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.

[dcobbett]

FELLOW-SHIP

Just so I'm sure I understand the process you described: if I wanted to rebuild and raise a transom from 20" to 25" (for example) from the inside as you described, after the old wood is out, I'd taper the inside edges of the existing glass along the old 20" height line, install a temp backing board on the outside, infill the old engine cutout with glass so the face of the new glass surface is flush with the inside face of the existing transom's outer glass skin, then increase the thickness of the entire glass outer skin, then start the laminations of the core material, correct? I think you are also saying that you would not prefabricate the whole core on the bench, but would do it in-place, layer by layer, so you could insure the better bonding around the edges, correct?

[FELLOW-SHIP]

Ha Decobbett;

Ya that's what I would do and ya again layer by layer. I know it takes more steps this way but the end results is what you are looking for not speed. Now if it was someone elses boat you are getting paid for well that's another story.
FellowShip [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[OFFSHORESYSTEM]

I HAVE SEE PEOPLE REPAIR TRANSOMS BOTH WAYS BUT I PREFER TO REPAIR THE TRANSOM FROM THE INSIDE OUT AND BEEF THE INSIDE W/ XTRA WOVEN / PLUS YOU CANREPAIR THE STRINGERS WHICH ARE USEALLY IN NEED OR REPAIR I CHARGE FOR THE WORK I DO SO I WANT TO GIVE THE CUST WHAT I THINK IS THE BEST REPAIR ..