89 Sea Nymph SS175 Transom

[Octane80]

Hey all, I purchased an 89 Sea Nymph SS 175 (mercury 90hp) a year ago and while removing a transducer the other day I found that the wood was wet and soft where I pulled the screws from. It's time for a transom, but I might as well make some changes while I'm elbows deep in her. I've been browsing for a bit and found a good wealth of info on Sea Nymphs. I am considering at-least a partial removal of the splash-well in the rear to help incorporate a rear casting deck, and am also considering a repaint to match my white Cherokee that I pull her with. Here are some pics of the boat and my start at the transom... Unfortunately the whole back end is filled with foam so this is turning into a little more work than expected.

I haven't found any posts yet where someone has attempted to modify the rear splashwell area to this capacity. I have thoughts of a seat post mount in the center with two fold down seats. Any tips on structural issues in modifying the splashwell? I also wondered as to just how much structural value the foam poured in the rear of the boat has? Here are some pics of what I'm working with and the foam in the back.

--Jason

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 89 Sea Nymph SS175 Transom

Yeah, the floatation foam against the transom was/is a bad design... as well as the 2 foam floatation pods on top of the decking at the stern.

You'll probably want to check your decking and the floatation beneath it too. Your bilge is completely filled with foam and there wasn't any drainage provided, this lead to saturating the bilge foam as well as rotting the decking that sits directly on top of the foam. your deck may feel solid (and may be good) but chances are that it just feels solid because it's sitting directly on top of the foam which doesn't allow for any give if the wood is rotten.

That's a good looking boat and looks like it was fairly well taken care of most of it's life, but evidently has suffered water intrusion at some point. If it's a leak below deck the damage won't be as great as it would be if the water intrusion was from neglect and exposure to the elements at some point in it's life.

You can make this boat better than new by changing some of the design flaws in it to allow for better drainage below deck and replacing anything that is rotten or waterlogged.

 

[Octane80]

Re: 89 Sea Nymph SS175 Transom

Thanks, yeah it has been taken pretty good care of. The motor has run great and it's been a pleasure to fish from. I finally made it to the bottom of the foam tonight and it was not wet, but I will be ripping the stuff out and probably going with the pool noodles I've seen some guys talk about on here. We have a dollar store in town which sells them for a buck, is that pretty decent? Or have you guys found a better bulk deal?

I may have caused much of the problems, I have had to store it outside since buying it because it is too long for my garage and the cover seems to leak a bit. I also think the ants around here may have something to do with it as tons of em have been coming out of the wood since I opened it up.

Some of the other things which will be installed while I'm doing this is one of the tongue swing-away kits from here so I can store it inside once I get all the work done. I also got one of the powermania 3 bank 20 amp charger, and will be trying one of the TP Hustler 19p up from 17 (hopefully I can get low 40s with that). The other thing I have read up on is the porpoising the boat does as I trim it up, so I am also going to try and go a notch higher on the engine mount so see if that clears it up.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 89 Sea Nymph SS175 Transom

If you use the pool noodles you'll need to pack it as full as you can with them, the floatation value of those things isn't as or as much as some people think... but a buck a noodle is a good price.

I keep my boat outside all of the time, but I use 2 of the woven blue plastic tarps from Wal-mart. They're a lot more waterproof than a canvas cover and a heck of a lot cheaper. Boat covers or tarps burn up pretty quick down here in the hot Alabama sun.


I stretch it tight with 8 bungee cords to the trailer frame and it does really well.

 

[Pmccraney]

Re: 89 Sea Nymph SS175 Transom

May not be the best example, but my boat was set up exactly like yours and I modified the splashwell for a rear casting deck... See link below. Check out Jasoutside's and lmuss's sea nymph threads for similar rear casting deck mods. Great boat... Good luck to ya'

My '88 Sea Nymph GLS 17 - click here

Jasoutside's 1980 16' Sea Nymph Masterpiece

Lmuss53's 17 Sea Nymph Striper

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 89 Sea Nymph SS175 Transom

You don't really want to modify the splashwell, but incorporate it into a rear casting deck. My tinny is designed like this and I really like it.


You should also consider adding a deck drain so any water that gets on the decking (getting caught in a rain storm or taking a wave over the bow or transom) can drain quickly into the bilge so it can be pumped out via the bilge pump.

 

[Octane80]

Re: 89 Sea Nymph SS175 Transom

May not be the best example, but my boat was set up exactly like yours and I modified the splashwell for a rear casting deck... See link below. Check out Jasoutside's and lmuss's sea nymph threads for similar rear casting deck mods. Great boat... Good luck to ya'

Thanks man! Some great ideas!

 

[Octane80]

Re: 89 Sea Nymph SS175 Transom

You don't really want to modify the splashwell, but incorporate it into a rear casting deck. My tinny is designed like this and I really like it.


You should also consider adding a deck drain so any water that gets on the decking (getting caught in a rain storm or taking a wave over the bow or transom) can drain quickly into the bilge so it can be pumped out via the bilge pump.

Thanks for the advice and yes, I was planning on keeping it, just cutting down the sides so they only went as high as the casting deck as yours is set up. My example is how lund is doing the rear casting decks with the fold up seats.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 89 Sea Nymph SS175 Transom

May not be the best example, but my boat was set up exactly like yours and I modified the splashwell for a rear casting deck... See link below. Check out Jasoutside's and lmuss's sea nymph threads for similar rear casting deck mods. Great boat... Good luck to ya'

Yup, we have been down this road you are about to travel! :thumb:

Welcome to iboats!

 

[Octane80]

Re: 89 Sea Nymph SS175 Transom

Thanks for the help and welcome! A little progress has been made this week. I finally got the old transom out and am working on the new wood. I slathered some epoxy between 4 layers of 1/2 in exterior ply then screwed together and now have one coat of epoxy sealing it. After this dries a couple layers of glass cloth and some more epoxy to encapsulate it.

 

[Octane80]

Re: 89 Sea Nymph SS175 Transom

So I've been pondering paint colors for a bit now and since I just came across a fair deal on some charcoal carpet it has sealed the deal on dark grey and red. This is what I came up with on Sketchup.

 

[Pmccraney]

Re: 89 Sea Nymph SS175 Transom

That paint scheme looks really sharp!

 

[Octane80]

Re: 89 Sea Nymph SS175 Transom

I just realized I uploaded an unfinished pic. Anywhoot, here it is.

 

[Octane80]

Re: 89 Sea Nymph SS175 Transom

So it's slow going with all the rain, humidity, and long curing time on the epoxy. I've got the final coat of epoxy on the transom, drilled the holes a little large then coated the inside of them with epoxy. Most of the aluminum in the back is now wire wheeled to clean metal. I have also removed the seats and will most likely get all the decking out tomorrow to have a good look at things. I now believe the rotted transom was caused by some pits that went clear through. Anywhoot some pics of what I'm talking about. I've read that jb weld does wonders on these holes, is this for the long haul? Would it be better to weld them?

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 89 Sea Nymph SS175 Transom

I've read that jb weld does wonders on these holes, is this for the long haul? Would it be better to weld them?

Use JB Weld Marine or Loc-tite marine epoxy to skim the pits and holes on the inside of the transom.

You may also want to consider painting the inside of your transom with some self etching primes for aluminum and then a couple coats of regular meatal primer. this will put an end to the galvanic corrosion that pitted the inside of your transom in the first place. The corrosion is caused by water getting between the plywood and the metal transom and never drying out, and when the oxygen depletes from the water it turn corrosive and pit the aluminum, painting will prevent this.

Now that's my kind of epoxy sealing!

 

[Octane80]

Re: 89 Sea Nymph SS175 Transom

I removed the middle board in the boat today to find a large expanse filled with a gas tank. I haven't found how the rest of the decking pieces come off yet (no exposed screws), but seeing that I have decent drainage because of this center channel makes me less worried to finish the season in the boat. I leave for Orlando next week for Infocomm and will be coming back to a summer full of over time and so my time and energy will be slim. Since I do bass tournaments I would rather finish off the season strong and enjoy what little time I will have out on the lake. All in all the flooring looked good enough for a couple more seasons and I will be picking this thread back up come November. Thanks for all the help so far and I look forward to getting back into this project come winter. I'll post some pics of the finished transom with motor hopefully by Sunday.

The deck

The tank

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 89 Sea Nymph SS175 Transom

Wow, that tank looks huge, great find! How big?

 

[Octane80]

Re: 89 Sea Nymph SS175 Transom

Wow, that tank looks huge, great find! How big?

It's not as big as one would think unless the gas gauge is off. The most I've filled it up was 14 gallons so I figure it's 15 or 16 total. It is kind of weird though, since I have been checking out the other sea nymph restores most of them have supports which run side to side rather than the length of the boat. I wonder if sea nymph made many of em like this?

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 89 Sea Nymph SS175 Transom

No kidden? I thought sure it'd be a 30ish by the looks of it. Must be very thin.

Yah, most of the SN boats have the side to side. I think I have only seen a couple with the bow to stern stringers.

 

[Octane80]

Re: 89 Sea Nymph SS175 Transom

Ok, so here it goes... Back into the ole SS175. She's in the process of getting a major interior makeover with pics to come. Goals of the interior redo:

Extend the front casting deck so I feel a bit more stable making casts in the waves.

Extend the rear casting deck and build into it fold out seats for passengers.

Incorporate rod holders into the side so I quit breaking my rods!

Possible cooler-storage tank for that cold sixer.

Mount two group 27 trolling batteries up under the space created by extending the casting deck.

Replace front seats, (already have ordered two tempress ultimate elite chairs from IBoats which should be in anytime)

New longer seat posts in front and rear and a set of butt seats.

Cut the trailer and install swing away kit on tongue so it fits in the garage. (will also have to modify the hoist so it will align right as it will be moved back around 8".

Possibly paint.