Transom Rebuild

[dugger]

Hello all I am pretty new at this whole boat thing. I have always wanted a boat my whole life and finally came across a boat that I could afford, It is a 71 Newman 15ft boat with a 80 mercury, So I bought it. The guy told me when I bought it that he was selling it for the engine and the boat came with it, But I am one of those "the glass is half full" kinda guy. So I knew I had a little project in front of me. "The Transom." The boat isn't in that bad of shape it is just that the transom is totally rotted. Not really knowing a whole lot about fixing the boat I started doing some research, asking friends and family and of course everyone has a different opinion. So here is what I did: first I took off the engine and went in and started grinding and removing all of the old wood. It was extremely easy it was like "mulch" came right out.and I bought some 3/4 in plywood and a lot of fiberglass resin ect. I have the wood all ready to cut up and go in now what I am noticing is that their is gonna be some space in between the wood (I have to cut in half too to get it in there) and the original fiberglass around the sides. is their some kinda filler I can pick up locally that compares to the Seacast or the rot doctors stuff or will the resin work fine just put it on extra thick??? now if anybody has any more pointers or any other advise that would be greatly appreciated<br />Buy the way I have never worked with fiberglass before as well<br />also if anyone is wondering the floor is in great shape<br />

 

[Solittle]

Re: Transom Rebuild

Welcome DUGGER - Lotsa help available to you here. <br /><br />Onward -<br /><br />Since you have not messed with fiberglass before I suggest that you play around a bit with it using some scrap wood. The resin tends to setup (harden) much faster than you would think. You need to plan out what you are going to do and cut the figerglass cloth before you mix the resin. I buy the resin by the gallon and mix it by the quart. I buy the resin and glass from a marine supplier and not from Home Depot or the like. Acetone is the solvent for cleaning and not paint thinner etc.<br /><br />Now for the transom - Ideally you would get some huge C clamps to use in glassing the wood core to the outer skin. What I would do is position the plywood and hold it in place with a couple of regular C clamps. You now need to come up with a way to pull this all together. I'll leave that to others.<br /><br />When you get the plywood rough glassed in be sure to use some woven roven for the inner corners and bottom overlapping by about 6". This secures the transom to the sides and bottom of the hull. Use plenty of resin here.

 

[dugger]

Re: Transom Rebuild

Thank you so much for the help, I was gonna try to get to glass it this weekend but..... It took a long time to measure out all the wood so it would fit in there now that I got that done, next I will start cutting the fiberglass and get everything ready to go in. I still have two questions first, when I put the wood in I am gonna want to put the resin in between the wood and outer shell then clamp it together let dry for a couple hours then glass the outside right?<br />Second what is woven roven? is that the mat?<br />Once again thank-you so much for the help<br /><br />DAN

 

[Solittle]

Re: Transom Rebuild

Once you start there is no need to stop to let it dry - - just keep goin.<br /><br />Woven roven is a heavy fiberglass weave that looks somewhat like a thin rug. It is the heavy stuff that most hulls are made of. It provides the strength you need in the corners. I would slop a 6" wide band of mat in the corners, follow that with a couple of layers of woven roven and top that off with a layer or two of mat.<br /><br />I would like to repeat what I wrote in my first post - - play with some scrap wood first.<br /><br />Fiberglass is not really that difficult to work with but you must get prepared before you mix the resin and once you start work quickly until the resin starts to cure. You can tell when it starts to cure by it thickening. Use disposable brushes and paper pots for the resin. There is also a roller which is used to even out the wet resin that the pros use.<br /><br />If you are unsure of what to do hit the library and spend some time in the reference section.

 

[dugger]

Re: Transom Rebuild

Sorry for bugging you, This is all real good information that you are helping me with.<br />I have two more questions <br />1. How many layers of fiberglass/mat do you recommend I put on their??<br />2. After I put in the wood there was some space in between the outer shell and wood is it OK to fill that with resin, and if I do it needs to ALL be filled, right?<br />Once again thank you so much for your help

 

[dugger]

Re: Transom Rebuild

Sorry for bugging you, This is all real good information that you are helping me with.<br />I have two more questions <br />1. How many layers of fiberglass/mat do you recommend I put on their??<br />2. After I put in the wood there was some space in between the outer shell and wood is it OK to fill that with resin, and if I do it needs to ALL be filled, right?<br />Once again thank you so much for your help

 

[Solittle]

Re: Transom Rebuild

My sandwich for your boat would be:<br /><br />present outer skin<br />2 layers of mat<br />1 piece of 3/4" ply<br />1 layer of mat<br />1 piece of 3/4" ply<br />1 layer of mat<br />1 layer of woven roving<br />2 layers of mat<br /><br />For the corners use a 6" overlap of woven roven.<br /><br />Fill any gap between the outer skin & the above with thickened resin.<br /><br />You will wind up with a transm that is about 1 3/4" thick & should be rock solid.

 

[dugger]

Re: Transom Rebuild

Well, I finished and took it out it works great that thing is bullet proof no leeks or anything.<br />You have been A great help thank-you soooooooooooo much if you are ever in AZ and wanna go boating email me<br />dduggeraz@aol.com

 

[Solittle]

Re: Transom Rebuild

Thanks for the feeedback dugger. Sometimes we sit here and wonder if our efforts actually help. Comments like this spur us on.