Transom repair history

[fixb52s]

After owning my boat for some time, I contacted the widow of the former owner about some history. She put me in touch with a retired boat repair guy in Ocala who did work on it in the past. I got a lot of information from him today.

It seems the boat went in the shop in 2001 and they found the transom and front engine support bad. They pulled the engine and replaced the transom, front engine support the rear stringers (from where I found the good wood, by the rear firewall) for a total of $3500. I asked about the deck and other stringers. He suggested they be changed at that time, but the owner did not want to spend another $3000 for that job. The owner gave them a lot of grief about the cost but paid them a few months after they were done. They also tuned the engine, replaced the starter and other minor things.

The guy remembers this boat, and was a little upset that I bought it before he did. He found out about it being for sale the day I towed it off the lot. In fact, he saw me heading for the Interstate with it.

He also said he sees a lot of these 80s boats with the rot problem. He would get around $5-6K for a rebuild, and that turned most people off.

It also appears the boat has last seen the water in 2004 and the former owner was in the process of replacing the deck himself. I hate to say this, but I am glad it didn't see any use with his deck in there!

Kind of cool to find this info out. I will also sleep a little better knowing the transom is indeed in good shape.

This also explains why I didn't have to do any work on the transom or rear stringers. ​

 

[oops!]

Re: Transom repair history

b52....im courious.......

the repair was done approx 7 years ago....professionally....

ok ....what did you find out..?

what kind of wood did he use?.......and what methods?

on your inspection...was ANY area of the transom suspect?

the reason im asking....is because ...im under the impression a good transome repair should last well over 20 years...using average materials

btw....good score bud.

thanks
oops

 

[fixb52s]

Re: Transom repair history

oops,
I checked the transom before I got started. It all appeared right from the factory at first glance, so I never gave it any thought. I also noticed that in looking at some photos of another boat, there was some factory glass missing directly where the sundeck sits. I asked about it all, and he said he used dried marine grade plywood for the transom, bonded it with thickened poly resin and glassed it in with mat/cloth in poly. He had some jigs made up to clamp it in place while the adhesive set. He told me to look under the engine area where the cap sits, and you can tell where he was a little sloppy due to the limited access. He glassed/blended it in to partally extend into the gunwales and bilge using mat because that is what was there from the factory. If you look REAL close, you can almost see where it was replaced, and this was after I cleaned it up with some acetone. He also painted it, and said when I clean the bilge up, it will come clean to fiberglass but the paint on the transom will not come off. Yep, he was right. I also noticed this with the engine mount. I did not ask what he painted it with. The transom is still as solid as a rock, and when I did some core tests, clean dry wood came out. He said this should last another 30 years.

For the missing glass, he said it was common practice to cut it out and replace it with wood because it made engine removal easier. If the owner wanted, he would have glassed it all back, but it would have to be removed if the engine had to come out again.

The main reason I talked to him was to get a little history, not because something looked messed up.​

 

[oops!]

Re: Transom repair history

thanks 52


i thought 20 + years was about right....like to see 30......

im starting to get the impression that it allmost doesnt matter what style of wood you use....as long as its covered and done right....it should last a long..long time.....

any discussions over pt, ext or marine are allmost moot....just the cost and time

 

[TriadSteeler]

Re: Transom repair history

it allmost doesnt matter what style of wood you use....as long as its covered and done right....it should last a long..long time.....

Very True. The main thing with the wood is lack of voids. ACX, PT, or Marine Grade is going to rot if water can get in there.

Water tries everything it can to get in. From looking at the rot pattern in my transom, improper sealing of thru-hulls led to its demise and I suspect this and cracks in the top are the case in most transom replacements.

Until I spent the countless hours of grinding, sanding, mixing, laying up, & itching, I (and I suspect most boat owners) never gave thru-hull sealants a second thought. Now, thanks to folks like TD, Gary, OOPS, et al, I know better.

It is funny to see new users on this forum go through the same thought processes that I did.

Day 1: What can I do to shore up the transom. Aluminum plate, Steel Plate, a 2x4?
Day 3: Should I use Seacast or Wood?
Day 5: Should I use PT Lumber, ACX, Waferboard, or Marine Grade.
Day 8: Poly or Epoxy?
Day 14: What size cloth, how much MEKP to put in, what is Mat?
Day 25: Check out the pics of my new transom.
Day 50: [In response to a newbie] You really should heed the advice of Tashasdaddy.

 

[oops!]

Re: Transom repair history

triad....that funny......and so true !

its also neat to watch the type of threads as the seasons change....and the amount of panic in the nubs first few posts.....then it all seems to change as they realize it can be fixed

 

[fixb52s]

Re: Transom repair history

Maybe they should rename this forum Stringers, Decks and Transoms 101. ​

I signed up a few years ago when I was working on my first boat. Learned a lot then. Got out of it for some time and came back when I bought this boat. The questions and solutions are the same as they were a few years ago.​

Triad, you speak truth there!​

 

[Coors]

Re: Transom repair history

I don't think a void sucks in water more than the surrounding wood...