My Transom Repair (I/O)

[danond]

Hi all. I'm documenting my transom repair on a 1990 Starcraft 171SS Select. There's not many I/O based transom sites out there, most focus on outboard transom replacement, so I thought it'd be good to get more info out there. If it helps, stop by, give me some advice, learn from my mistakes!

http://transomfix.dcpolk.com

 

[Bondo]

Re: My Transom Repair (I/O)

There's not many I/O based transom sites out there, most focus on outboard transom replacement, so I thought it'd be good to get more info out there. If it helps, stop by, give me some advice, learn from my mistakes!

Ayuh,... Pretty Cool website,...

You otta mosey on down to the Restoration Forum,.....

You're not as Alone as you Think.......

 

[danond]

Re: My Transom Repair (I/O)

Hey Bond-o. Sorry about using the wrong forum! I didn't see this one in the list (was in a hurry).

I will stop by every so often. I'm thinking I have this figured out, but am pretty sure I'll hit some bumps.

 

[BoatingCop]

Re: My Transom Repair (I/O)

Cool website. By the way, I died laughing after reading your sig!! Good stuff

 

[jonesg]

Re: My Transom Repair (I/O)

I'm a fan of electric chainsaws for removing transom wood.
You can hear when the blade touches the glass.

I also found banging on the transom with a rubber mallet useless.

 

[danond]

Re: My Transom Repair (I/O)

It's going well so far. Aside from forgetting I was wearing my favorite jeans and Nike hoodie (and of course screwing them up with resin/glass) there really haven't been any problems.

I decided to go with MDO (I think that's what it's called) plywood - the really dense stuff, with West System. So far I'm using more epoxy than I'd like. Geezus that crap is expensive. Regardless, it's hardening in my 50 degree garage and doing well. 2 more boards to put in. I'm not looking forward to visiting the local dealer for more resin/hardener. Ugh.

While it was dribbling out the holes and I was wiping on a regular basis I grabbed the heat gun and started peeling the old decals off the hull. Holy crap is the "white" not white anymore. Time for new stickers!

Updates are posted with pictures. http://transomfix.dcpolk.com

 

[legoman67]

Re: My Transom Repair (I/O)

nice work, im in the middle of retransoming a twin I/O. why did you decide to use 3 1/2" peices? and not 2 3/4"?

Here is a pic of mine, i used a simular method as you to get the wood out, still need to sand the 'film' off.

 

[Bondo]

Re: My Transom Repair (I/O)

Ayuh,... Legoman,... Remove, Resize,+ Repost your Picture....

There's No reason that We should have to Side-scroll to read this thread....
It'll cause a drop-off in Replies,+ interest....

 

[danond]

Re: My Transom Repair (I/O)

I used 3 sheets of 1/2" because it was recommended by a good friend of mine who also owns a fiberglass repair shop, and it's what the Hydrostream crowd around here does. Not that they are the end-all of transom experts, but I figured hearing about it twice as a good solution can't be all bad.

I like that I don't have to worry about any slight bend in the wood being a big deal, since I can clamp the three sheets down one at a time and make them nice and straight.

I went with MDO after looking at how MDO and standard plywood are assembled. MDO isn't a "wet" wood like green-treated stuff, and it's marine rated.

When bonding the pieces together, is it necessary to use glass mat between the layers?

 

[danond]

Re: My Transom Repair (I/O)

Thought I'd post an update, mainly because I'm thrilled that I've made it this far without royally screwing something up! Here's a couple pictures after the third board was finished and I rough-cut the drive opening. There's more stuff on my site, see my signature.

Thanks for all the info in helping me get here, iboats.

 

[danond]

Re: My Transom Repair (I/O)

Do you guys know if the transom thickness on an OMC Cobra is the same as Merc: (2" to 2-1/8")?

 

[1979mercTN]

Re: My Transom Repair (I/O)

I'm a fan of electric chainsaws for removing transom wood.
You can hear when the blade touches the glass.

I also found banging on the transom with a rubber mallet useless.

I don't know how you would go about removing the transom wood without a chainsaw. I naively thought I could, but had to go out and buy an 18" electric chainsaw. The only problem was I forgot about the slope in the transom and managed to cut a whole in the hull. It's not too big though and it actually helped us get the woods shavings out of the transom.

 

[danond]

Re: My Transom Repair (I/O)

I/O's with the deck still attached. Can't use a chainsaw.

 

[danond]

Re: My Transom Repair (I/O)

Do you guys know if the transom thickness on an OMC Cobra is the same as Merc: (2" to 2-1/8")?

Any love on this one? I'm pretty sure it's the same, but my original transom was a swollen disaster when I took everything apart, so I'm not sure what the actual thickness should be.

 

[danond]

Re: My Transom Repair (I/O) (with pix)

Re: My Transom Repair (I/O) (with pix)

I got pretty far these last two weeks, considering how little time I have to work on this thing. I got the port stringer constructed and glued together though ran out of time to glass it up on the outside. That'll have to wait.

More info on my site if you're interested.