Another Motor mount repair question

[Roadking57]

I pulled my 4.3L out of my 1988 Regal Seabring to replace a leaking exhaust Y pipe. Found the Lag bolts pulled out of the mounts. The boxes the mounts go on sound hollow. I went ahead and pulled the transom plate and bellhousing to replace the seals and shift arm seal. That revealed the transom and its hard and yellow when scraped a bit with screwdriver tip. My Question to the experts here is this: Can I pour in epoxy and fill the boxes and re-drill the holes for the lag bolts? Its a 36yr old boat and I wish to get at least another 720 hours that is on the hour meter so far on it again. I bought it used last year. Replaced all the bellows. New plugs cap & rotor. She purrs like a kitten.
My idea is to pour thru the existing holes so as to keep the original position.
I've read where the concern is heat and to pour 1/3 at a time and let it cool slightly
between pours until full. Anyone ever do this? Is it a completely crazy idea?

 

[Scott Danforth]

epoxy wont work.

epoxy by itself is really really brittle. as in glass brittle

not to mention, the hollow chamber most likely extends into the stringers and the flotation boxes.

most likely when you pull the box off, you will find the stringers gone, and the flotation foam water-soaked.

time to get itchy

 

[Roadking57]

Ahh okay thank you. I've never used epoxy very much. I didnt know it was glass brittle. A buddy has a boroscope camera. I will take a look see whats inside before cutting into the boxes.
Pictures forthcoming

 

[Scott Danforth]

being a searay pre 2002 and being a 1988 with rot.

its a given you need to cut out and repair properly.

just surprised it took this long. most of the rot should have showed up 20 years ago.

 

[Roadking57]

The PO owned her for 22 years and kept her in one of those fancy 3 high stacked marinas on lake lanier, Ga. Where you call ahead and they forklift your boat into the water. He was not a mechanic and had the marina do all her maintenance. I bought her with the notion she had a bad transom. Water pouring in scared the guy. I work with honeycomb and performed a tap test and had someone pull up and down on the drive unit while I held my ear to the transom and I couldnt hear any creaks or dull thud during my tapping.
The interior was almost new with no rips or tears anywhere. I jumped up and down all over the floor looking for soft spots and there are none. The water was running in from directly below the Y pipe verified by my buddy's boroscope camera.
I apologize about rambling but I think She was well taken care of and I lucked out and got a good one. Even the exhaust risers are in great shape.
The water baffles/flippers were worn out but still there.

 

[Scott Danforth]

you wont hear anything with a tapping test until the wood long ago rots away.

only true way to tell is a test drill down low in the bilge. 5/16" bit, drill 3/4" into the transom about 2" up from the hull bottom and 3" over from the drain plug.

if shavings come out wet, dark and smell like rotting mulch..... you have transom work

if shavings come out dry, light, and smell like fresh sawn pine, you are good, just seal up the hole with marine tex or 5200

however if the motor mount boxes are rotten, the transom is also rotten.

 

[Roadking57]

Wow ! Sir with all due respect, you sound very pessimistic! I have called a guy in Atlanta who does transom repair. He quoted me around 2 to 3k to replace all the transom wood and aft stringers if needed if I pulled the motor, which I have. That was a year ago. I may need to call him back.

 

[kcassells]

Dr. Doom Baby! LOL!

 

[todhunter]

Just do the drill test and it'll tell you everything you need to know.

See HERE where I did mine.

 

[76SeaRay]

Scott and Tod gave me the same advice and they were right. My drill test higher up on the transom looked good but like Tod's picture the bottom of the transom and stringers were gone. I had to gut the interior and put in new stringers and floor including the engine mount area. Mine is a 1976.

I'll add that I have a nice shop and it took a long time to completely redo transom, stringers and floor. Doing it outside is possible but weather dependent both for rain and temperature.

 

[Roadking57]

Wow todhunter! You rebuilt the entire boat! Very Impressive!
I just ordered me a DeWalt oscillating multi tool, and a blade kit.
Still haven't cut her open yet. She is sitting in my buddy's shop who let me use his gantry. I also have a shop I can park her inside to do the work.
I also built a rolling stand for my outdrive
For now the engine is sitting on some 2x6's on the floor in front of the bilge area still connected to the gantry.
I plan on doing the drill test as well.

 

[todhunter]

Wow todhunter! You rebuilt the entire boat! Very Impressive!
I just ordered me a DeWalt oscillating multi tool, and a blade kit.
Still haven't cut her open yet. She is sitting in my buddy's shop who let me use his gantry. I also have a shop I can park her inside to do the work.
I also built a rolling stand for my outdrive
For now the engine is sitting on some 2x6's on the floor in front of the bilge area still connected to the gantry.
I plan on doing the drill test as well.

Thanks! I really wanted a boat, so I was committed and it paid off. It was a lot of work but we have enjoyed the hell out of it the last 3 summers. Having a shop to work in year-round is great and can help compress your timeline.

 

[froggy1150]

Outside is not a deal breaker. I covered boat with billboard tarps. 3 layers. In summer I used a fairly big swamp cooler and in the winter I had a old 3 phase shop heater that I converted to single phase 220. I would turn that on and superheat the boat with a propane turbo heater and then the electric would maintain. Even in 30 deg

 

[Roadking57]

Okay the Orig guy I had talked to 2yrs ago about replacing the transom is no longer doing repairs due to his wife currently loosing her battle with cancer, very sad.

On a good note I found a company near me that will recover/replace the fiberglass that I remove! Its only about 40mins away. I have no idea of an estimate yet. They want me to send pictures when I get it torn apart! The name is Plastikos Inc. Fayetteville Ga. Anybody ever hear of them? They do more than boats.

 

[Roadking57]

Ok I owe Scott Danforth an apology! Or Kudos because He was correct. After cutting the tops off of the mount boxes, and finding crumbs of wood piled in the bottom, I did an inspection of the transom holes. I can insert a large 90 deg. bend booger hook into the lower holes on both sides and twist all way around and there is nothing there. Bottom two holes up are gone, above that not so bad. So its transom replacement time.
On a good note after cleaning out the mount boxes there is mat fiberglass all wrapped around down in there. No exposed stringers. It was holding a bit of water prob from the last outing. Initially that sounds bad, but it did not allow water to flow out into anywhere else.
I called a Marina (Reasors) near a lake I go to (Jackson lake, in Ga.) They gave me a number to call a guy in Conyers Ga. Julian I think? Anyway He does all the heavy repairs for Reasors Marina. Its about an hour drive from me. He told us he has been doing transom and stinger repairs over 30 years. And a Regal boat was a good one. He quoted me around 3-3500. Since I already have engine and bell housing pulled. So if that estimate holds we should have a boat that will last us longer than I will need for around 5k.

 

[Scott Danforth]

No problem. We see it all the time on the forums

 

[Roadking57]

Attempt to post picture 8/14/24 7:52 am.
I reckon admin still working to resolve the issue

 

[Roadking57]

Alright I got the engine out of the boat and onto a furniture dolly. Removed bilge pump and fan and associated wiring out of the way. Hauled the boat out to Conyers Ga. west of Atlanta. Nice older gent Julian. Showed me two other transoms He has repaired and they are not as thick (layered) as my Regal. He said regal builds the entire boat that way! So maybe I have an Angel watching over my dumb butt and I lucked out and got a decent used boat. He said He would take pictures along the way. Should be ready in 2-3 weeks. The transom and mounts repaired with marine grade plywood $3600.

If I use something like picassa (google pics) with a link, would that work here?
Or what are you guys using these days?

 

[matt167]

Regal at the time was one of the better built boats. The transom will be to specification which is 2-2 1/4” for the Mercruiser to fit correctly. Beyond that, it’ll be a standard stringer, fiberglass and foam constructed boat. You still have a likely chance the rest of the stringers are gone. I have a ‘88 Medallion 195 that I bought for parts but thought it might make the lake for a couple outings because it seemed solid. When I noticed the engine mounts pulled out, and noticed a split shift cable its fate was sealed

 

[Roadking57]

Well I can tell you that the floor feels solid when I take my 195LBs and stand on my toes and bounce. No soft spots that you can feel anyway. Maybe the fiberglass is so thick you cant tell.
I can tell you I will not be rebuilding the entire boat. I cant afford to pay someone to do it and my shoulders and knees cant handle it.
Me and Julian have an agreement that if He uncovers more damage He will stop and evaluate if it is too much to proceed.

On my prev post #18, I stated Conyers was West of Atl when in fact it is East.
in case that even matters to anyone.