Rebuilding the transom on a 1976 14' Gamefisher

[J.H.]

Hi all,

Sorry to post this since I be these questions have been asked a million times, but I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed sometimes...

I'm currently in the process of replacing the rotted plywood on my Gamefisher. So far I've manages to remove all of the old rotted wood and have ground things down to the fiberglass. I have a little more grinding to go, but I'm about 99% done.

I have a nice sheet of 3/4" marine plywood already to use for my new transom sections.

The thing I'm having issues with figuring out is what I need for the fiberglassing part.

I want to do this right, so I will probably be looking to get some West System 105 epoxy and the 206 hardener, and some 1708 fiberglass. I think I also need to get some kind of thickener as well?

For the glass, would I use the same epoxy that I use to glues the plywood together, and to attach it to the hull?

Sorry for the dumb questions, but I really haven't worked with fiberglass before, and if there's some way to screw it up, I'm the guy to do it.

Appreciate any help / advice.

 

[todhunter]

You can use either polyester or epoxy (or vinylester) for resin - lots of pros and cons for each. Just don't get swindled into thinking that epoxy is the only way to "do it right".

I recommend fumed silica (aka cabosil) for thickening. You'll also need some milled fibers for adding strength to the thickened resin.

Yes, most people use the same resin for wetting out the glass as they do for making their thickened resin (aka peanut butter / PB).

Not dumb questions - once you get a few layups under your belt, you'll gain a lot of confidence.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Epoxy will be the most expensive, polyester will be the least expensive. Your boat was probably built with polyester, so no harm in using that.

If you do use epoxy, you don't need 1708. You can use it, but it has CSM stitched to one side (opposite the fabric side) and it will just suck up more of your expensive epoxy. The CSM part is important for polyester, to help the layers adhere to one another, but it's not necessary when using epoxy.

It seems that you might benefit from reading one of the many threads that detail the process of laminating using polyester or epoxy and fiberglass. That might save you a lot of time and money.

Look at the stickies (https://forums.iboats.com/threads/how-tos-and-other-great-information.283508/) and maybe start by reading #14 & #18.

 

[J.H.]

Thanks guys for the replies and advice (and the link to those stickies!) that cleared up a lot of my confusion.

One more question, is there a place that you recommend where I can get all of the glass and resin supplies? I'm hunting around at a few local stores but I'm not sure they'll have everything I'll be looking for.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Many of us purchased supplies from U.S. Composites. You have to pay shipping and (depending on what your order) hazmat fees, but the prices still end up being competitive. And you know you're getting fresh product.

 

[todhunter]

I also recommend US Composites. If you have somewhere you can have it delivered with a loading dock and if you order enough stuff to justify it, having it shipped via freight could save you some money.

 

[J.H.]

I actually did manage to find all of the supplies I needed locally.
The replacement wood for the transom has been all cut out and checked for fit. The rest of the repair will start in earnest this weekend.