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    95 Sea Ray 230 Sundancer stringer repair

    Well, I've decided to use thickened epoxy to bed the transom. The bad part is, I will have to baby sit the job with a rag and acetone to clean up the squish out. The reason I'm cleaning it out is because I want to fillet and lay glass with vinyl ester resin. I am working on the clamping setup...
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    95 Sea Ray 230 Sundancer stringer repair

    Anybody have recommendations on bedding the transom? I was planning on using thickened vinyl ester resin and then fileting the squish out. I also have a little bit of epoxy left over that i could use but, I wanted to laminate the glass with vinyl ester, so I don't think an epoxy made fillet will...
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    95 Sea Ray 230 Sundancer stringer repair

    I mentioned before that the tansom skin was thicker at the bottom half of the key hole. I used the belt sander with 36 grit and brought the skin down to 1/4 inch all the way around the key hole. There seemed to be a large buildup of CSM around that area. A straight edge would rock across the...
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    95 Sea Ray 230 Sundancer stringer repair

    I'm already at 2 1/8" without glass and the core not bonded, that only gives me a 1/8 of an inch to work with. I'm cutting it close. I might run the belt sander across the transom a few times to give me some wiggle room.
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    95 Sea Ray 230 Sundancer stringer repair

    Here's the fit check. A little more trimming at the corner is needed but, I'm happy with the way its turning out so far. I'll rough out the key hole next.
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    95 Sea Ray 230 Sundancer stringer repair

    I finished grinding the transom and the areas I will be tabbing to. The skin on my transom is thicker on the bottom than it is at the top (3/16" on top and 1/4" on the bottom). I believe the reason behind this is because there is a layer of woven roving running a quarter way up the transom from...
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    95 Sea Ray 230 Sundancer stringer repair

    In my situation I'd prefer to leave the cap on and mask off areas where I won't be working. The boat is outside and the cap gives me some protection from the sun. I can also store my tools in the bow when I'm done for the day. I'm almost done grinding out the wood in the transom; the wood...
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    95 Sea Ray 230 Sundancer stringer repair

    I hear you. I've had many hours of experience with a 4 inch grinder, and when I switched the tool on with this wheel attached it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. It is considerably heavier than any normal grinding disc and when it gets up to speed its like a top with knives...
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    95 Sea Ray 230 Sundancer stringer repair

    Made a good bit of progress this weekend. I'm down to grinding out the plywood. I picked up a wood carving disc at harbor freight and it's been working pretty well; even grinding out the staples in the wood. I cut back the deck and stringers about 16" to give me clearance to glass in the new...
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    95 Sea Ray 230 Sundancer stringer repair

    Since I'm going to replace the stringers and transom now; would it be better to start a new thread?
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    95 Sea Ray 230 Sundancer stringer repair

    I have the engine out. I don't have a moisture meter, so I've just been checking for rot with the drill. If I ever do buy another boat a moisture meter would be a good investment because there are so many places that were inaccessible with a pick and hammer that I missed when inspecting the...
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    95 Sea Ray 230 Sundancer stringer repair

    Starting tear down today. I got a boat that must have had the engine installed on a Friday because none of the dang holes they drilled were staight.
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    95 Sea Ray 230 Sundancer stringer repair

    It's a 5.7 merc. I was daydreaming about massaging in a stroker crank while the engine was out, but I don't think the alpha 1 will handle the bump up in torque.
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    95 Sea Ray 230 Sundancer stringer repair

    All good advice; thank you! I initially dove into this project thinking I would just be able to replace the core in the ceiling of the midship birth (another post) and be done with it. It will give me great piece of mind to get down to the foundation and fix it right. It would worry me if the...
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    95 Sea Ray 230 Sundancer stringer repair

    Thank you all, I really appreciate your support. It's good to be able to talk to people that understand what I'm up against. Most of the people around me think its nothing to worry about and that it's nuts to tear into a boat that there is seeming nothing wrong with. I'm an aircraft inspector...
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    95 Sea Ray 230 Sundancer stringer repair

    I'll have a better idea of how bad the rot is after pulling the engine. The way things are going, I have a feeling it's not going to be good. I noticed what appears to be a stress crack radiating from the garboard drain when I pulled the outdrive yesterday.
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    95 Sea Ray 230 Sundancer stringer repair

    Well.... I guess that transom is coming out, and the stringers while I'm at it.
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    95 Sea Ray 230 Sundancer stringer repair

    I took some core samples as advised. The stringer samples all came out dry fresh wood. I found wet wood in the transom about an inch from the bottom under the key hole. What a sickening feeling.
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    95 Sea Ray 230 Sundancer stringer repair

    Well I went around the rest of the boat with a ball peen hammer and tap tested instead. The rest of the stringers, deck, and transom sounded great. I did find out my exhaust manifold is cracked during the inspection though.😟
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    95 Sea Ray 230 Sundancer stringer repair

    In my younger days i would certainly agree with that sentiment. I would go gung-ho with a chain saw and demo bar and before you know it; I'd be standing in a pile of lumber scrap thinking what have I done! The years of back breaking work and forever projects have humbled me sir. I have become...
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