Transom Repair 23' Outboard

[edloh]

hello there folks,

is it true that the bestv (strongest) transom repair to is come in from inside the boat instead of the outside?

[oldbluesplayer]

that's asking a loaded question !!! [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

as I discovered when I did my seafari this past summer, I think schools still out on that

but - I will throw my two cents in that, what's more important, is the type of resin used - epoxy or polyester, and the workmanship, care, and surface preperation taken when doing the job. I would also take the opportunity to study the existing structure, and improve it where possible.

It is completely possible to not only repair the transom, but to make it stronger than it was to begin with.

Also, give strong consideration, not only to how you expect to power the boat initially, but longer term - and also - if there are any other mods you might wish to make that relate to, connect to, or are adjacent to the transom structure.


Good Luck !!!

Bill

[FELLOW-SHIP]

Personally I would agree with your statement of doing the transom from the inside. These are a few reasons why I think this way.
1. by going in from the inside you can build up the outside wall of fiberglass from approx ¼” to 3/8” easily which is the thickness of most transom outside walls now a days.
2. you can easily laminate each layer of your coring material and fill in all gaps around the coring material and the hull with thickened epoxy to help create a bond around all sides.
3. you can increase the thickness of the inside wall of glass to ¼ or more.
4. you can glass several layers of glass supports all around the hull helping to re enforce the transom to the hull.
5. you can build knee supports from the bottom of the hull to the transom for additional support.

Personally my objective was to make my boat Bullet Proof by doing things Better than the original lamination schedule. By taking this fundamental approach I personally believe you can take any SeaCraft hull (no matter which year you got) and make it Better than any year original hull lamination.

FellowShip [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[edloh]

point well taken, obviously there are many oppurtunity to reinforced the transom coming from the inside. have any seacraft member used composite material with polyester resin to repair a transom? i would prefer to do it without wood. thanks

[FELLOW-SHIP]

There are a lot of guys now a days that have turned to composite material. If I had to do it all over again today I probably would use the stuff, but when I did mine in 2001 the newer materials had only been on the market for a few years. I did not want to be their Bata testing group. As for polyester I would never use that for anything but New Construction. Epoxy has Far More Bonding Qualities for repair work than does polyester.
FellowShip [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[BigMike8o9]

I think, if I was to replace my whole transom, I would take the whole thing out and replace it front and back. I would do it just for delamination reasons. I still believe the best way to be sure is to epoxy front and rear. And build up a much stronger transom. If you get any delamination you would be back to square one in a few years.
I've never replaced a transom, but I've made a few. I think I'm kind of alone on that line of thought. I've repaired transoms on wooden boats and I've always been acused of overkill but I never repaired on twice.

[edloh]

i could not use epoxy and i plan to gelcoat the entire boat. thus i would have to stay with polyester resin.

whats up EDloc don't know to much about fiberglass work but have a close friend i that buisnes that would be happy to answer any questions you may have if your interested ican e-mail you his number. He has a older boston whaler 26' guardian we removed the looper 140's it came with he closed the transom I built him a bracket and we installed a pair of 01 225hp johnsons, its like a new boat.

[FELLOW-SHIP]

Ha Edloh;

If you are going to do the transom from the inside why would you think you can’t use epoxy???? Also if you use West Systems epoxy their info says you CAN gelcoat over their epoxy.
FellowShip [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[Trayder]

Edloh-

As Fellowship states and as I have done you can gel-coat over epoxy. There are certain prepararions you have to do but it can be done without a hitch.

Gel-coat to epoxy = mechanical bond

Gel-coat to Poly = chemical bond and I think mechanical if the poly is dry?

Get the west sytems book on repairing fiverglass boats it is avail anywhere that sells west systems and has good pointers no matter what type of method and our material you use