1971 Glastron GT160 Rear Drain Hole Question

[AK87]

Hello everyone,

First time boat owner here. Picked up a 1971 GT160 with Force 120 outboard for next to nothing and trying to give it a once over to be enjoyed for a cheap boat challenge between friends and hopefully a couple of seasons depending how it holds up.

The transom is a bit soft and has been reinforced with aluminum plating by a previous owner. As a mechanical engineer it passes the sturdy enough sniff test for the moment/for my purposes and accepted level of risk, but I'll be watching it closely after a shakedown and each subsequent use (also will be adding/making a transom saver for trailer to help delay the inevitable)

On a likely related note can somebody tell me what this hole is for? Located just forward of outboard midway on transom. I thought it was a drain that allowed trapped water out the back of boat but after cleaning it out it is a blind hole... Do you think this was originally a through hole on the Glastron that got covered up when the force motor was fitted? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated, as it sits this seems to be a place for water to collect and rot the wood out only and I'm trying to determine if I should create a exit path in this location? Thanks everyone.

 

[alldodge]

Welcome
That's the splash well drain. All outboard boats have them

 

[Scott Danforth]

The transom is a bit soft and has been reinforced with aluminum plating by a previous owner. As a mechanical engineer it passes the sturdy enough sniff test for the moment/for my purposes and accepted level of risk, but I'll be watching it closely after a shakedown and each subsequent use (also will be adding/making a transom saver for trailer to help delay the inevitable)

Welcome aboard

As an engineer and a realist, the aluminum plate is a bandaid applied over a broken back/legs/etc of the boats skeleton. it may offer a bit of comfort, however it wont keep the motor and transom attached to the boat unless there is also aluminum plates sistering the stringers and knee braces going forward holding the engine to the rest of the hull.

Look at the load path of an outboard motor compared to an I/O. the outboard motor is constantly trying to pry the transom off the boat with a long lever arm

Now relook at the aluminum plate.

 

[AK87]

Thanks Scott and alldodge for your comments.

I agree it is far from ideal but there is more going on inside the hull and at the rear than is shown in that one picture. I will take your advice though and have another look at potential sistering. I will try to get some better pictures and follow up. While I'm fully prepared for this boat to need to be limped back to a trailer and decomissoned, if the outboard ejects itself on the water that's obviously a much worse and different problem to have with implications I'd rather not have to encounter.

Can someone please tell me if the splash well drain is supposed to exit out the back of the boat straight through transom? It has to correct?

Thanks all!

 

[Bondo]

Thanks Scott and alldodge for your comments.

I will take your advice though and have another look at potential sistering.

Can someone please tell me if the splash well drain is supposed to exit out the back of the boat straight through transom? It has to correct?

Thanks all!

Ayuh,..... Welcome Aboard,...... Yes, straight out through the transom,......
What that hull needs is to be torn apart, 'n the transom wood Replaced, as the internal rot is way past sistering,.....

 

[AK87]

Thanks Bondo,

Yes I am fully onboard with doing a full replacement of transom and in process of seeing what that would cost to have done. I have too many projects to take it on myself right now, but trying to see if I can get a couple uses out of it before that point. Previous owner was still using it but obviously it is just a matter of time before things go terribly. Something tells me that the splash well drain being capped off at rear ever since they mounted a force 120 is 90% of WHY the transom is rotten... the water pools up and just sits in an open plywood cavity... facepalm.

Some background:
I want to be clear to those that don't know me, I am a perfectionist and owner, upgrader, and builder of well maintained cars, jeeps, trucks, atvs, motorcycles, but this boat is an odd exception that hurts my soul a little being honest. Between a group of 8 good friends we imagined up a top-gear esque cheap boat competition to take place at a friend's cabin. 4 teams of 2 pool some disposable income to try to get the best boat for the least cost to compete in a range of elaborately developed, peer reviewed, and spreadsheet-scored events in about a month from now. If not for this criteria I would have never purchased this boat noting the structural damage. (And ultimately not sure if/when I would have ever entered the boating world if not for this event ha!) Ultimately if it can survive that weekend without losing the motor, it will be a win. Is it ideal? Absolutely not. Is this something any reasonable boater here would ever suggest using as is? Of course not. Am I stuck with this thing now and hell bent on doing whatever it takes to make it serviceable for a few days a month from now? Ultimately yeah...

All that said I understand that WOT and rough water is going to put a lot more stress on the transom than me bouncing it up and down on the trailer to judge structural integrity and a failure at that moment caries significant risk which is honestly my biggest fear and why I am treading lightly. I will follow up with some more photos and info later today as I appreciate any and all feedback here, even if its "you're an idiot you should have never bought that boat." Which I know and agree with by the way! All joking aside though the 71 Glastron is a really cool retro boat design and if it survives, there is a restoration business in my neck of the woods that seems to be reasonable for the transom work per preliminary call. For the few Benjamins I got the boat for, I think I could actually pay for this rework and still sell it for more than I bought it for... but it's out of scope for that to happen in the next 30 days. More to come, appreciate you folks on here!

 

[JASinIL2006]

Just be sure to always wear a life jacket...

 

[airshot]

If you choose to use it as is....please don't take anyone else with you ! If it does break apart and sink, the EPA will levy some big fines that no insurance company will cover....good luck, your gonna need it !

 

[Bondo]

Thanks Bondo,

Yes I am fully onboard with doing a full replacement of transom and in process of seeing what that would cost to have done. I have too many projects to take it on myself right now, but trying to see if I can get a couple uses out of it before that point. Previous owner was still using it but obviously it is just a matter of time before things go terribly. Something tells me that the splash well drain being capped off at rear ever since they mounted a force 120 is 90% of WHY the transom is rotten... the water pools up and just sits in an open plywood cavity... facepalm.

Some background:
I want to be clear to those that don't know me, I am a perfectionist and owner, upgrader, and builder of well maintained cars, jeeps, trucks, atvs, motorcycles, but this boat is an odd exception that hurts my soul a little being honest. Between a group of 8 good friends we imagined up a top-gear esque cheap boat competition to take place at a friend's cabin. 4 teams of 2 pool some disposable income to try to get the best boat for the least cost to compete in a range of elaborately developed, peer reviewed, and spreadsheet-scored events in about a month from now. If not for this criteria I would have never purchased this boat noting the structural damage. (And ultimately not sure if/when I would have ever entered the boating world if not for this event ha!) Ultimately if it can survive that weekend without losing the motor, it will be a win. Is it ideal? Absolutely not. Is this something any reasonable boater here would ever suggest using as is? Of course not. Am I stuck with this thing now and hell bent on doing whatever it takes to make it serviceable for a few days a month from now? Ultimately yeah...

All that said I understand that WOT and rough water is going to put a lot more stress on the transom than me bouncing it up and down on the trailer to judge structural integrity and a failure at that moment caries significant risk which is honestly my biggest fear and why I am treading lightly. I will follow up with some more photos and info later today as I appreciate any and all feedback here, even if its "you're an idiot you should have never bought that boat." Which I know and agree with by the way! All joking aside though the 71 Glastron is a really cool retro boat design and if it survives, there is a restoration business in my neck of the woods that seems to be reasonable for the transom work per preliminary call. For the few Benjamins I got the boat for, I think I could actually pay for this rework and still sell it for more than I bought it for... but it's out of scope for that to happen in the next 30 days. More to come, appreciate you folks on here!

Ayuh,...... the labor costs will kill any hope of doin' this right,.....
I too, Love the ole Glastron GTs, the James Bond boat,....
I've got an old cherry Merc tower of power 150hp that would be my choice of power for it,.....
If you go forward with yer plan for yer fun weekend, with any luck, if the motor falls off, odds are the control, 'n steering cables will hold it long enough to salvage the motor,.....

 

[Scott Danforth]

regardless of the motor on the boat, that transom started rotting about a month after the boat first came out. the encapsulation around the lower drain hole is abysmal. regardless if the splashwell drain was there or not.

Im with Bondo, a good TOP on that boat (with a good transom/stringers/deck) would be a fun ride.

boat restoration isnt for the faint of heart or wallet. that boat will cost you about $2k to restore the hull if you do the work yourself. expect to put in about 200 hours if you do the work yourself.

if you have to pay someone to do the labor, that is $120-$150 per hour for well over 100 hours of labor to do it correctly.

 

[AK87]

Thanks all for the info. I have some serious thinking to do on this about whether it's worth it to me vs. flipping to someone more ambitious and writing it off a a life lesson. I got a quote for 2500 to do the transom from a well rated local boat restorer, but I suspect from my limited knowledge and what I am seeing that there may be more he uncovers. Last owner didn't do anything to the boat for 4 years, but guy before him did floor, carpet, seats, and freshened things up. However from what I can tell at back of boat near fuel tank, the new floorboards (while solid to the casual person) were put over the old rotten ones rather than replacing outright. So if I were a betting man I suspect that the way that was done likely wasn't technically correct.

Good advise on PFD and laughing at the steering column comment. Maybe I should get a oversized buoy to tie to the engine so it's easy to retrieve... *nervous laughter*

 

[briangcc]

On the first photo, where the motor well is shown, it appears there's any number of cracks between the well and the inner transom. Then add in the hodge podge half-baked aluminum/sheetmetal reinforcing that looks like its slowly being pulled through the transom....

If that were mine, I wouldn't be stepping foot on it until it was repaired.

And I'd be checking to see if my wife took out a very large life insurance policy without my knowledge

 

[AK87]

I'm a bit scared to post these here because I too have eyes, but I feel there are some people that might enjoy being validated in their clearly accurate observations haha.

Fix or replace... fix or replace...Thanks all for the hard truths. Time and lack of maintenance is cruel to all the things we love. I'm no stranger to sinking way too much money into old things, so hey what's another money pit. My only consolation is that for what I paid, I pretty much bought a decent running 120hp motor and got a free boat with it... yeah, let's go with that... and for those following from the start there is clearly NOT enough reinforcement nor would any amount truly solve the problem in any long lasting fashion, I will eat my words and agree that this thing is a ticking time bomb.

 

[airshot]

Save your motor and look for a decent aluminum hull, you won't have all that rotten wood to deal with...at best a floor and transom, but much easier and less expensive as well as better resale value !!

 

[JASinIL2006]

It's still a very cool boat... if you like projects and don't expect to make any money, restoring it could be fun. (Except for the fiberglass grinding. No one likes that!)

I'm glad you realize how dangerous it is in its current condition, though. Many of us have had to come to that painful realization after we bought a boat.