Re: 96 regal cuddy transom replacement
Yep, and fresh water cooled, as long as no salt water sneaks in it should last the lifetime of the engine.
Back on topic, here is what I have been doing EVERY weekend. Man, this is hard work. It's so much easier cruising thru the forums and saying to yourself "yea, I think I can do that" as you page your way to the last post when the project is completed.
Here is the sanded transom. You guys weren't lying, this was very hard work. I'm so glad this is behind me..
So you may have noticed, I had a little change in plans. The bracket that holds the motor up blocks a drain hole. The way the deck drains all the water goes to the starboard side, so this stringer sees the most water. The drain hole was clogged up, and always wet. I put my finger in there and noticed rotted wood. Another issue was when I put the transom in I had to slide it between the stringer and back. This was difficult to do, and when I did get it in I would have scrapped off any penut butter that was there to seal it. Between those to reasons, I decided to measure and remove it. It just would make life so much easier. Not to mention I want to be sure I get a good bond from my new transom to the outter skin.
Also, the little space where my swim platform is, only an inch tall. How to sand in that little space? Hehe, Harbor Freight to the rescue! I picked this up and worked perfectly. The funny part is the belts they give you, and the ones I bought from grainger boke constantly. So I went to home depot and bought a huge on, and cut it to width myself. Worked so much better! But in true Harbor Freight fashion, my tool started to smoke and act up at the end of the job. At least I finished before it completely went out, but still for a 30$ tool what do you expect? It served it's purpose well.
So here is how I did my transom. Since the wood wouldn't fit in I had to cut it. I did an "S" pattern where the very middle of if would hit the outter stringer. I plan on using peanut butter, then just the first piece of plywood on the transom. Let it dry overnight. Then lay 1.5 oz chop strand mat to mend the cut wood together, while putting the last layer of wood on. The last layer will also help tie it all together. Would be a perfect weekend job as it would probably take 2 days...
So I'm doing some searching on making peanut butter and getting ready to attach the first layer. I'm kinda nervous about this, I know this is an important bond and I've never done this before. I got all my 2X4 clamps setup and positioned, acetoned the wood and boat, then couldn't find my trowle. No big deal, home depot is right up the street. On the way home I noticed this -
I'm not making that mistake again!!!!!!!! As much as I hated to do it, packed it all up and called it a day. Funny part is it didn't even rain. Oh well, better safe then sorry. So it's sunday morning, and looks like clear skys. Time to research on making peanut butter (I have cabosil, 1/4 chop strand). I'm just unsure how much of each to use. Then off to put in a transom...
I'm currently coating my engine with POR-15. It runs great, but very rusted.
