transom advice?

[1972winner]

hello,i'm lookin for some good advice on whether i should take on the replacement of the transom on my '72 winner myself, or take it to a shop.any and all responses are greatly appreciated

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: transom advice?

Welcome to iboats.

It really depends on how deep you are willing to dive in and how handy you are.

Use the SEARCH function and look for Bayliner (I just happen to know they are fiberglass) and many documented restorations are in here.

I will tell you that it is a labor of love and commitment to restore a boat. You will never recover your investment but you will never find a safer one either when finished.

Be ready to do a bunch of head scratching and swearing

Now are you SURE it is only the transom on a 1972 boat that needs work? You can do it in a weekend with seacast or nidabond but you need to investigate your stringer's too.

 

[1972winner]

Re: transom advice?

thank you.i'm pretty handy,but i've never worked on boats.yeah,i've been on here lookin at everyone talking back and forth,and stringers seem to be in pretty good connection with transom repair.i honestly have no clue what i'm doing when it comes to working on a boat.i'm storing it outdoors for now,and don't have the financial means to do anything right now.so basically i'm just looking and researching and doing my homework before i just jump into it and think oh crap.lol.seacast seems to be popular and satisfactory with alot of people on here,so if i fix it myself,i'll use that.here's my biggest problem,the outter skin is ripped pretty bad,so it looks like i'd have to replace the whole backside of the skin.i am no good with fiberglass work either.lol.i'd love to work on it myself,but i'll be on here alot for the advice and tips along the way.i don't know if you can look at my album pics,but there's a pic on there of it,not the best but it'll give you an idea what i'm up against.thanx for the welcome

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: transom advice?

Welcome to iBoats!

As Bob said, there is more to be considered. On a boat of this age if the Transom needs to be replace then more than likely your stringers will also need to be replaced. I am not familiar with the construction of this boat so I do not know how easy it is to get to the transom. Pics would really help. See my signature below for an easy way to post pics. Just leave out step #14 when you post the attachments. Do you have any soft spots in the deck? This would indicate that the stringers might have some issues. FYI costs and time for repairs such as these are.... Transom only 3-4 days and Less than $500. Deck, Stringers, and Transom. 3-4 weeks and $1,000 to $1,500. Even if you hav NO experience you can do the work with the help and guidance of all the guys on here. The KEY is DO YOU WANT TO DO IT. If you do, then start searching the forum for Deck, Stringer and Transom replacement and repair and you will find ALL the info you will require to "Git er Dun"


I'm just sayin...

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: transom advice?

Welcome to iboats.

It really depends on how deep you are willing to dive in and how handy you are.

Use the SEARCH function and look for Bayliner (I just happen to know they are fiberglass) and many documented restorations are in here.

I will tell you that it is a labor of love and commitment to restore a boat. You will never recover your investment but you will never find a safer one either when finished.

Be ready to do a bunch of head scratching and swearing

Now are you SURE it is only the transom on a 1972 boat that needs work? You can do it in a weekend with seacast or nidabond but you need to investigate your stringer's too.

Hi winner and welcome to Iboats..

IMO.. get some estimates... find out what is there from someone else.. 3 shops in fact.

Jumping into this without knowing anything about glass .. safty..curing..etc will Drain your Pocket and may cause not only Itchy feelings on your skin..but in your home..

Not trying to talk you out of doing a resto .. but it Will cost..and will be labor Intesive.

YD.

PS. you Cant do a trans job in a weekend ( unless your allready set up with coatings, cure times and tools ). .. no Disrespect Bob.

 

[1972winner]

Re: transom advice?

ok.thanx everyone.i do tend to agree with yacht dr.,i do want to do the work but i do not have any experience with any of it.i'd rather (my wife would,too.lol) spend the money once and have it done by someone who knows what they're doing.i have none of the tools,storage,or knowledge to do this job.thanx for the advice everyone and i will be keeping you all updated with progress

 

[1972winner]

Re: transom advice?

ok. I do believe that without the know-how, I'm going to take it to a shop. Even though I'd rather work on it,maybe I can talk someone into letting me watch the work being done so I can get an idea of what it takes to do it...and I'll be able to get progress pics. I do have a small update,for some reason when I try to check the HIN number, I keep being rejected. Is this because it's an older boat? I'm pretty sure I've entered all the correct digits,and I've even tried following the "common mistakes" list...nothing. Is it safe to type the HIN in here to see if someone might see where I'm screwing up?

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: transom advice?

Not tryin to be a party pooper but....

Unless you have a sentimental attachment to this 38 year old boat, IMHO you should seriously consider your options. Taking this boat to a shop for repairs could easily run $1,000 or more for a transom replacement. I suspect that there is MORE to be done. You have said nothing about the mechanical condition or the interior or the trailer. These can ALL add additional costs to the equation. You could easily sink $4,000 dollars into this boat. For that kind of money you could find a newer and better boat on Craigslist. Stop and think about it!!! If you don't have the time or skills to invest then this MIGHT NOT be the boat. You might want to sell her on Craigslist and look for something else.

I'm just sayin...

 

[jonesg]

Re: transom advice?

Heres a video, I did mine like this.

http://www.transomrepair.com/catalog/pages.php?pID=6

 

[1972winner]

Re: transom advice?

hey,no offense taken,woodonglass. I'm greatful for any advice I can get. Honestly, ya'all are going to hear alot of back and forth about what I'm doing with it. I'm sure it'll be a huge pain now and then.lol. And I do agree about the craigslist thing,that's where my wife found it...for free,and I traded an 11 ft. jon boat for the trailer,which has decent tires,pulls beautifully,the frame is in great shape,and the lighting all works. That being said,the trailers fine( I'll need to register,plate,and tag it). The condition of the boat is actually amazing. No soft spots in the flooring,stringers are fiberglass with those air tubes-no wood. The only wood I've found is in the transom,and it was fine with the exception that the previous owner liked to jump waves and ripped the motor off.lol. So really all I'm looking at is replacing the outter skin,seacasting the transom,putting a motor on,and some elbow grease cleaning the seats (replacing wood frame of seats just because) and cleaning the carpet. So...I'm leaning again towards doing this myself.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: transom advice?

IMHO structural work on an older fiberglass boat is strictly a DIY affair. The price to have a pro do anything is exorbitant and not only that, many people on here haven't even been real pleased with the work they've had done.

 

[j_k_bisson]

Re: transom advice?

I think it is all depends on if you want a project. Me I love fishing, but in the winter you need something else to do. I chose fixing my boat for the next years fishing.

Fixing a transom is not rocket sience. All it takes is a bit commonsense. The engineering as been done for you by what is located in your boat already. You are just removing the old rot and replacing with new.

The fiberglassing portion is very easy to do. But it is messy and time comsuming. Doing right is not hard, just don't cheap out on the materials. If you do the quality of the finished product will suffer.

The steps you need to consider in the planning stage are the following:

1) Teardown/disassebly of the boat to get to the affected work area.
2) Removal of the rotted area.
3) Prep work of the area to be glass'd
4) Fiberglassing the new in.
5) Reassembly of the boat.

You are going to need tools, but nothing too out there in cost, and clean/heated/dry lace to work, and raw energy to finish the project. I prefer beer for my energy source.

The number one thing I say though if you are considering doing i yourself. Do not rush! If you don't have the time to do it right the first time, you will deffinatly have no time to do it a second time!

Check out my restoration is you want to see what's involved. I'm not done yet but working on it everyday....

Jeff

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=443915