Transom and stringer replacement questions.

[Four-Play]

Hi Everyone,

I recently bought an 88 four winns horizon 21(omc i/o) with a cracked block for what I thought was a great deal. Everything seemed to check out, transom seemed solid and the guy said he just installed a new deck. Well I took it home and went ahead and threw a new(used) 4.3 Chevy motor in it. Took it to the lake a few times and it seemed okay besides a pretty bad list to the port side. So I deciced to pull the deck, this is where I realized I F$#@& up. The deck was VERY poorly done, all of the foam on the port side was waterlogged, stringers are rotten and delaminating on that side as well. At this point I've decided I might as well do the transom too. So I pull the motor and transom assembly out and guess what.... Surprise! Transom is rotted as well!

Now for the questions,

1. Can I use polyester resin with 1708 glass to do the transom, stringers and deck?

2. Anybody have a round about idea of how much resin/glass I am going to need?

3. Would oak plywood work for this project to do I need to go with actual marine grade plywood?

4. Anyone have any tips to drilling the stud holes for the outer transom assembly?

5. Please tell me there are some easier ways to get this God forsaken foam out.

Thanks in advanced!

 

[Scott Danforth]

first, welcome aboard

second, sorry to hear about your deck-over. yes, the deck is the last thing to rot

now for your questions

0. start by reading the DIY sticky at the top of the forum. read links 14, 15, 18, 2, 3, 4a, and 4b in their entirety. nearly every answer you could ever have has been answered there.

1. use poly, your boat was built with poly (covered in depth in link 14)
2. about 3X more than you plan on. assume 15 gallons of resin, 20 yards of 1708 and 15 yards of CSM
3. exterior grade ACX or BCX. Not Oak, and if you want marine plywood, thats up to you (covered in depth in link 14)
4. not sure what stud holes you are referring to. read the links, then come back
5. you need a shop vac, safety goggles, a half-face respirator and a tyvek suit. you buy a 2 foot drill extension and two cup brushes, a 1" and a 3". you get a pair of leather welding gloves. you chuck the drill extension in your drill. you mount the 3" cup brush on the end. using your left hand as a guide/bearing on the drill extension and the right hand on the trigger, you use the cup brush to eat away at the foam. use the 1" for the tight work. when you are done, you need the shop vac to clean out the pile of ground up foam and yourself. it will look like you went thru a tan/orange blizzard. you will have foam bits in your ears, hair, etc.

 

[tpenfield]

Those steal-of-a-deal boats will get you every time

See my responses to your questions below . . .

Now for the questions,

1. Can I use polyester resin with 1708 glass to do the transom, stringers and deck? >>> Sure

2. Anybody have a round about idea of how much resin/glass I am going to need? >>> 10-15 gallons of resin. Others will chime in on some exacting quantities for a boat your size.

3. Would oak plywood work for this project to do I need to go with actual marine grade plywood? >>> Use exterior grade plywood . . . It's all about the glue in the plywood. Not sure oak plywood is exterior grade.

4. Anyone have any tips to drilling the stud holes for the outer transom assembly? >>> Perpendicular . . . I've seen some folks use fixtures to get them dead-on accurate.

5. Please tell me there are some easier ways to get this God forsaken foam out. >>> There isn't Is there a fuel tank that is foamed in as well?

Thanks in advance!