Fiberglass rebuild - replacing transom, stringers and floor - alternatives to timber?

[surveyor]

Hi id use timber done well its gonna last as long as youd have the boat still plenty of good transoms around on 20 year old boats same with the foam even better
if you want to laminate the whole transom try a product called spheretex ,spherecore sbc it comes in 10mm thick sheets is cheap and basically very thick matt with mirocoballoons impregnated ,it is very strong and easy to use but a little tricky to wet out until your used to it .good luck

[myusernam]

scott nq solid glass transom would weigh a ton! Also water can still get inbetween glass laminates

If you want to protect your transom holes I would just paint some epoxy resin in the holes to seal all around the outside of the hole and let it dry and then use marine silicone around the bolts. Sika is great but you would want to be dam sure you dont want to remove the bolts.

[CT]

Hi Scott,
I'm just putting the finishing touches on the refit of my grandfathers Raider 166, which is the big brother to yours. Its a 72 hull.

My floor was pretty good. Glass over masonite and only glassed on the top, but no soft spots or spongy / springy feel. The problem was my stringers were totally gone. Water ingress from a bulkhead modification some time pre-1986'ish that wasn't glassed on the bottom. There was still enough glass in them to maintain hull shape and no cracking anywhere.

I paid to have the glasswork done. Cut the floor out level with the edge of the side pockets to access the stringers. Stringers were glass only (laid up over a mold I believe) and the floor was 100% glass, laid up flat I assume, and joined up with the old edge under the pockets. I also had room for a 150 L alloy tank between the stringers and a 50 L kill tank behind it.

Transom was rock solid as it had never been drilled for aux. motors, transducers etc. I got the alloy capping removed and glassed over and that was it.

Be warned, my shipwright tells me it was the itchyest glass they had ever worked with! Apparently the old stuff is the worst. No doubt the good gear that went into it back then!

I'm up to putting in the new electronics and then I'm on the water. It will be a good feeling to share with my son what I did with my dad and grandfather in the same boat many years ago.

Cheers
Craig