1980 glastron CC center console resto transom and partial stringer replacementa

[Low91crx]

Greetings Iboats members, I want to start out by saying what a helpful forum. I've been lurking for quite a while but finally decided to join as I have recently picked up my first project boat. It is a 1980 glastron center console. I've built many cars, but this is my first go at a boat. I will be asking questions along the way.

The boat when I picked it up



The floor was just plywood covered in carpet. I began tearing it up expecting the worst, and thats what I got. The stringers are just fiberglass shells the wood that was in place is just rotted away.







The transom is in terrible shape as well






Not to sure what this is about



Nice crack in the transom here






I'm still shopping around for some epoxy resin and wood for the repairs. The plan for the transom is to make a new closed one with two 3/4" plywood adhered together. I'm not too sure on where to cut the original and install the new one. I understand they need to be adhered to the stringers but what about the walls of the hull and the bottom of the hull. I will also build a transom motor bracket. More pics and updates soon. Thanks for looking :thumb:

 

[Woodonglass]

Welcome to iBoats! Nice looking boat but for sure, she's in need of a total restoration. I'd recommend concentrating on just tearing her down to the bare hull and grinding her clean so you can start fresh. I think I understand you correctly in that you are wanting to install a motor pod on the transom instead of mounting the motor back directly on the transom as it was before...correct???
If that's the case, then you'll need to re-design the stringers just a bit but we can discuss that further when the time comes. Are you planning on building your own Motor Pod or buying a Pre-Fabbed one??

 

[Arawak]

Like Wood says, you need to start by gutting her.

Whenever possible, I like to take the cap off. It's more work, but you're looking at a lot of work anyway and it gives you easy access to everything. But it's your call of course. If you do, your hull will need some support across the top to prevent it "oil canning".

You will need a good amperage reciprocating saw. And a flat wrecking bar. And a grinder.

Cut out all stringers, bulkheads, foam, and floors. And the transom. Then use the flat blade part of the wrecking bar to get between the hull and the tabbing, and delaminate as much of the tabbing as you can. Then get a suit and a good dust mask and grind away everything that was tabbed to the hull.

Don't buy anything until just before you need it!

Plan to spend at least $2000.

 

[Low91crx]

Welcome to iBoats! Nice looking boat but for sure, she's in need of a total restoration. I'd recommend concentrating on just tearing her down to the bare hull and grinding her clean so you can start fresh. I think I understand you correctly in that you are wanting to install a motor pod on the transom instead of mounting the motor back directly on the transom as it was before...correct???
If that's the case, then you'll need to re-design the stringers just a bit but we can discuss that further when the time comes. Are you planning on building your own Motor Pod or buying a Pre-Fabbed one??

Thanks, Yes I plan on building my own motor pod to sit on the back of a new closed transom. From what I gather I need to sandwich two 3/4" pieces of plywood together and glass that. And for the stringers attach them with pl and glass over that. unless I need to extend the stringers upwards for added support. I haven't seen too many examples.

Like Wood says, you need to start by gutting her.

Whenever possible, I like to take the cap off. It's more work, but you're looking at a lot of work anyway and it gives you easy access to everything. But it's your call of course. If you do, your hull will need some support across the top to prevent it "oil canning".

You will need a good amperage reciprocating saw. And a flat wrecking bar. And a grinder.

Cut out all stringers, bulkheads, foam, and floors. And the transom. Then use the flat blade part of the wrecking bar to get between the hull and the tabbing, and delaminate as much of the tabbing as you can. Then get a suit and a good dust mask and grind away everything that was tabbed to the hull.

Don't buy anything until just before you need it!

Plan to spend at least $2000.

I'm going to avoid keeping track of expenses because I its going to hurt seeing the number on paper. In the end though I have a boat that's built to my specifications and It feels better to enjoy something I put work into building.



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[Low91crx]

Its so hard to get time to work on this bucket, but I managed to get the back portion of the cap off.



Not sure on how to go about removing this transom

Can I cut along the red lines with a reciprocating saw or do I have to delaminate the wood from the outer fiberglass shell.

 

[Woodonglass]

You do NOT want to cut the Glass out of the back of the boat!!!! You want to remove ALL of the CARP that's on it now and then grind it flat and smooth in order to adhere the new Wood Transom to the Glass on the inside. This Drawing shows how I'd recommend doing it with a full transom overlay and then the 2 central stringers with extended Knee braces for additional support for the motor pod. Based on the structure I'm seeing, I'd say someone has previously made a poor attempt at rebuilding the substructure of this boat.

 

[Low91crx]

You do NOT want to cut the Glass out of the back of the boat!!!! You want to remove ALL of the CARP that's on it now and then grind it flat and smooth in order to adhere the new Wood Transom to the Glass on the inside. This Drawing shows how I'd recommend doing it with a full transom overlay and then the 2 central stringers with extended Knee braces for additional support for the motor pod. Based on the structure I'm seeing, I'd say someone has previously made a poor attempt at rebuilding the substructure of this boat.

Ok I will do some more gutting but the issue is the fiberglass shell that sits behind the transom wood is damaged in several areas and probably be fixed properly.










My next update will have better content I promise
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[Arawak]

Ok I will do some more gutting but the issue is the fiberglass shell that sits behind the transom wood is damaged in several areas and probably be fixed properly.

It's also all you've got holding the back of the hull together. Do NOT remove it, at least not yet.

The wooden part of the transom will likely have an inner skin and that outer skin -- aka the hull. You will remove the inner skin along with the wooden transom but leave the outer part alone.

Once you have gutted her, you will be able to see, from the inside, the extent of the damage. Most likely you will do the bulk of your repairs from the inside, before you put the new transom in place, and then add a new inner skin.

 

[Woodonglass]

Well DUH, I forgot to include my drawing yesterday...

Hopefully you can see what I was talking about by making the Knee Braces on the stringers. Just get the skin cleaned up on both the inside and the outside and you can make all the necessary repairs when the time comes. When you get the POD built and ready to be mounted, you'll be needing to make modifications and attachments to the transom and the stern and so there's no need to make any repairs until you get the POD built and the engineering prepped for the install. That's my thinking!!!

Just get all the demo and cleanup done now so you can start with a clean slate!!