Replacing my 16ft SS Starcrafts Transom

[SigSaurP229]

Re: Replacing my 16ft SS Starcrafts Transom

YEP. Thats when I finally bit the bullet and bought a good compressor.

 

[Tnstratofam]

Re: Replacing my 16ft SS Starcrafts Transom

Quick update I got a few things done, and purchased some needed supplies and tools. First I got my rivets in from rivetsonline on thursday. I picked up a cheap rivet gun from harbor freight to get things going. Here are some pictures of my repairs to the z bracket, and the knee brace.

First I removed the damaged rivets by knocking off the heads on the outside.


Then I drilled them through completely with a 3/16 drill bit.


Leaving a nice clean hole all the way through.


Next I placed my rivets in and got them secured.

 

[Tnstratofam]

Re: Replacing my 16ft SS Starcrafts Transom

The finished rivet repairs look okay I think. The z bracket and knee brace are nice and solid now.





I then test fitted the transom for final adjustments.







It seems to fit well. I have to do some final belt sanding on the top for a perfect fit.

 

[Tnstratofam]

Re: Replacing my 16ft SS Starcrafts Transom

I picked up a belt sander this weekend, but I haven't had time to get anything else started so it may be the middle of the week before I get anything else done. I don't know if this project could be any slower. It seems like the further along I get the slower time goes. Any way I hope to have things finished up by this coming Sunday. We'll see what Murphy decides to through at me in the meantime. Have a good week everybody.
Thanks for stopping by.

Dave.

P.S. Sig I too have Hanger and compressor envy! You have a really sweet setup.

 

[lakelover]

Re: Replacing my 16ft SS Starcrafts Transom

Looks good. Just wondering, did you coat your rivets with 3M 4200 or 5200 before inserting them into the holes? If not, they will probably leak & you should do them over. You don't want to have all that nice transom work wasted!

 

[Tnstratofam]

Re: Replacing my 16ft SS Starcrafts Transom

Lakelover funny you should ask that. I replaced about 5 rivets in total, and I did not coat them. Rookie mistake I guess. I was also wondering if I am going to repaint the outside transom skin will the 5200 paint okay? The rivets are easy to knock out and replace. So I'll add that to my list of things to do.:facepalm: Oh well I can't blame Murphy for that mistake as I was in a big yank to get something done this week. Lesson learned.:grumpy:

 

[lakelover]

Re: Replacing my 16ft SS Starcrafts Transom

Oh well, better to catch it now than after it's all done! Once they're in with the 5200, just clean up anything that squishes out from around the edge of the head and you'll be good to go when you continue with the painting. Warning though, 5200 is MESSY, sticky stuff! ...so have lots of paper towels ready! I also used Q-tips to clean up around some of mine.

 

[Tnstratofam]

Re: Replacing my 16ft SS Starcrafts Transom

Thanks for the advice on the cleanup of the 5200. I know that stuff is super sticky. It seems to get everywhere you don't want it to. Like the floor, your clothes, the dog, your car, etc. etc.:laugh:

 

[lakelover]

Re: Replacing my 16ft SS Starcrafts Transom

It seems to get everywhere you don't want it to. Like the floor, your clothes, the dog, your car, etc. etc.:laugh:

Yeah, I remember that. By the time I got finished, I had paper towels blowing all over the back yard and Q-tips stuck to my shoes!

 

[SigSaurP229]

Re: Replacing my 16ft SS Starcrafts Transom

Clean it up right and you won't have to worry about the 5200 painting.

 

[SigSaurP229]

Re: Replacing my 16ft SS Starcrafts Transom

You are welcome to the hangar any time needed for boat repairs.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Replacing my 16ft SS Starcrafts Transom

Thanks for the advice on the cleanup of the 5200. I know that stuff is super sticky. It seems to get everywhere you don't want it to. Like the floor, your clothes, the dog, your car, etc. etc.:laugh:

Don't forget runny. I got most of it on me, the dog, , the wife and the clothes cleaning up the runs. :grumpy:

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: Replacing my 16ft SS Starcrafts Transom

Mineral spirits works good during cleanup BEFORE 5200 cures.

 

[Tnstratofam]

Re: Replacing my 16ft SS Starcrafts Transom

Okay I know I should have had this transom done last weekend, but with the weather warming up my job gets busy. Anyway I have gotten some work done. After Lakelover pointed out I didn't use any 5200 on my replacement rivets I decided to remove the z brace and clean it up as well as replace all the rivets that hold it in place for good measure. Here it is primed with aluminum primer and regular primer.





When I pulled the z brace I noticed the knee brace looked kind of funny. Now I know why it didn't have any cracks in it like allot of them end up having. Check this out.





Yep you're seeing things correctly all the rivets that attach the knee brace to the bottom of the boat are broken.:facepalm: So I finished removing it.

 

[Tnstratofam]

Re: Replacing my 16ft SS Starcrafts Transom

My question is will 5200 work okay on the bottom rivets or should I also get some gluvit? Here are some more pics of what I found tonight. Caulk on the bottom where a rivet should be.





More caulk on this seam.

 

[Tnstratofam]

Re: Replacing my 16ft SS Starcrafts Transom

The splashwell has two places where it is coming apart.





Here is the knee brace out. I'm going to clean it up and primer it before I put it back in.



This is a place where the splashwell needs to be fixed. It is were one of the drain tubes in the transom was located. I think I can hammer it back into shape, and then jb weld it up.



Hopefully if the weather cooperates I can get the transom wood spared tomorrow and the rest of the aluminum primed. I hope I can get the knee brace, and the z brace back in tomorrow as well. I'll post some more tomorrow. If anyone thinks there is more I need to do with the two braces I'd appreciate the input. As always. Thanks for stopping by.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Replacing my 16ft SS Starcrafts Transom

That's one way for saving a knee brace from cracking.

The theory - The knee brace rivets popped and the PO slathered stuff everywhere trying to fix the leak.

The fix - 5200 on the new rivets and Gluvit for backup.

I would fix all the popped rivets you can find and do a leak test in case there are more. Then Gluvit.

It looks like the BFH, the King Kong model, was used by the PO to re-seat the transom drain. :facepalm:

 

[Tnstratofam]

Re: Replacing my 16ft SS Starcrafts Transom

Yeah GA I think the previous owners toolbox only had two tools in it. A BFH and a caulk gun.:facepalm: So here is my question. the floor has been replaced at some point and the foam underneath if it was pour in has been changed out. So if I do a leak test in my driveway to check for leaking seems on the bottom as well as leaking rivets, how can I tell if my foam will be okay from water intrusion? Here is a picture of the type of foam the po used under the floor.



If you look at the right corner of this pic you can see the foam under the floor.



Also in the previous post I pointed out that the splaswell on both sides is coming loose on the back edge. Should I jb weld the two places or what?

 

[Tnstratofam]

Re: Replacing my 16ft SS Starcrafts Transom

Got a little more done today. Started spar varnishing the transom wood.







That's three coats on one side and on all edges. I will coat the other side tomorrow.

 

[Tnstratofam]

Re: Replacing my 16ft SS Starcrafts Transom

The first mate helped me with some sanding and prep work on the knee brace.







If his hair gets much longer I told him he would have to wear a hair net to do more sanding, and grinding. He wasn't amused.:laugh:

The finished product.



Looks pretty good for a teenager I think.