76 23 restore
 

Okay guys I have started on my 23 this year. as I have a bracket and twin 150s ready to be installed.. But first I wanted to address the transom. I noticed the vent in the stern were cut a bit deep for a 2.5" thick transom.. well I got to pulling on the back and well. the plywood came apart... so then i started the begining of a transom tear out.. I am cutting the out side skin and laminating from the inside out. I did not want to pull the deck cap so i figured it would be easier this way... we will see..

You can see the pic of the vent box and what happened when they cut into the transom.. I never thought to pull the vent cover to see the damage.. I probably could have bargained a bit on the price..once I pulled the cover you could put your finger all the way down the transom... just a thought if you are going to buy a fixer upper..
spent a half day measuring and then cutting and gutting out the transom

Never thought i would see termites holding hands.. LOL.. I hope the freeze got them last night if not I had a nice de-greaser bath for them..

I thought the same way as you when i did mine. I will never cut the outter skin again. It is much easier just to cut the inside cap and work from the inside without cutting the outter skin. Are you going to put new laminate for the outside skin or reuse the old one?

Yea i know what you mean... I thought long hard about it, trust me .. But i am not cutting the deck out just re- coring so that to me would be a p.i.t.a... And i did not want to cut the top deck cap..... I am going to use epoxy on the transom as this is going to be strickly a mechanical bond.. Rather than chemical... I am going to skin the inside skin with two layers of 1708.. Then 1.5" 20lb high density with reinforce glass fibers.. Like coosa board.. Then layer it out with 1808 and 1708, wrapping the glass around the edges of the stern quarters.. And it will be vacuum bagged

I was planning on using the outer skin at first but i think that the plan is to just wrap stern with new glass.. But that could change.. Planning on a teak veneer so we will see how this will shape up

Hey look! Peat Moss with fiberglass over it.Now where have I seen that before? LOL

I did my transom(also an I/O) from the inside, I removed the rub rail and cap to hull fasteners just forward of the hawse pipes,and made a cut on each gunwhale at that point.
I was able to lift the whole section off.
Cut the inner rear pane out exposing the inner transom.

Also found the same conditions as you with the vent boxes.I cant figure out why they didn't just move the vents a half inch forward when they made the hull.In order to get them back in,I had to grind down the transom thickness at the rear.

I laid up a couple layers of 1708 on the inside of the outer glass skin,before I put the new transom core(Marine Fir plywood) back in.
On the inside I laid up a couple more layers of 1708 over the new core overlapped a good distance on the inner hull sides.
It's definitely a lot more work to do it from the inside.

I used Epoxy to glue the plywood together,and vinylester on the transom layup.Anywhere else like hatches and a little bit of deck rot,I used polyester.

Good luck with the ongoing work,keep the pictures coming.

That's good time for that work and your result looks clean and professional. May I ask what tools you used to clean the inner transom skin? Looks like power tool marks. Maybe an angle grinder? What blade?

Can you also tell me how you got the wood out from around the edges? That can be real PITA.

Cheers,

Ken

what kind of bracket ? what type of 150's . good luck and looks tight so far.

Tools
 

Hi Ken,
First I measured the width of transom at Top, Middle, and Chine to chine also from Port gunnel to Starbord Chine and visa versa. I recorded all these measurements First and would re -measure so to keep track of the movement of the hull.
Then i used a block as a jig and traced the outline inside the hull..
Then i used a 4" angle grinder with a diamond blade. and cut on the lines
When I got to the top cap. I pulled all the screws out about a third up the lenght of the cap and used my Hoist to lift it up.. I then cut the rest of the transom up.
I put a few blocks to hold the cap up and just started to pry and pull the rot off the back...
I used a Bostich 36" wrecking bar, a eastwing claw hammer , a craftsman ballpin, and 2 steel flat wedges and some old large flat head screw drivers..
The rot was significant so it really wasn't so bad... as for the corners.. I tried to get the most out in the middle of the transom and then with the hoist and some notches in the wood. I used the hoist with a rope tied to the notch to Pull up and it rolled out the plywood for the most part in one piece...
when all the wood is out. I used a mirror to inspect the back side of the glass around the perimeter .. and a very sharp hand chisel i used to chisel out the remaining wood from the glass...

I then used a 7" angle grinder with 36 grit and ground the inner glass down. In some places I had to use a 4" flap disc and or twisted wire cup wheel for the stubborn areas.. I washed the area with acetone and then I scrubbed and Pressure wash with degreaser..

Bracket and engines
 

The bracket is from a company in south fl I believe,,twin aluminum. I bought off Badabing's Damaged Seacraft... and the engines are 98 twin 150 Mercury salt water edition... My friend gave them to me for rigging is boat with a new 225 opti.. basically got the whole package for about 1000..not including labor But Hey it my Buddy...

Thanks, That's the best response I've ever had on any board, any topic, any time!

If I could ask another question, how did you settle on the remaining skin to edge distance? I have seen some a couple of inches longer. seems the longer it is, the better/stronger the tie in will be but the hard to get the remaining wood out. Are you going to wrap the glass around the edges?

I forgot to mention the twisted wire cup i used on my 4" grinder.. It worked very well for removing the wet wood that was still bonded to the glass.. It does not gum up just eats away at the wood..

As for the edge i wanted to get most of the rot out and be able to install my new foam piece easier... I am going with a1.5 inch 20 desity foam bord with two 24 oz roving inter twined in the foam.. Kinda like coosa board but alot cheaper..and i will be wrapping the glass around the transom quarters. And will not be using the outer skin... Just epoxy and glass..
I cut pieces of glass and tabbed in the inner liner to the outer edge of the transom. So i will have a clean slate to work with.. I am also skinning the inside liner with acouple of layers one 1708,0-45 and 1808,0-90

I also used that measurement cause my 7" angle head can reach in most places and edges... You can turn your pad upside down and back sand the inside glass.. Just becareful cause you might cut your finger bad or off.. If the pad catches the edge hard... I woul not recommend on a high speed angle grinder like a 4"... My 7" is a pneumatic one

Vacuum bagin transom
 

Well after writing a long detailed version of the transom. I tried to post to no avail.. so here is the short version. Layed two sheets of glass up on the inside skin,. then cut all the glass out for laminating the two sheets of plywood. for the transom. the 1.5 inch foam deal fell apart so i have to use wood. And now that I have saved over 350 dollars by doing so. My wife is much nicer to me....

transom build.
 

Pulled part off the table. Cleaned up edges and rughed up the laminate. and roughed up the inner skin

is that "vacuum bagging"? If so, what is the benefit? Just curious...

As far as cost go. It is more waste as in consumables but, I do try to use just dyi stuff. Nothing fancy just parts from hd and well I had a few vacuum pumps laying around... Now the benifit of nagging is if done correctly one solid part. With no voided or air pockets ..not to mention the vacuum pulls the resin into the grain of the wood...now if icould do Resin tranfer infusion.. thqt would be awesome

baggin
 

Really though it is just another way of laminating... I just like doing it that way

transom
 

Here is the transom ply installed,I laminated the inside skin with the plywood laminate with thickend epoxy and cabilsil..Such A PiA. but it was worth it... Sorry no pics as i was working like a mad man... Left the wedges in till the next afternoon . pulled all wedges and the rearend is rock solid.. The remaining gap is just under 3/8" I have a sheet of 1/4 inch corecell I am going to laminate with two sheets of glass on the front and back to bring up the remaining Thickness needed. carefully wrapping the glass in and around the whole transom..So close but yet so far away..

You can see the bottom of the transom as I stuffed a bunch of 1708 scrap ..cause as the resin was kcking off it would become a bit viscous . it is hard to get the mix just right especially with such a large part to bond with out it hardning to fast.. So i just kep stuffing the glass in there so that the resin would stay in the transom and encapsulate the bottm of the transon. When the outerskin is done. i will pour a thicken mix of epoxy and cabisol to fill all the voids on the inside. and pull a vac so to let it seep in all the cavities

Well the rain came before the Epoxy. So i had to wrap it up for now. I started to strip the bracket though. Here are some pics. I have tried everything form blasting to sanding.. this seems to be the most effective at it.. I'll leave on till most is bubbled off then take the rest with the pressure washer...

stripper pics
 

No not that kinda stripper LOL

lookiing good... i Just bought a my 75 20 MA from over there.. bought it from a guy on Tyndall.. I think we need to have a gulfcoast gathering this summer around Pensacola or Ft Walton.. There seem to be alot more gulfcoast folks on here now. keep at it i will be doing my MA this winter and still have my Sceptre in the back yard as well..

Brings back memories of when i did mine last winter. Check it out

http://www.classicseacraft.com/commu...ransom+rebuild

Thanks for the encouragement. I just recieved my 6 gallons of epoxy to finish the transom..waitng on a good day to glass.. just trying to get the remaing paint off Tue bracket and prep it for paint

Yea i looked at that boat.. How does it run? Theres aguy in santa rosa that fly fishes off his. He runs charters in the summer.. I pass him every afternoon on the road.. And wish when i retire i can do what he does... Fish everyday

WEll I gave up the stripper and resorted to a incinerator Or burn out oven.. I used to work for a electrical motor rewind shop and well. This to me is the most effective way to remove the stubburn powder coating.. I should have bit the bullet before i tried stripping but hey at least i can I I have done it. haha. Back to the transom.
I went and wet-ed out another layer of 1708 and 1808 over the wood. and on both occasions. took a screwdriver and wedge and rolled the glass into the inside edges as far as it would go. and rolled out all the bubbles.. after it kicked off a bit. and got somewhat tacky.. I wet-ed out a good amount of cabosil and epoxy to the consistency of mayo and smeared a generous amount onto the 1/4 corecell. and mashed that onto the back of the transom. I used this left over corecell to finish making up the coring. after that set up. I ground the edges of the hull and ceaned up the excess glass. then mixed up another batch of cabol-sil and epoxy this time to a peanut butter consistency and filled the voids from the corcell to the edge of the hull. that way I will have a nice surface to finish glassing to...once that kicked off I layed one layer of 2 oz mat and then two layers of 1708 alternating the 45 degree weave.. and that is all for now. I will grind the excess around the hull and measure to see if I need another layer of glass.. it should be pretty close..I figure another 4 layers 2-1808 0-90 and 2 1708 0- 45, all alternating and maybe a couple of layers of 2oz mat then I can start fairing with epoxy and cabol-sil.. yes I know ,that is what I said.I am trying to say away from lightweight fillers on the transom.. especially if this boat is going to be left in the water for more than a couple of days..

transom
 

here are some pics

oh and yes I did use quarter sawn teak for my clamps it was all I had at the moment

transom
 

Glassing up corecell

I will be grinding down the edges again and see where the low spots are. I figure another layer should get me real close. and then I can start wrapping the glass around and to the bottom edge. i ground down the origianl glass to about half of the thickness about 5 inches from the stern. I should be able to get two layers at that point. then grind back some more and over lap again with two more layer about 12 inches down the stern quarters..and finsih off the stern with just mat and then cabosil and epoxy for fairng

Transom
 

Okay after gicing it some thought i amgoing with reusing the old skin.. It should save me a bunch of time and materials.. Still going to wrap the glass though

I would appreciate pics of your work.

Pics
 

I have been posting what i have done.. Or did you want a file..i should of had more pics but i tend to forget especially when i am in the middle of glassing

Sorry, I meant the old skin as I'm thinking of doing mine that way. Particulars of how you clean it off, how you mount it, etc.

The old skin should be bonded to the new transom with a 2 part epoxy. Best way is to thicken the epoxy to a mayonnaise consistency and trowl it on. Make sure you soak both faces with the epoxy liquid form before trowling. Prob should drill a few drain holes in the old skin for the excess to ooze. Make sure you clamp it real well and get that excess to ooze out the holes on the outter skin. Once cured start your finish work on the outside and make sure the epoxy is cured completely, polyester resin will not cure properly to semi cured epoxy.

Entourage, i was goin to stay with epoxy no polyester. I was wondering to use a notched trowle like with tile work. 1/2 x 3/8 notched.. You think that would be okay...

Yes i agree to the inside being the best method.. That is if the outwr skin is truly sound.. I found out my 20 was not the case. It had a bulge in it after the fact. I used a poured transom and now have removed the outerskin of the 20 and now have to fair it out..the transom of the 20 is definately not going anywhere..

.. Thanks for all the advice
I will keep you posted

Wow all epoxy cha ching $$$$$$$ lol. Hell that's even better but yeah 1/2 or 3/8 would be fine on the trawl. Keep us posted, that's going to be a strong transom.

Yes i know,,, but it is what i had started with. The layup from start to finish has been all epoxy.. . I do not wnat any problems with delamination. Or water intrusion, blisters.. More less peice of mind... I never had much luck putting polyester over epoxy...plus i plan on leaving boat in water for a few days at a time.. Twin outboards on a alum bracket mounted.. I do not want to derig and fix transom. Also i cut the outerskin off therefore inhm weaken the hull ... All these factors played in my head and well i optd for the epoxy... Alot more expesive. But after said and done i should not have to do again..