95 Sea Ray 230 Sundancer stringer repair

[redneck joe]

You kind of want to do all the demo at once,

Transom and stringers or just both sides of stringers?

 

[Scott Danforth]

I personally would pull the cap and eradicate all wet and rotted wood.

 

[gmach]

That wheel is death trap (only thing that hurt me doing my resto)I used 2 cutting mine to a shell. Rips down a lip flat and cuts out ply nearly instantly.

One time I placed it down before it stopped and it bit me. The other it kicked. Neither was deep but it was a reminder. Grinders are to be respected.

The coarse carbide carving disc is extremely effective compared to going through flap discs too.

I hear you. I've had many hours of experience with a 4 inch grinder, and when I switched the tool on with this wheel attached it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. It is considerably heavier than any normal grinding disc and when it gets up to speed its like a top with knives attached. Definitely a two handed tool and you best have your wits about you when using it. Safety glasses and good gloves are a must; I would also recommend a gaurd.

 

[Scott Danforth]

a 4-1/2" saw blade will also chuck up in a 4-1/2" angle grinder. I do not recommend that.

 

[JASinIL2006]

I personally would pull the cap and eradicate all wet and rotted wood.

Same. The idea of doing demolition work (and cleaning up said work) more than once makes me itch just thinking about it.

 

[gmach]

In my situation I'd prefer to leave the cap on and mask off areas where I won't be working. The boat is outside and the cap gives me some protection from the sun. I can also store my tools in the bow when I'm done for the day. I'm almost done grinding out the wood in the transom; the wood carving disc and 40 grit flap wheel worked great! I'm going to pick up a sheet of 1/2 & 3/4 inch Coosa Bluewater 26 to glue to the transom skin.

 

[gmach]

I finished grinding the transom and the areas I will be tabbing to. The skin on my transom is thicker on the bottom than it is at the top (3/16" on top and 1/4" on the bottom). I believe the reason behind this is because there is a layer of woven roving running a quarter way up the transom from the hull bottom. Sea Ray filled the gap with chopped strand. I'll lay in some 1708 to build the transom skin back up to 1/4". I also finished bonding the new transom core together last night, using epoxy mixed with milled glass fiber and a litte cabosil. I did a couple things different from the original design of the transom. Instead of starting the core just above the drain it will now be starting at the hull bottom below the drain, and the steps in the core are now a gradual taper between the layers. I doubt it will make any difference but in practice it's a better way to distribute stress.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Sounds like you’re making good progress! Laying down fiberglass is much more fun than grinding it away.

 

[gmach]

Here's the fit check. A little more trimming at the corner is needed but, I'm happy with the way its turning out so far. I'll rough out the key hole next.

 

[Drivewayboater2]

Just stumbled on to your thread.
Looks great. Make sure you’re in spec with your transom thickness.

 

[gmach]

Just stumbled on to your thread.
Looks great. Make sure you’re in spec with your transom thickness.

I'm already at 2 1/8" without glass and the core not bonded, that only gives me a 1/8 of an inch to work with. I'm cutting it close. I might run the belt sander across the transom a few times to give me some wiggle room.

 

[tpenfield]

Do the 'burn an inch' technique to get a more exact measurement, but generally you want the core to have been 1.5" . . . looks like you are at 1.75"

 

[gmach]

I mentioned before that the tansom skin was thicker at the bottom half of the key hole. I used the belt sander with 36 grit and brought the skin down to 1/4 inch all the way around the key hole. There seemed to be a large buildup of CSM around that area. A straight edge would rock across the hole, and now its fairly flat after sanding. I figure with the stack up I have planned it will be 1/4" for outer skin, 1/8" for glue, 1 3/4" for core, and 1/8" for inside skin. If it all goes to plan it the transom will end up at 2 and 1/4" thick.

 

[gmach]

Anybody have recommendations on bedding the transom? I was planning on using thickened vinyl ester resin and then fileting the squish out. I also have a little bit of epoxy left over that i could use but, I wanted to laminate the glass with vinyl ester, so I don't think an epoxy made fillet will work.

 

[Pmt133]

I did mine with thickened polyester peanut butter.