Transom - Do I or Don't I?

[Alchemy2007]

Any advice as to tackle this one?

[mik01]

mate - your situation surely sucks but there is hope, but also possibly some pitfalls along the way.
without wanting to lecture you, next time spend a couple of hundred on a mobile marine professional to look the boat over thoroughly before buying.
there ends my sermon to you! :-/

ok - in order to decide what you need to do, there needs to be some hard questions faced. without wanting to pry - what did the boat cost you? this will help you decide whether to pour 2k into it with a professional transom replacement. if it cost you say 5k, then spending 2k plus the new outboard you bought will see you lose money hand over fist when you sell it.
plus I have heard of boats needing transom replacements, and when its in the shop quickly finds out that the stringers under the floor are gone also. this will really set you back quite a bit.
my advice is to have your boat professionally inspected for transom and soft flooring and a professional report/advice supplied.
if the report is bad, and weighed up against the cost of the boat, you may be best to sell the boat for what you can get and use your new outboard on a better hull that you can pick up cheaply enough.
this potentially will be cheaper than the whole transom/stringer repair.
if its only the transom, then you could do it yourself (like i said - my old man did it and he had no marine experience).
anyway, happy to provide you with the transom replacement guide if you choose to go that path. I would also pm Grand Marlin, and BM for their advice.
cheers and good luck,
Mick

[on-one]

Take Mick’s advice and get the boat checked by an expert so you know what you’ve got, then you need to forget about what you paid for the boat, what matters now is what it’s worth fixed, what it’s worth in its current state and the cost to fix it. There’s no point throwing good money after bad so don’t let what you paid for it cloud your judgement – and don’t let this wreck things for you I had a lot of problems with my first boat and it’s worth the pain in the end, good luck with it.

[polky]

Mik01 is spot on. I have a seafarer, decided to replace transom ended up doing transom, floor and refibreglassing over stringers, $5000 later boat is now nealy like new. But if you decide to go that way you then know you have a boat with the important parts replaced, and you will then have years of trouble free boating. ( wish ) there is always somthing to spend your money or time on. Polky.

[gofishin]

Alchemy2007
Sorry to hear about your troubles mate.

Don’t think about just trying to spot fill with resin etc as mentioned in your other post mate. Dry rot is a fungus and tracks thru the timber cell structure, thus affecting surrounding timber before you can even detect it. Do a search on it.

Sorry to be the bearer of more bad news, but all of the timber in your transom needs replacing. Depending if the builder glassed the transom timber before installing the stringers (not likely), your stringers may also be suspect with the rot you describe down low. Ditto with the floor adjacent to the transom, although this will be easy to diagnose as it will be spongy under foot if it is affected.

Leave the transom outer glass skin in place & remove the timber from the inside and replace. Structurally this is the best method. To gain good access it is best to remove your outboard well. You will also need to remove part of your floor, and possibly the rear part of your stringers. As others have said, there are many good publications on the subject, so do a bit of studying before you start and I am sure you will be fine.

With any timber you replace (transom, stringers, girders), pay attention to the limber holes (drains) & ensure they are well glassed.

Adjacent timber that does not seem to be affected can be treated with products to kill any spores (ethylene glycol etc). Do a search, memory is a bit scratchy here.

Use epoxy resin (readily available from marine outlets). It has a far superior bond strength for this application than the cheaper polyester product. There are also other resins available now (vinyl ester etc), however I have been too long out of the game to comment as I don’t know much about them.

Take good photos as you go & maybe even document process/receipts. This will provide proof to the new owner (when it comes time to upgrade your boat!) that the job was well done.
Good luck
Cheers.

[Alchemy2007]

Boof , emailed me some of he photos of his transom project and it turns out that it is nearly the same complaint and situation as mine.
I got sick of talking and thinking about it so I just got in and had a look. As you can see It is rotten. I did decide to go in from the rear and also I took away the inner skin. There is a lot of work infront of me but at least I know that It will be peace of mind in the future for saftey and the new motor not snapping out . Also it looks that I have hollow stringers as I cannot see any solid ribs. I have shone a torch up the rectangular holes and they are clean all the way. The floor is solid as the rot didnot penetrate that far. I pulled alll the carpet out and gave it the taqp test all over and there are no soft spots.The only wooden stringer/gusset structure are those two vertical ones that tie the floor to the transom at the back which you can see. Im not to sure about colour matching the transom yet . I will wait to get that Jeff websters book before I attempt any glassing.

I appreciate your response earlier and thought I might send you these pics .

Once again thanks for the input.

Cheers,

Simon

[disorderly]

Good onya for jumping right in.
Some more sensible people may say that you may end up spending more money then the end result may be worth.(especially with a brand new motor).
But,the way I look at it is,that you will be learning new skills by taking on this project and once finished,no doubt there will be a pride of workmanship and just to be able to say "I did that" will give an immense feeling of satisfaction
I would love to see progress reports of the work as you go.
good luckhttp://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/../yabbfiles/Templates/Forum/default/smiley.gif

Scott.

[Roughasguts]

Hold on stop! theres an easy way to fix your transom without ripping it to bits.




Only joking good on you for getting in to it.

Now think long and hard, nows your chance to pod! or build in bouyancy steps,

Or even put a bloody big mercruiser in her.

[FNQCairns]

Yeah good to see you having a go although a lip around the parimeter would have made your job easier.

Good luck with it, your hull is polyester, so is virtually all of the 40+year old boats seen around the place. polyester will suit you fine and has the advantage of keeping the cost down, vinal ester is overkill but nice stuff, you can always consider VE for the true structural portions where you are in effect glueing your new stuff to the old but do all of the spaning and covering layups with basic polyester resin.

Buy yourself a VERY good dust mask and use it always, why die younger than you would have chose if you had given yourself the choice.

cheers fnq

[jimbo59]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but you have just made a easy job alot tougher by leaving no outer lip.You now have to sand all around the hull(12to1) to reglass the bum.Go all the way and extend it with glassed in pod.

[Alchemy2007]

Have you got any pod photos?

[jimbo59]

This is a photo of a extention i did on a seafarer ventura,i can supply and fit a bolt on pod but this is the way to go as it follows the bottom and reduces some of the problems that can occur with a non buoyant pod

[Alchemy2007]

Whats a cost estimate for one of those jimbo59?
I got a fiberglasser around to give me a quote for the remainder of the job. I dont want to loose enthusiasm so soon due to these intial costly setbacks. If he submitts a reasonable price I will certainly go that way, In saying that I want to learn the teqniques but a little at a time. I have got so much to do on my house as well (Circus Act)

Cheers

[BigE]

it's do able and life is about learning:o . post all the details on here and you will make alot of new friends:-* ..... everyone get mushy about a boat rebuild
Regards
BigE
PS heres how mine started ::)

[tropicrows]

Alchemy 2007,

Don't you just love these boat projects?
Theres a lot of good advice in this post to take in, good luck with the project which ever way you go.
I purchased my Swiftcraft Dominator just over fives years ago for $1750, and re-launched it Easter 2007. Total cost around $25,000. The total cost included a new trailer, a two year old 140 Suzuki and a two pack paint job, not to mention all the work on the hull itself. I spent just about every weekend working on it; my wife calls it the girlfriend among other names. I now have a new boat that will last many years at considerably less cost then a new boat of the same size and fit out. Was it worth it, ??? Would I do it again, maybe!!! If anybody is interested I have heaps of photos. I didn’t find any of the work overly hard if you planed ahead, and I saved heap of money by buying my materials in bulk from wholesalers.
Just make sure you do as others have suggested, get the boat checked first, no point throwing good money after bad.

[CharlieH]

Alchemy 2007,

Don't you just love these boat projects?
Theres a lot of good advice in this post to take in, good luck with the project which ever way you go.
I purchased my Swiftcraft Dominator just over fives years ago for $1750, and re-launched it Easter 2007. Total cost around $25,000. The total cost included a new trailer, a two year old 140 Suzuki and a two pack paint job, not to mention all the work on the hull itself. I spent just about every weekend working on it; my wife calls it the girlfriend among other names. I now have a new boat that will last many years at considerably less cost then a new boat of the same size and fit out. Was it worth it, ??? Would I do it again, maybe!!! If anybody is interested I have heaps of photos. I didn’t find any of the work overly hard if you planed ahead, and I saved heap of money by buying my materials in bulk from wholesalers.
Just make sure you do as others have suggested, get the boat checked first, no point throwing good money after bad.


Would be very interested in photos and if your time permits a little narrative to go along with it :) I found a 35 page long boat re-build thread on here on Sunday and stayed glued to the screen till I'd finished reading every post :)

Edit: I'm about to start something along the same lines..

[Alchemy2007]

I have gotten this far and I am reviewing my options. I have had a fiberglasser around to give me a quote . I haven't seen it yet but he said that the hull is mint and the floor is solid. Finally a ray of light!
I have another quote to complete the transom from this stage at a cost of $1600.00 (This one has cred).
I have stumbled a little , due to not cutting the transom out properly and I think I have made the job 3 times as hard/time consuming and costly.
I don,t have an undercover area to tackle this job and being Toowoomba it is 4 seasons in one day. I also have a fair bit to do on the house. I am thinking of contracting the transom project out , getting the house upto scratch , do a bit more o the boat , sell the house, get a shed , new house , eveyone is happy.

I will keep the photos coming whichever way I go. I will pick up the glassing but i think this transom project is a liitle more than I can handle where I live at the moment.

[mik01]

at least you have some positives finally!
with that tilt section on the trailer you will be stoked - this is a godsend IMO. i have the same and its superb when there is a current and you are trying to line the bow up to the trailer to drive on.
just watch the crossmember at the rear of the trailer that it doesnt hit the vee on the boat when loading.
good luck with it all.

[boof]

nearly done

finally the end is near ..
first pic sanded ready to paint ..
2 pic painted ready for light sand and then a buff up ..

[ColacGirl]

post all the details on here and you will make alot of new friends:-* ..... everyone get mushy about a boat rebuild


Ain't that the truth ::)

Hi Big E..... where's your rebuild thread?

--
Bev

[Alchemy2007]

The boat is off to the glassers, I made a executive decsion being the workshop foreman.
I will keep the photos coming throughout the rebuild if anyone is still interested.

[CharlieH]

Very interested in more photos. I've seen a heap of threads about guys doing it at home (and yet I keep looking for more heh), would be interesting to see if a shop does anything different along the way.

[BigE]

hi Bev
how is it in the play pen clan ?
http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=65896&highlight=itchy+%26amp%3B+scratchy
try this for the itchy & scratchy thread (fun times)
you guys will have a lot to answer for if another rebiuld is inspired by the play pen sarga.

Just looked at the link NO PHOTOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!where are my pics??
Can anyone help?

BigE

[BigE]

Keep the pix comming we r all rebuild addicts

BigE

[CharlieH]

hi Bev
how is it in the play pen clan ?
http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=65896&highlight=itchy+%26amp%3B+scratchy
try this for the itchy & scratchy thread (fun times)
you guys will have a lot to answer for if another rebiuld is inspired by the play pen sarga.

Just looked at the link NO PHOTOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!where are my pics??
Can anyone help?

BigE


I've noticed a lot of older threads are missing photos. I'd say wherever you upoaded them to have deleted them. If you still have them on your PC you could re-upload them somewhere more permanent (PM me if you like, I can host them on my server which has been running for 4 years or so and won't be taken down anytime soon) then edit your posts to include them again.

[ColacGirl]

hi Bev
how is it in the play pen clan ?

All is well here, thanks BigE.
Went fishing today... in the tinnie! The Trailerr Queen, oops I mean Play-Pen, is sitting in the shed awaiting a gelcoat repair. :-X

Thanks for the link to Itchy & Scratchy. I did see the beginning of it when you started, but lost track of it along the way.
Unfortunately photos in many threads seem to disappear. The beginning of Play-Pen's saga vanished but I notice the ones I hosted with Photobucket are still ok.



you guys will have a lot to answer for if another rebuild is inspired by the play pen saga.


Every boat owner should be inspired to have an itchy, scratchy experience.... make them appreciate their vessel even more ;)

--
BevB

[boof]

nearly done

finally the end is near ..
first pic sanded ready to paint ..
2 pic painted ready for light sand and then a buff up ..

buffed up ready to put motor back on and we are in boating mode again

[tropicrows]

:) :)
I sent a powerpoint slide show file to directly to Alchemy2007, I have a couple more photos to attach and them I will post it here. ;) ;)

[Alchemy2007]

I have teed the hard work of dropping in each day to the fiberglassers to take pics of the transom rebuild. Nothing like keeping your finger on the pulse!
Will post the pics soon as he starts.

Anyone got prices on that International Perfection Undercoat and Topcoat?

[tropicrows]

Well it looks like my power point slide show is to big ??? 6082 KB. :(

So what do I do now??

If anybody want to view it, you can email me and I can send to you directly to you, or is there a way to upload onto this web site