drewpster
Commander
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2006
- Messages
- 2,059
Re: My tri-hull transom replacement w/ pics
If I had enough sense to work out the details on mounts for my seats ahead of time they would already be in place. But I had no idea what seats I would be using when the deck went down. If I had it to do over I would have purchased my seats and made the mounts before gelcoating the deck. But that's the way it goes.
I built some simple mounts that are bonded to the deck with epoxy. They consist of a plate with chocks on either end.
Before setting the mounts I assembled the seats and placed them on the deck. I set them in position by first placing a strip of tape down the centerline of the deck. I then used that line to reference mark the seats in their final position. I used tape on the deck at the inboard corners of each seat box to keep them in place while I marked the areas where the mounts need to go.
After getting all the reference marks in place I removed the boxes and started the work to prep the deck for epoxy. I started by sanding the areas where the mounts need to go. I had to remove all the gelcoat and clean the area well to remove all the surfacing wax for the epoxy. I was careful to only remove enough gelcoat that is necessary to glue the mounts down. I will be covering the mounts with fiberglass to make then watertight. To prevent having to do allot of finishing work to make the deck look right again, I am keeping all the glue and the tabs for for the fiberglass layer under the seats. Again I only removed enough gelcoat to accommodate the glass.
Once the mounts are in place it will be simple matter to screw the seats to the blocks through the side of the seat box. I may through bolt it depending on how it shakes out.
I used just enough thickened epoxy to glue the mounts down. I was careful to clean all the epoxy that squeezed out around the edges. Poly will not bond well to epoxy so I just want the glue under the mount, not around the outside.
The deck has a slight slope to center to keep all the water that gets on the deck flowing aft. I added a couple of strips of aluminum down the side of the seat box so it will sit level on the deck. This will also slightly raise one side of the box so that any water that gets inside the seat box can drain out toward center.
I don?t have any shots of it, but I did cover each mount with poly resin and surfboard cloth just to make them watertight. If I had it to do over I would shape the mounts to make them easier to cover with glass. Even surfboard cloth does not like to roll over sharp corners.
After some smoothing I will recoat the mounts with gelcoat to help protect them and to make them look purdy.
Yeah I know, I will never see them, but I will know. Besides I need to use the gelcoat I have left over.
If I had enough sense to work out the details on mounts for my seats ahead of time they would already be in place. But I had no idea what seats I would be using when the deck went down. If I had it to do over I would have purchased my seats and made the mounts before gelcoating the deck. But that's the way it goes.
I built some simple mounts that are bonded to the deck with epoxy. They consist of a plate with chocks on either end.
Before setting the mounts I assembled the seats and placed them on the deck. I set them in position by first placing a strip of tape down the centerline of the deck. I then used that line to reference mark the seats in their final position. I used tape on the deck at the inboard corners of each seat box to keep them in place while I marked the areas where the mounts need to go.
After getting all the reference marks in place I removed the boxes and started the work to prep the deck for epoxy. I started by sanding the areas where the mounts need to go. I had to remove all the gelcoat and clean the area well to remove all the surfacing wax for the epoxy. I was careful to only remove enough gelcoat that is necessary to glue the mounts down. I will be covering the mounts with fiberglass to make then watertight. To prevent having to do allot of finishing work to make the deck look right again, I am keeping all the glue and the tabs for for the fiberglass layer under the seats. Again I only removed enough gelcoat to accommodate the glass.
Once the mounts are in place it will be simple matter to screw the seats to the blocks through the side of the seat box. I may through bolt it depending on how it shakes out.
I used just enough thickened epoxy to glue the mounts down. I was careful to clean all the epoxy that squeezed out around the edges. Poly will not bond well to epoxy so I just want the glue under the mount, not around the outside.
The deck has a slight slope to center to keep all the water that gets on the deck flowing aft. I added a couple of strips of aluminum down the side of the seat box so it will sit level on the deck. This will also slightly raise one side of the box so that any water that gets inside the seat box can drain out toward center.
I don?t have any shots of it, but I did cover each mount with poly resin and surfboard cloth just to make them watertight. If I had it to do over I would shape the mounts to make them easier to cover with glass. Even surfboard cloth does not like to roll over sharp corners.
After some smoothing I will recoat the mounts with gelcoat to help protect them and to make them look purdy.
Yeah I know, I will never see them, but I will know. Besides I need to use the gelcoat I have left over.
) Are you guys seeing snow yet? (dig, dig) 
