1976 22' SUS O/B "Hydration Break"

[SHSU]

Slow and steady wins the race. Mine took 2 1/2 years and I told the Admiral 6 months max.... lol

SHSU

 

[FIGMO]

Slow and steady wins the race. Mine took 2 1/2 years and I told the Admiral 6 months max.... lol

SHSU

Hey SHSU,

I'm just over four years and hoping to splash her in two and half weeks! That is about as slow as it gets...

 

[SHSU]

Hey SHSU,

I'm just over four years and hoping to splash her in two and half weeks! That is about as slow as it gets...

Its going to be a tank!!!

SHSU

 

[DWbaseball]

After a lull in progress the work on Hydration Break is officially back in swing. I know everyone has been waiting for updates on this beautiful SuperSport 22. It sat with the cover off all summer so I had to give it a real good shop vac and power wash last weekend. No pics of how dirty it got sitting in it's spot which is under a tree.

My brother came by and today I found that having help is definitely greater than one, we got alot done in just about an hour and a half before dark. Old Chrysler motor pulled and on a hand cart, now I can tear the old transom out. Really feeling close to the end of the tear down stage, and looking forward to getting to some rebuilding steps. He also helped me start to unbolt some of the bolts though the transom, I have a whole row of about 25 that's a part of the custom knee brace rebuild that was done. Def a two man job to hold the nuts. Wish we had more daylight to get all of the transom bolts out but I'm confident I can recruit a neighbor this weekend.

 

[DWbaseball]

Also, I have a plan for how I want to rebuild the transom as a 25inch. The yellow would be a piece of aluminum welded where the red lines are to the existing transom skin. Then the green is a second piece of aluminum that is buttered on with 5200 to fill the existing holes.
Going to send this to a welder for a quote, any ballpark tips on what would be fair price?

 

[SHSU]

I like the idea of raising the transom height. Any thoughts to if you will need to raise the knee brace height as well?

SHSU

 

[BOYS & TOYS]

Also, I have a plan for how I want to rebuild the transom as a 25inch. The yellow would be a piece of aluminum welded where the red lines are to the existing transom skin. Then the green is a second piece of aluminum that is buttered on with 5200 to fill the existing holes. View attachment 351344
Going to send this to a welder for a quote, any ballpark tips on what would be fair price?

If I understand your plan correctly the yellow piece would be butt welded and overlapped with the green.
I would omit the yellow piece and riveted a sheet of thicker material onto the outside. Maybe 3/16" 5052.
Butt welding.090" sheet aluminum doesn't sound like fun to me and I enjoy welding.
The knee brace and splash well need to be redesigned too for the 25" transom or you might create new problems.

 

[ShoestringMariner]

Hey SHSU,

I'm just over four years and hoping to splash her in two and half weeks! That is about as slow as it gets...

I’m not so sure...I’m in the forever club too.

 

[ShoestringMariner]

Also, I have a plan for how I want to rebuild the transom as a 25inch. The yellow would be a piece of aluminum welded where the red lines are to the existing transom skin. Then the green is a second piece of aluminum that is buttered on with 5200 to fill the existing holes. View attachment 351344
Going to send this to a welder for a quote, any ballpark tips on what would be fair price?

I’m late to the party. Will you be putting an extension on the lower unit of your motor or swapping?
Any welding shop that does TIG aluminum should be able to do it, though you probably don’t need it welded. It’s the wooden transom that gives it a a lot of strength. You could just do a 0.125” aluminum overlay (inside and out), do a double box flange to cover the top edge of the transom and give it extra stiffener?

anyone else think this is a doable mod?

 

[DWbaseball]

My reasons are that I have a 25' shaft Merc that I am planning on hanging on the boat. I also like the idea of having the power head higher up from the water line, and the higher transom means less chance of water splashing in the back. I plan to use the boat in the Delaware River/Bay and in the Chesapeake, so I will eventually end up in some chop.

To SHSU about the knee brace, it has already been customized by the PO with a long L bracket that is most of the length of the transom. I plan to not modify that further if it feels solid. You can see the row of bolts on the outside if the transom in the previous pic.

I am however looking for ways to modify the splash well, as I would like to similarly raise the drain holes that are in the transom about 5 inches. and the splash well would need to match that. I also feel that having that bottom of the splash well raised would add some of the additional stiffness higher up on the transom wood piece that would be needed with this mod.

Thanks for the discussion on this one, I very much appreciate all the advice and commentary on my project from those who have already built a boat and watched other builds on this forum.

 

[ShoestringMariner]

My reasons are that I have a 25' shaft Merc that I am planning on hanging on the boat. I also like the idea of having the power head higher up from the water line, and the higher transom means less chance of water splashing in the back. I plan to use the boat in the Delaware River/Bay and in the Chesapeake, so I will eventually end up in some chop.

To SHSU about the knee brace, it has already been customized by the PO with a long L bracket that is most of the length of the transom. I plan to not modify that further if it feels solid. You can see the row of bolts on the outside if the transom in the previous pic.View attachment 351572

I am however looking for ways to modify the splash well, as I would like to similarly raise the drain holes that are in the transom about 5 inches. and the splash well would need to match that. I also feel that having that bottom of the splash well raised would add some of the additional stiffness higher up on the transom wood piece that would be needed with this mod.

Thanks for the discussion on this one, I very much appreciate all the advice and commentary on my project from those who have already built a boat and watched other builds on this forum.

I like the idea of a modified splashwell. Even if you don’t raise the transom. Those are huge huge tubs. I would have a sheet metal shop bend up a new one out of 5052 alum. .060 or .080”. Rivet it in to the gunnels and screw to the transom.
But if you can raise the transom and put a new splash well in, you will have much better storage underneath.

 

[SHSU]

To SHSU about the knee brace, it has already been customized by the PO with a long L bracket that is most of the length of the transom. I plan to not modify that further if it feels solid. You can see the row of bolts on the outside if the transom in the previous pic.

I like the idea of the L bracket, but I don't believe it transfers much to your knee brace if you raise the transom height. So the force associated with the motor wont be transferred appropriately. That is just my simple mind, not an engineer here.

I am however looking for ways to modify the splash well, as I would like to similarly raise the drain holes that are in the transom about 5 inches. and the splash well would need to match that. I also feel that having that bottom of the splash well raised would add some of the additional stiffness higher up on the transom wood piece that would be needed with this mod.

I had a custom splashwell made for mine and moved my drain holes as well. I had my welder weld the old holes closed with the pieces I cut out from their new location. I had to do a lot of measuring prior as you obviously can't have the transom in place during install. So I figured out where I wanted them and then used that to figure out my splashwell size.

SHSU

 

[BOYS & TOYS]

Here is a splash well of 1/4"
A 2×4" tube bolts on with 3 attachment points to convert from 21" to 25" shaft
Has been working well in large ocean swells while drifting

 

[SHSU]

Here is a splash well of 1/4"
A 2×4" tube bolts on with 3 attachment points to convert from 21" to 25" shaft
Has been working well in large ocean swells while drifting

Interesting, any pictures of the tube in place?

SHSU

 

[BOYS & TOYS]

Interesting, any pictures of the tube in place?

SHSU

This is from the construction phase. You can see both the long and x long shaft bolt pattern in the picture. This pic was in my build thread. I will add some with the x long motor mounted to my thread.

 

[SHSU]

This is from the construction phase. You can see both the long and x long shaft bolt pattern in the picture. This pic was in my build thread. I will add some with the x long motor mounted to my thread.

That makes more sense. I imagined an external tube being bolted on. Looks good though and wont decompose over time.

SHSU

 

[BOYS & TOYS]

That makes more sense. I imagined an external tube being bolted on. Looks good though and wont decompose over time.

SHSU

Sometimes I don't describe things properly. The 2x4" tube was capped on the ends by welding 3/4" or 1" plate in and it was threaded for 1/2" bolts. Between the bolts in the center another insert is welded inside and threaded 1/2" with the bolt installed from the bottom.
When the spacer is installed the ss bolts are not visible from the outside.
One down side is the splash well could have been 4" higher on the bottom for xlong shaft only.

 

[DWbaseball]

Got the cap off and the transom moving the other night but not out yet. Ran out of daylight again which is getting short.

It looks like the factory hammered in these top brackets on each side of the top of the transom, which is really holding onto it.
Might not get too much done this weekend which is unfortunate - I think I better take it easy after I was forced to get "The Jab" to stay employed....

 

[SHSU]

Be careful with that transom cap. Almost impossible to find if you damage it and need to replace. I wasn't, but thankfully I was planning on a custom splashwell that would need a new cap anyways.

SHSU

 

[DWbaseball]

Transom came out today!
Bent up this eyelet pretty good while it was still wedged onto the splash well.