I did mine from the outside. Cut the outer skin 2" from the edge all the way around. I cleaned out all the wet wood and ground down to the inner glass. I used a method of multiple layers of 1/4" luan soaked with epoxy, and 1708 biaxial cloth that I got from Raka.com. I tried to get fancy with cardboard and make a template, but that didn't work too well. I took a full sheet of Luan and strapped to the back of the transom and traced around the outside to get the template, than adjusted accordingly. I first rolled out and saturated each cut sheet of luan with slow cure epoxy. I did each piece twice. The lay up was as follows:
Laid first sheet of luan flat, pre cut cloth on top of that, wet out thoroughly with slow cure epoxy. Placed that combo with the wet surface up against the inner liner and temporarily screwed it into place. Followed that procedure 5 more times within an hour's time. I built it up just enough to allow the outer skin to go back on and fit flush. Using different methods with screws and clamps, I pulled everything together and let it cure. To fill the voids around the outer edges I took cut strips of 1708 cloth soaked in Epoxy and jammed it into the empty spaces. I took the old outer skin cleaned it up, covered it with a thickened epoxy (cake mix consistency) and smeared it all over the inside of the outer skin. Set that in place and clamped it down.
Faired with thickened epoxy to get everything flush and looking good.
I raised my Transom from 25" to 30" in the process.
Advice:
Make sure you have a couple of people around to help. Because of obvious time constraints, things can get messy. I had the help of two other people.
Make sure you have PLENTY of epoxy. I almost ran out. The cloth that I used, the 1708 Biaxial from Raka is thick and really sucks up the epoxy. I think I went through 2 1/2 - 3 gallons.
Don't get over zealous with mixing up huge quantities of epoxy. Once it starts to kick in a large mass, it's all over. We would mix up enough to thoroughly wet out the cloth on top of the next sheet of luan and then repeat the process.
Needless to say, I don’t have to worry about the transom anymore.
Going from the outside worked for me. I didn’t have to cut up the inner liner for any internal structural problems or modifications. Going from the inside would have been a lot more work for my situation.
http://www.classicseacraft.com/cgi-b...c;f=3;t=000034
My 2 cents……
[ April 02, 2003, 02:50 PM: Message edited by: Rich ]