Cracked gel coat near transom!

[1976evinrude]

I have a 16ft flats boat with a 85hp evinrude on it and after redoing the stringers,floor and gel coat on the inside and upon mounting my engine these cracks in the gel coat started happening. There not in the transom but just the gel coat. What should I do? im worried the engine is too big for the boat but the transom is almost 2 inches thick!
Thanks

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Cracked gel coat near transom!

Welcome to iBoats!

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but those cracks indicate to me that your transom is bad! Meaning the wood beneath the gelcoat and glass is waterlogged and rotten. It will need to be replaced. You can use a 3/8 inch drill bit to drill into the transom from the inside of the boat and drill 3/4 inch deep in several locations. I suspect you will find dark wet shavings.

 

[1976evinrude]

Re: Cracked gel coat near transom!

Are you sure? Because everything was just redone including the transom. Do you think the gel coat cracked off because i didnt properly clean the fiberglass before laying the gel coat down? The transom is solid as a rock.

 

[1976evinrude]

Re: Cracked gel coat near transom!

But Im not sure I will drill the hole tomorro afternoon and check it out. Where should I drill it and what should I be looking for?

 

[Cadwelder]

Re: Cracked gel coat near transom!

How long ago was this transom redone? 85HP on a 16 footer doesn't sound over rated, what does the CC rating plate say for max HP?

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Cracked gel coat near transom!

How long had you owned this boat? Did you have the transom replaced? Cuz that big metal plate the motor is mounted on screams "bad transom reinforcement" to me.

 

[MTboatguy]

Re: Cracked gel coat near transom!

Something is flexing to cause a patterned crack like that, it looks to be following the attachment points between the hull and the transom, it may be due to poor preparation, but that still does not address the flex/movement in that transom. How long since the transom was re-done and how many times in the water? I would have to say, there is an underlying problem there that needs to be fixed. JMHO

 

[1976evinrude]

Re: Cracked gel coat near transom!

Everything was redone about a year ago and it really hasn't been used much at all. I'm thinking of grinding the gel coat chips and sections off and just filling with marine epoxy and re painting. The cracks are not in the construction of the boat where the transom meets the hull it's just the very top layer of gel coat popping off. I jumped on the engine and couldn't see flex at all anywhere. Im hoping it was just poor preparation and forgetting to acetone and clean the surfaces real well.

 

[1976evinrude]

Re: Cracked gel coat near transom!

Ohh and it has a cmc pt130 power tilt and trim installed

 

[1976evinrude]

Re: Cracked gel coat near transom!

Update: ok today I tilted the motor up and stood on it at the end and jumped a little and did notice that were the gel coat chipped off the transom was flexing back just a little barely noticeable about 1/8 of flex and that's will all 220lbs of me jumping on the motor

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Cracked gel coat near transom!

Hello 1976 ..and welcome to Iboats ..

Looks to me that whoever did the repair missed there window to apply the gel on the glass without proper prep..

Of course I cant say for sure..but from what I see in the pics it looks mighty shiny from glass to gelcoat.

The trans flexes of course..if that gel was not applied correctly then high energy points will pop it off..

One true way to tell.. .. can you just scrape the gel off EZ ? Trust me .. if it was done correctly it would be impossible to do.

Do your tests if you like..but those hard chip edges dictate a bond failure between the gel and the glasswork to me ..

Just me though..

YD.

 

[1976evinrude]

Re: Cracked gel coat near transom!

Well I found out today that when the floors and stringers were redone where the fiberglass hits the transom it was only laid about 4 inches up on the transom from the deck and then just gel coated.

 

[1976evinrude]

Re: Cracked gel coat near transom!

im guessing these cracks I found where formed when the cmc pt130 trim and tilt bracked was tighted on the transom causing the fiberglass that was laid only a couple inches up the transom from the stringers to crack off. What do you think?

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Cracked gel coat near transom!

Sounds like you have answered your own question.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Cracked gel coat near transom!

Well I found out today that when the floors and stringers were redone where the fiberglass hits the transom it was only laid about 4 inches up on the transom from the deck and then just gel coated.

So are you saying that the Tabbing is failing..or just the Gel..

Did you try scraping the gel off like I suggested .. or not yet..

Still sounds like whoever did this did not prep for gel application.. just a guess ..

And your guess as to why its cracking we would be guessing your guess and our guess is just a guess... I guess.. .

YD.

 

[1976evinrude]

Re: Cracked gel coat near transom!

I did try scraping the gel coat and some did come off. The crack though in the pictures im guessing were formed when the new floor was laid and the fiberglass was only laid about 3-4 inches from the floor up the transom then gel coated. I cut off the cracked parts and it turns out to be a small layer of fiberglass with the gel coat on it. Thanks

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Cracked gel coat near transom!

Are the tabbings Delaminating ..... ??

Can you take a screwdriver and peel the tabbings off ... with minimal effort ..

YD.

 

[1976evinrude]

Re: Cracked gel coat near transom!

I could only peel the first 2 inches off and then it got thick and very hard to remove. I grinded those top 2 inches off already

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Cracked gel coat near transom!

There should be no noticeable flex in the transom and it should be almost impossible to remove any of the glass where we see the cracks.

Like YD said, if the glass is delaminating it means the prep was poor, not knowing how much more of the glass work is affected by the poor workmanship is the issue.

Sounds like you need to get in there and see why there is some flex and why the glass is peeling off.

 

[1976evinrude]

Re: Cracked gel coat near transom!

Well I already grinded off the top 2 inches where the glass popped off the transom and grinded it all down to the solid glass. The transom does not flex any maybe just a tad but i coulnt even tell if was so small and it was with all 220lbs of me standing on the prop with the engine tilted all the way up.