1989 Chaparral Transom Repair

[rad1026]

Well, I don't know much about the science of boat design. There were certainly no stress cracks in the fiberglass surrounding the motor mounts but since the wood was tied in to the transom when the transom got wet the motor mounts got wet. Of course the motor mounts were constructed probably of pine, they had no resistance to the soak. I bet the one mount I removed on Saturday weighed close to 35 lbs. I do look at Sea Ray as one of the better mass produced boat companies. If they use the smaller mount for a big block then I'm sure it will provide more then adequate structure for my 5.7L. I think I will double up on the inside stringer and tie that in from the bulkhead back to the transom just to give the engine mount something more solid to attach to. Then I will glue the motor mount to the stinger with PB and throw probably two layers of CSM and two Layers of 1708. I will look again at how friscoboater constructed his.

 

[Rick Stephens]

Sounds like a good plan. Simple is good. Look forward to seeing it.

 

[Woodonglass]

You really don't need CSM when using 1708. It already has an adequate amount of CSM stitched to it. IMHO it would be better to lay down 3-4 layers of 1708 over the MM's to ensure adequate strength.

 

[Rick Stephens]

You really don't need CSM when using 1708. It already has an adequate amount of CSM stitched to it. IMHO it would be better to lay down 3-4 layers of 1708 over the MM's to ensure adequate strength.

Good advice.

​When I did my motor mounts I did four layers 1708 and then a couple layers of 7.5 ounce cloth to smooth and finish it off. Probably overkill.

 

[rad1026]

Perfect guys, thanks! I am using Titebond III to glue the 3/4" plywood together, its really good stuff. I'm headed down to our local lake this weekend for father's day (not on my boat obviously) and then next weekend headed to Lake Powell for a solid week on a 65' houseboat. I am so excited! Haven't been to Powell in 3 years and a houseboat vacation is paradise for me. This means I won't be back on the boat project for a couple of weeks though. If you have never been out West to Lake Powell you are missing out on one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

Rick, I like your style. First off my name is also Rick . I did as little demolition as possible. You still have your carpet laid down even. Good work on the motor mounts!

 

[Rick Stephens]

Rick, I like your style. First off my name is also Rick . I did as little demolition as possible. You still have your carpet laid down even. Good work on the motor mounts!

Wish i could say that was to save money.... But I pulled and replaced carpet as the last step. It was ancient and the mounts were a small part of a complete repower. Boat flat motorvates with about doubled horsies.

Last time I was at Powell, was camping as a kid. Watched Armstrog make first moon walk from lobby of motel. Been a few years.

Enjoy your trip.

Rick

 

[rad1026]

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I'm still here. Had an awesome time at Lake Powell! Now its back to reality. Been working on the motor mounts. Looking at all the trouble Frisco had glassing the inside of the mounts I think I'm going to PB the inside corners and glass the inside before I actually adhere the mounts to the stringers. Then I really only have to tab in layers on the bottom parts of the inside edges of the mounts once they are in place. The outer areas shouldn't be too hard to glass in.

 

[rad1026]

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A pic of our camp.

 

[Rick Stephens]

Those are nice looking mounts.

Powell sure is different with low water. Beautiful still.

Rick

 

[rad1026]

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It seems like I have spent an unbelievable amount of time on these motor mounts. I mixed up some PB and rounded the inside corners then laid in 1708 to the inside edges. Yesterday I cut a 33" X 14" piece of 1708 and wrapped it from the top and side edges to the inside. Its always a science experiment mixing up resin. You really never know how much to mix up to minimize waste and how much working time you will have. I mixed up 300ml and a 1% hardener. That turned out to be a good mix. It took me 40 minutes to wet out one motor mount. By the time I got both done it was over 3 hours. So now I have two layers in the inside and one layer on the outside. I think I am going to get back in the boat now and get the stringers rebuilt. I hope that tabbing in three layers of 1708 will be enough or do you think I should do another layer like I just did before I install the mounts to the stringers?

 

[Rick Stephens]

Wish I had a clue where to draw the line on number of layers for transom or stringers to transom or motor mounts to stringers. I kept going till I ran out of glass... Made me nervous to think about sheared off mounts. Mid project I had a guy come by and buy a bunch of removed parts from my boat and he had just tried glassing, didn't know to remove all the gel coat, after he finished, he stepped on one of his new mounts to get to the other side of his boat and the whole thing pulled off in one piece. I added another couple layers the next day

 

[rad1026]

I will keep that in mind Rick. It would probably be easier to do one more wrapped layer before I install them.

 

[alldodge]

IMO, more layers after install is stronger then more layers before install, because you will be over lapping to the stringers and deck

 

[rad1026]

I agree Dodge. That's why I think I'm going to stop here and get them installed. I really just wanted to get the underside of these done before I installed them because doing that down in the bilge on my belly didn't sound like very much fun.

 

[rad1026]

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just realized I have not put up any pictures of my transom after finishing the glass. These aren't very good pictures. Too dark of shadows. I'm really happy about the way it came out though.

 

[alldodge]

Looks real good, very nice work :thumb:

 

[Rick Stephens]

Nice job.

 

[rad1026]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate that. This weekend its back to grinding out all the rest of the paint in the bilge and getting the stringers put together. I'm getting there. .

 

[rad1026]

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Got a little bit done on Saturday. I think its time to get the engine mount glued in and start fiber glassing. I think I'm going to use some deck screws on the inside of the stringer to secure the motor mount when I PB those in. Can't wait to get the motor out of my garage.

 

[rad1026]

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Still moving along. Set in the last stringers and engine mounts. I'm really happy with how the mounts set in. I drilled holes through the stringer and pulled the mounts in to the stringer with deck screws. That worked out really good. So I will be out of town the next two weekends, but I'm looking forward to getting this all glassed in. One step at a time. One thing I have a question about is where I met the new stringers to the old stringers. I really couldn't get a good amount of PB between the two pieces of wood. I think I am going to go back and redo them now that I have the motor mounts in. Do you think that is necessary or will the fiberglass layers give me enough strength there?