Re: Drain on the new transom
When I redid my transom I had two splashwell drains and the bilge drain to do and was in the same boat as you are. I heard pros and cons of every system so I ended up using the brass tubes. Didn't want to spend the money on a flaring tool that didn't work all that well, so I came up with my own way to install that worked very well for me. After I drilled the holes through my new transom I carefully preped the holes, cleaned very well with acetone then sealed (3 coats ) with thinned epoxy and allowed to dry. I pushed the tubes through from the inside, figured it would be easier to work on outside, and temp blocked tight to inside skin with 2x4 then marked outside 1/8" to 3/16" longer. Remove tube and cut to marked length I used a hacksaw to avoid damageing tube, then deburred and sanded outside of tube to make better adhesion. Then I slathered tube and inside of hole with 5200 and pushed tube in (from inside). Most important step, block tube tight to inside skin so it is tight and cant move. I used a 2x2 piece flat on tube then a 2x4 wedged from front of bilge area to my 2x2 use a shim or two if need be to make it tight. once it was braced well I moved to outside. You need two ball peen hammers one medium size and one large size.(cheap at harbor freight if you don't have them) insert the ball of the medium into tube and use the bigger to drive ball into tube it will start to flare out just go easy and use controlled taps once the smaller one bottoms out switch to the bigger ball in tube and continue tapping and flareing once the bigger one bottoms out you should be at a point where you can use the smaller ball to peen it tight to the outside by tapping around the edge just work it easy using the ball end of the hammers once it is all peened over you can give it a few taps with the flat end to get it real tight to the outside glass. Wipe up excess 5200 that was squeezed out, let cure and your done. It sounds like a lot but I did each of mine in about 15 minutes per(excluding dry times of course) that was three years ago and haven't had any problems. I like the plugs that use the t handle to screw them in over the lever type they seem alot more secure. Not saying this is the only way to go just relaying a method that has worked very well for me. Good luck and sealing the wood with some thinned epoxy is the most important part.
