are just tabbed on with fiberglass!!

I still have the same opinion as when I read your first post: GO FOR IT!

 

[Spyder1234]

Re: Rotted Transom. What would you do with this boat?

The process has begun............. I gutted the cabin today, pulled a bunch of wiring and panels, carpet, TV, sink fridge etc. Started to burn off some off the old fuel in the tank. There is a huge spot around the out-drive plate that I can push in by hand. When I stick a screwdriver in the old hardware holes it comes out like mush.

Jacket seems to be a pretty big fan of this boat and has really pushed a lot of encouragement my way along with others on this board. Thanks, it's good to have friends. And I hope I can return the favor to you guys some day. I can't do this without you guys.

The video is nothing great but something I can look at to keep me going down the road. After watching and listening to this thing run all day (and night) is nothing but pure emotional punishment. I want to put her in the water so bad! I think an afternoon of shock therapy would be much better for me than this. She took her last breath tonight until she is restored. But I will press on... Thanks to this board.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRLpSaQh11c

More to come once I start to unbolt things and make some serious progress.


She will run with the big dogs again..................

Spyder

 

[tdrudd87]

Re: Rotted Transom. What would you do with this boat?

Great to see you are going for it!! Good Luck!

Terry

 

[clockwatcher]

Re: Rotted Transom. What would you do with this boat?

Jump on in. The water's fine. You'll be done before you know it and it will be stronger than new.

 

[Jacket4life]

Re: Rotted Transom. What would you do with this boat?

yes, Yes, YES!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whoo-hooo!!!!

I am SO glad you jumped in! What an inspiration! And OMG, the more I see that boat the more I love it! It looks like it will just jump off the trailer and haul butt through the neighborhood!

What did your neighbors think of your burnoff???

And, man, it is OBVIOUS that you have a penchant for motors, those babies are incredible!

Definitely agree with your prognosis just from your video. You can see the outer skin vibrating out 5-6 inches away from the leg. Definitely transom is gone quite a bit. Maybe even worse than you thought.

Made any decisions as to products or approaches to the fix? I know you have a lot to do before you actually get to the restore point, just curious as to your thoughts along those lines.

 

[Spyder1234]

Re: Rotted Transom. What would you do with this boat?

Well... I have made a bit of progress in the last few days....


http://s783.photobucket.com/albums/yy120/spyder1234_bucket/?albumview=slideshow

 

[Jacket4life]

Re: Rotted Transom. What would you do with this boat?

Wow. Coming right along! Really looking forward to seeing what you decide to do about the transom.

 

[sprintst]

Re: Rotted Transom. What would you do with this boat?

Sweet boat. That think will kick butt with a new solid transom in there. Once it's epoxied and glassed in you'll be wondering what the big deal was

 

[bigredinohio]

Re: Rotted Transom. What would you do with this boat?

That's a nice boat and looks like a fun (and expensive) project. Good luck and thanks for sharing.

BTW, are the graphics in the gelcoat?

 

[Spyder1234]

Re: Rotted Transom. What would you do with this boat?

A bit more progress....

Popped the cap today, along with a cold beer.

http://s783.photobucket.com/albums/yy120/spyder1234_bucket/Cap%20Lift/?albumview=slideshow

 

[Jacket4life]

Re: Rotted Transom. What would you do with this boat?

Woo-Hoo! As they say in the Bud Light commercials: HERE WE GO!!!!

You'll be back in the water by July 4th at the rate you're going!

Spent the weekend on the water myself! Man, I LOVE boats!! I wish I could afford one!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Jacket4life]

Re: Rotted Transom. What would you do with this boat?

Spyder-

Any progress???