Replacing Transom

[Rundub]

Hey all, I have am few questions about replacing the transom in my Sunbird SPL 191. I searched the Internet for some idea of how this boat was built to get an idea of how careful I had to be during tear out but was unable to find any information.

So, with grinder in hand I removed the exterior skin and indeed found rot through out any thing wood or plywood not just in the transom but across the whole stern, that's for another day. I began chipping away at the core to realize that the inner skin is only about a 1/16th inch thick. The core was laid in with 1/8th sheets of interior grade plywood with glass laid in between each sheet to make a 1 3/4 inch thick transom core.

My question is 1) should I build up the inner skin to a 1/4" thickness and epoxy the plywood together and glass on the outer side to bond the outer skin back? 0r 2) rebuild the transom back the way the factory built it?

As a side note the boat was originally rated for a 150hp outboard and years ago someone outfitted it with a 200hp yamaha, built an aluminum brace for it thru bolting the brace through the transom into the splash well. I spent big money to get the outboard running so I would like to use it with a jack plate. But my suspicion is they knew then that the transom was in bad shape.

 

[gm280]

:welcome: aboard Rundub to iboats. Alway glad to have a new ibosts member...

First of all without seeing your boat or knowing basically anything about it, I would absolutely replace the transoms like factory from the inside. Outside replacements are a lot harder to get to look correct and feathered in properly. But more on that later. Once you post three posts in your thread, then you can post pictures of your project. And I have to say we love pictures on these boat refurbish forums. So post a few more thread postings and then start posting pictures of your boat from up close to further away for us to see what you are seeing and dealing with. As for transom rot, that is the usual starting place for most boat projects. Transoms rot from the bottom up and if you see any rot, the entire transom has to be replaced. So post those pictures for better suggestions about how to accomplish your transom replacement. If you use the typical upload capabilites on these forums to post pictures, just keep the size to about 400kb and they will load without any issues.Even smaller sizes fill out the page very well and anything larger then 400kb will probably not load without errors. JMHO

 

[Scott Danforth]

Welcome aboard

Removing the exterior skin is the hardest way to do a transom repair. It can be done, hiwever the job just got about 10 times harder than removing the motor and repairing from the inside. The transom and floor are the last to rot, as the stringers are the first.

Here is a sticky at the top of the forums. http://forums.iboats.com/forum/boat...r/295740-how-to-s-and-other-great-information

Read links 14, then 2, 3, 4a and 4b

 

[Rundub]

:welcome: aboard Rundub to iboats. Alway glad to have a new ibosts member...

First of all without seeing your boat or knowing basically anything about it, I would absolutely replace the transoms like factory from the inside. Outside replacements are a lot harder to get to look correct and feathered in properly. But more on that later. Once you post three posts in your thread, then you can post pictures of your project. And I have to say we love pictures on these boat refurbish forums. So post a few more thread postings and then start posting pictures of your boat from up close to further away for us to see what you are seeing and dealing with. As for transom rot, that is the usual starting place for most boat projects. Transoms rot from the bottom up and if you see any rot, the entire transom has to be replaced. So post those pictures for better suggestions about how to accomplish your transom replacement. If you use the typical upload capabilites on these forums to post pictures, just keep the size to about 400kb and they will load without any issues.Even smaller sizes fill out the page very well and anything larger then 400kb will probably not load without errors. JMHO

Thanks for the welcome! Forgive me for taking so long to respond, I don't have a lot of free time during the week but will do all I can to get those photos uploaded.
As it turns out I now have to cut and remove the boat cap as the stringers have a very small amount of rot located on the transom end and must be repaired. This poses a new question, do I reinstall the outer skin (transom is already out) and complete the transom from the inside or do I finish the transom install from the outside and continue removing the cap to repair the stringers? I guess what I'm asking is is there any concerns about transom strength if I reinstall the outside transom skin and complete the actual transom install from the inside?

 

[Rundub]

Welcome aboard

Removing the exterior skin is the hardest way to do a transom repair. It can be done, hiwever the job just got about 10 times harder than removing the motor and repairing from the inside. The transom and floor are the last to rot, as the stringers are the first.

Here is a sticky at the top of the forums. http://forums.iboats.com/forum/boat...r/295740-how-to-s-and-other-great-information

Read links 14, then 2, 3, 4a and 4b

Scott, haven't finished reading through your information yet but so far it's probably the most relevant to my situation so far. Thanks!

 

[Scott Danforth]

If I was you, I would build a cradle, remove the engine, interior, etc. remove the cap, cut out the floor, document the stringers and bulkheads, remove the stringers, remove the bulkheads, grind for a week or two.

attach the outer transom skin, fairing as much as possible on the inside (to minimize your outside fairing)

install new transom
install new stringers
install new floor
foam

 

[Rundub]

Thanks Scott that's exactly what I will do. Thanks for your advice, I was thinking along the same lines. Will let you know how it's going and maybe you can catch me before I do something ummm stupid........