Seacast transom repair questions

[DIYFIXER23]

Current working on a 1982 Cajun bass boat. It has a weak transom where the 115 Mercury bolts on. Once I pulled the motor and brackets off I quickly decided I was going to go the Seacast route.... I cut the transom cap off and started to remove some of the rotten wood...I just wanted to know exactly how far down and to the sides am I suppose to remove the wood.

This pic is similar to what my boat looks like the black marks in pic is where I cut my transom cap. Do I need to focus on rotted wood outlined in red... Or do I need to also remove all the wood from corner to corner? It just seems like it would be hard to go from corner to corner with only a 2 in gap in the center where the cap I removed goes. I will take much better pics in the morning.

 

[BFP]

You need to remove ALL the wood from corner to corner from top to bottom plus grind or scrap any wood residue left on inner and outer panels and if any filler was used that will need to come out also. A tip for you is to buy the sticks of seacast and cut them to the thickness of your transom and glue them in with 5200 in the appropriate places to help support your skins and maintain shape. i did not do that part of the setup right and now having to glass in the outter skin to straighten up my transom. Here's there face book with videos of doing transoms.
https://www.facebook.com/SeacastTransomReplacement?ref=hl

and here you will find there instructions...hope this helps
http://www.transomrepair.net/pages.php?CDpath=1&osCsid=2d72419e5d85744bac2650f1a889e7ea

 

[BFP]

Heres a pic of what the inside of my transom looked like.

 

[sphelps]

BFP , you MUST remove all the wood in your transom .. In your above pics looks like you got it pretty clean .. You can use there spacers or you can make your own using our poly PB recipe .. If ya got any questions or concerns give seacast a call ... Really nice folks over there ...

 

[BFP]

BFP , you MUST remove all the wood in your transom .. In your above pics looks like you got it pretty clean .. You can use there spacers or you can make your own using our poly PB recipe .. If ya got any questions or concerns give seacast a call ... Really nice folks over there ...

I have already did my transom ....i was answering DIYFIXER's question and posted a picture of what it should look like when all cleaned out.

 

[DIYFIXER23]

Thanks for information. I figured I needed to go corner to corner. Wanted to make sure it just seems the only way to get the wood out once you clean the middle where I removed the cap is to get a long chainsaw and cut corner to corner. Looks like its going to be a dirty project. Ill post some real pics of the boat I am doing. Thanks for all the information and advice.

 

[Woodonglass]

Yup, a chainsaw is the tool of choice along with LONG extension drill bits. Have you checked to ensure that your inner skin is thick enuf to stand up to the chainsaw??

 

[DIYFIXER23]

I have not checked to see if it can handle a chain saw. I did touch the chain saw to the top rotten wood and it turned to pretty much dust. I am pretty good with a chain saw figured id start with the smaller chain saw and then once I clean the middle section out go with a longer bar. Here are the real pics of the boat I am doing.




I am gonna get the shop vac out and clean as I go. I figured id take my sweet time and pick up a few tricks from this forum as I go. Got the boat for pretty much free with a good motor so I figured if I get a couple or more seasons out of it ill be happy. Thanks again every one.

 

[Woodonglass]

The other thing you need to consider is, if the transom is in this bad of shape there's a very good chance the stringers are bad too, and they are just as important to the overall structural integrity of the boat as the transom is. If you have hatches etc.. that give to access to the inner regions of the boat below deck you really need to be investigating what lies below

 

[gm280]

Why do I get the feeling I see a cap coming off this one? :facepalm:

 

[sphelps]

I have already did my transom ....i was answering DIYFIXER's question and posted a picture of what it should look like when all cleaned out.

Sorry BFP ! must have had one of those moments .. It was early and I was running late getting out the door .. :facepalm:
Guess thats why it looked so clean ! :lol:

 

[MTboatguy]

I am going to have to agree with gm280, this looks like the perfect candidate for a full cap off restore, takes a bit longer to get it right, but it is oh so satisfying the first time she gets splashed again, especially having a personal feeling of you know it is right, there is no question.

 

[DIYFIXER23]

Ok well I have never done this type of stuff before as far as pulling a cap off. I know I can do the work just fine. But ill need to ask some questions here and there. So I assume I need to take I guess the rub rails or what ever and carefully pry and separate the top half of the boat? Is that correct?


I found some good wood in the transom but I know if I don't get it all out the rot will just spread through out the boat. If I do pull the cap and replace every thing I might as well restore every thing.

 

[DIYFIXER23]

Boat was pretty much free with a perfect running 82 merc 115(has a blue band around the case?). So I don't see a problem investing a little into the boat itself I know I could probably find another boat with out a motor but I wanna do the work myself and learn.

 

[MTboatguy]

Yes, you will have to split the boat at the rub rail, it could be glued, screwed or riveted together, I have worked on all three types of boats, take the splash well out, pull any seats that might be in it and the floor, you can actually do it in a couple of weeks if you are motivated and still get back out on the water. Take some more pictures and post them orientated in the correct direction, so we can see better what you are working with. Then the many great minds on here can direct you in the right direction to get back out fishing and playing.

When you are working on boats, "some good wood" means NO good wood and it has to be completely replaced and done correctly, I watched a guy a couple of weeks ago, rip the transom out of his boat that had "Some Good Wood" and you have to remember in most boats, those stringers marry with the transom, so they probably have damage as well. We can help you do it right.

 

[DIYFIXER23]

Yes sorry about the above pics. Well if I pull the cap then I see no point in going the seacast route when I can restore it using wood again.

 

[MTboatguy]

Wood is a hell of a lot cheaper than seacast and will be just as strong if done correctly, but you are going to have to brush up on your glassing skills a bit to get it right, but it won't be that bad, the only thing I an see that might be bad is water logged foam, that is a pain to deal with, but all things can be fixed if you have patience and help, which of course you have a bunch of us willing to help, now it is up to you if you have the patience. I got surprised last week, one of the guys that many of us told to junk his boat got her fixed back up and ready to be on the water again pretty quick, so who knows, with that patience, you could be back on the water in a couple of weeks!

 

[djm3801]

No Title

I used a spade bit and a small 18" electric chain saw to get most of the wood out. Then I graduated to a 24" for the last couple of inches of wood. I bought some flat steel stock about 1/8" thick and 3/4" wide and ground the end into chisels and scraped the glass of any wood. I also used a forstner drill bit with the tip ground off to get the bottom clean without excessive chain saw use. The Seacast folks are super. The worst part was glassing the inner parts of the transom where the foam met the old wood, such as the towers on the splashwell. You pay more for this stuff but it is proven and the customer support is just wonderful.

 

[DIYFIXER23]

Charging up my camera to take some pics. I been kicking around the seacast idea.. But now after looking into the rotted wood I am not sure how people get all the wood out with the inner skin still intact? It seems like the inner skin on this boat is so thin so its very hard to get all the wood off of it with out poking through it.


Thanks again for all the photos and ideas every one.

 

[DIYFIXER23]

Pretty nasty in there.