remove whole cap or cut near transom

[tbird175]

I am trying to do determine the best approach to replacing my transom on my 17' thunderbird outboard trihull. I can either cut and remove enough of the cap to gain access to the transom for replacement or remove the entire cap. My question is if I remove the entire cap, will there be a danger of the sides of the boat distorting? It will still be on the trailer with bunks and keel rollers. I will be replacing the deck either way. I will have to repair the end of one of the stringers.

 

[Ironpig]

Re: remove whole cap or cut near transom

If you're good with fibreglass, i would cut it rather than taking the whole cap off. You never know what can of worms that may open. I guess it depends on what condition the rest of the boat is in as well but I will cut mine cause I don't want to undo the 500 staples and resin holding the top and bottom together, and I think I can fair it out to where it will be an imperceptable repair.

 

[archbuilder]

Re: remove whole cap or cut near transom

Mick has a pretty good thread on a top off restore. You might want to look thru what he has done. I did mine with the cap on, but the trans was cracked at the top and I was already planning on paint.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=365820

Good luck on your rebuild and welcome to I-boats!

 

[dawitner]

Re: remove whole cap or cut near transom

I just finished one without removing the cap. Cut off just enough of the cap to get to the transom then take a chain saw to it. Just be careful not to cut through the bottom of the boat. The saw won't cut through the skins, chainsaws dont cut sideways. I then took a small rotary wire brush, welded them to a piece of 1/4 rod, chucked it up in a drill and got the rest of the rot out that way.

Worked great then I replaced the transom with Seacast. Worked great !!!

 

[109jb]

Re: remove whole cap or cut near transom

I would remove the whole cap.

 

[kenny26]

Re: remove whole cap or cut near transom

i had the same concerns on my restore. Ended up removing the cap. It wasn't hard just a bunch of rivets to drill out (might be screws in your case). Made accessing the transom WAY easier. Only took me 2 hours to get it off once i made up my mind. Just be careful with the rub rail so you can reuse it... they aint cheap. I just built a frame out of 2x4s and lifted the cap off with rope and pullies from home depot.