Transom plywood is rotten, on inboard mercruiser 1990 thompson cutlass 190

[ChizelSpiel7]

Man, i guess my brother was right. There is no such thing as a good deal when buying a boat. I bought a 1990 thompson cutlass 190 for 600 bucks. Last person had it forgot to pull bildge plug. After repairing all wires and replacing starter today i pushed on the lower part of the bildge where the backside of transom is bolted on the plywood covered in fiberglass. I feel completely sick! I never thought to push in those areas prior to buying it. It looked visually good. The upper part of the board feels ok. There seems to be two pieces of board right in the middle. What is the easiest and cheapest way to fix myself. Im sure i'm going to have to pull motor out now? It is a mercruiser 4.3 alpha one v6. I feel completely hopeless. Was hoping to get this thing in the water soon. Boy was i mistaken. here's some pics.

 

[MTboatguy]

Well to put it bluntly, there is no easy, or cheapest way to fix it, you will have to pull the motor, outdrive and then you are going to have to put a new transom in it. That is just a fact of life if you want to keep it. You need to start reading through some of the restoration threads that applies to your style of boat. It is not a death thing, but it is going to be some hard work to get it back to running order, you might also be looking at stringers, it is very rare when a transom is that bad that the stringers are not also gone and need to be replaced along with a new floor.

Good luck. We are here to help.

 

[jbcurt00]

Another alternative is to make sure the 4.3 runs great and treat this Cutlass as a donor boat. Good trailers and motors are worth $600

If you want to rebuild it, you'll get plenty of help along the way

 

[ChizelSpiel7]

I appreciate it guys. I'm so bummed right now. I've put alot of hours into it already. I just got the starter in today and i cranks over. But cant start it to see how it runs yet. The outdrive is fully tilted up and the hydraulic pump is not working. I cant tilt it down right now to start it, as i understand it is not good to run it full tilt up because it binds the driveshaft. I can here the solenoid click but its not running the hydraulic pump. I guess i shouldn't be suprised as i stated the previous owner did not pull the bildge plug. Ugh, i need a beer.

 

[MTboatguy]

If it is clicking and the battery is up to full power, I would start suspecting, that something is bound up in the motor. Even if they won't start, a good starter, solenoid and battery it should at least turn over.

At this point in time, with what you are describing, I would be thinking parting out, sell the trailer and start over, you should be able to recover your money from the parts and the trailer. You can rest assured, you have learned a lot on this one, but perhaps, it is time to cut and run. Sorry that is brutal and we have all learned our lessons along the road to kicking back on the lake and drinking a beer. But it is what it is.

Again, good luck, we can help, depending on what you decide or which way you go.

 

[ChizelSpiel7]

The motor turns over fine. What doesnt turn on is the hydraulic pump for the outdrive rams.

 

[MTboatguy]

The motor turns over fine. What doesnt turn on is the hydraulic pump for the outdrive rams.

At this point, with a transom that is that bad, the hydraulic pump has become kind of secondary, of course if you can get it working, then it adds to the funds you can gather to get a boat in a bit better shape. The only other alternative is to pick up another boat to use while you rebuild this one. After owning boats for so many years, I am just trying to be honest with you.

 

[ChizelSpiel7]

Appreciate the honesty. No more boats for me. I only got this one because it was my neighbors friends boat. It was given to him. He tried to start it at one point. But never turned over as all the wires and starter were corroded. I took on the problem by buying it for $600.00 i've put in another $250.00 so far. I think im going to get the thing started just so i know where i'm at with the motor. If motor runs good, i'll Then cut open the rear deck on both sides of the motor/bildge area. Then assess the situation and decide from there to keep it or let it go. I will surely be asking for assistance along the way. If i do decide to fix the transom myself, what kind ballpark figure am i looking at in materials. Its just mainly plywood and some kind of epoxy and fiberglass, no? Let the heartache continue. I'll be asking alot of questions and taking many more pics. Thanks again for the support and honesty gentleman.

 

[jbcurt00]

Motor mounts, stringers and bulkheads are all likely to need attention.

A 15ft runabout could easily run $1-2000 in materials alone depending choice of finishes.

A 19ftr would be more

 

[ChizelSpiel7]

Fired up the engine for the first time yesterday. Engine seems to run fine. Now to decide to pull motor and replace transom or sell it. Here's a clip of the engine running. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATrY...ature=youtu.be

 

[Mark72233]

Chizel, sorry to hear about your issues with the boat. Cool that the motor runs. The video is set to private. Sorry to say but you can be sure the stringers, bulkheads and deck have rot.

 

[ChizelSpiel7]

Chizel, sorry to hear about your issues with the boat. Cool that the motor runs. The video is set to private. Sorry to say but you can be sure the stringers, bulkheads and deck have rot.

I am afraid of that. I think i corrected video.

 

[Chinewalker]

What it all comes down to is how badly do you want the boat. If you part it out and break even or even make a few bucks, you could call it good and chalk it up to experience. Or you could move into another boat. BUT, most boats in that price range are going to need some sort of work. You now have a better idea of what to look for.

Alternatively, if you get it apart, fix it, and get some use out of it, you'll KNOW what sort of shape its in. No mysteries.

 

[random_rodder]

Chizel,

I'm a new member here, and in a similar situation with my 1986 Four Winns - it needs a lot of work with the deck and probably stringers and bulkheads. Though I might have dodged a bullet with the transom - it feels very solid - I won't know for sure until I dig into it later this week.

I've been watching FriscoBoater's videos on YouTube where he was restoring a '95 Sea Ray 220. It's been very educational. You can see his videos here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...C318B574CD948D (I hope, first time trying to put a link on iboats). Ok... the link appeared below.

Good luck with your project!


Brian


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[ChizelSpiel7]

Thanks for the links. I will check it out. Need to get educated on this transom. And most likely stringers and bulkheads from what members of this site are telling me.

 

[ChizelSpiel7]

What do you guys think of this transom, by looking at video. To me it looks like the wood on the transom does not go much further down than to the deck on either side. Look at the stern, portside where the fuel is pumped into the gas tank. If you look inside that square cutout where fuel hose goes through you can see the hull. To me that tells me the wood is attached flush with the deck with fiberglass. Do you think that the transom is in 3 pieces? The sides being attached to the middle with fiberglass??? The wood feels solid on deck and looks like it was coated from the factory. It looks to me that i may not have to cut out the deck where it meets the transom on the staboard and port side, but just run a cutoff wheel to un-attach fiberglass where it meets with the deck.? The starboard side where it meets the deck is soft, the port side is still hard. Do you thin the middle part is one piece that is fiberglassed to the two sides on the deck and the lower engine stringers. The wood on the motor is solid. I guess what im trying to say is that maybe i dont have to rip up the deck. Here's some footage. https://youtu.be/Xg_-ZXvNWf4

 

[DeepBlue2010]

No offense but what are you going through right now is called the denial phase. We all can say with confidence "been there, done that".

Sorry to be the messenger of the bad new but boats - usually - rot from bottom up and stern to bow. If your transom looks like this, most likely your stringers are gone and the rot process started on the deck as well. Maybe not all of it but rot is like cancer, once it starts, it never stops.

This is a full restoration job. Transom, stringers, deck. While you are at it, you will need to check on the gas tank if it is aluminum and mounted under deck. It is very rewarding journey if you are the type of person who enjoy this type of activities. You will end up with a boat that is in a better shape than the day it left the factory for a fraction of the cost. But it is still costly project that requires good deal of commitment both time and money.

Can you commit to this restoration project? Do you have the time, $$, tools? Are you willing to learn new techniques and skills?

Only you can answer these questions and make the decision if fixing the boat make sense for you. If you decide to go ahead and restore it, you will have no shortage of good advice, directions, even step by step instructions here. This forum is got you covered. You just need to make the decision.

 

[ChizelSpiel7]

Crap. Thats not what i wanted to hear. But appreciate you being candid. The boat was taken care of up till the point where the son inherited it from his father who passed away. He forgot to take the bildge plug out. Im still going to stay in denial until i pull motor rip off all the rot that i can visually see. Then make a couple of holes back there and put a camera with a borescope and inspect it. Or get rid of it. Jeeez, im outta control. I need a shot and a beer.

 

[JASinIL2006]

I hate to say it, but I agree with DeepBlue2010. I have been in your shoes and I know you don't want to hear it, but the odds of a rotten transom (and more) seem pretty high. In your video, it looks like a bead of silicone runs around the outside edge of the gimbal housing. If you didn't put that there, that's a classic sign of an attempt to fix a transom that is starting to leak. That means the problem may be more than what might be caused by the plug not being removed from the drain.

The only way to learn the extent of the damage is to start removing stuff and taking core samples. For your sake, I will hope that the damage is limited in scope. But I am not holding my breath.

If you decide to fix it, there are many, many of the people here who have been through this already. It's a lot of work, but it can be done. Let us know what you find!

 

[chconger]

Its free to keep ripping it apart and follow the rot. But this always ends the same: all the wood under your feet needs to be replaced. By the time you see any rot, its been at work a long time in the places you cant see.

My journey started with a much more innocent looking "soft patch" on my transom. I remember literally thinking the problem was only a 6" round soft spot.

I kept going because I liked the boat a lot.

If your going to restore a boat make sure its your ideal, perfect boat, because its one hell of a thing to do. No shortage of rotting boats to restore.