Structural Problem?

[dragonjbynight]

Originally Posted by alan white

As PAR said, a lot of places, and most of them completely hidden (but obvious----- fiberglass and resin make up thin layers over solid wood chunks here and there. Wherever it appears thick (dimensional), you can bet there's wood in there. May be it's a rotten and wet chunk of wood, as the whole boat has experienced the same conditions of fresh water filling the hull of and on for a lot of seasons.
A drill sample is in order in every section that appears to be encasung wood.
Just a 1/4 inch twist bit, so you pick up a sample between the flukes.
You need edification. Drilling will probably show you everything from the bit diving fast as soon as it passes through the glass layer to meeting resistance (but coming out with wet wood).
Then recognize the work entails complete removal of the entire component, grinding being the means (and you wearing ear, lung, eye, and skin protection).
Then new wood cut and shaped (while something else holds the boat from distorting) and quite a bit of reglassing with either epoxy or polyester (polyester has of course been proven to fail as a water barrier, as it turns out, but may be cost effective if only a five year lifespan is anticipated).
Money and time.
You said getting the boat free can't be beat but you will discover that a free boat can be the most expensive thing you've ever owned.

That is probably true Alan, and from the viewpoint of replacement, completely understandable. and as with paint to houses, all are only as good as their foundations, Same apply's to boats. I am certainly absorbing a mountain of information, and very much appreciate you guys taking your time to share your experience.

At this point, I am somewhat at a loss. I don't necessarily want to give up on the boat, yet realize, that I am completely unprepared. I could just throw it together and see how far it goes, or try and remod the whole thing. Either way, I still would like to learn how to do the work. If I decide that the whole thing is a waste, I will try and replace it anyway just to have some hands on experience. So please keep the comments coming.

[dragonjbynight]

Ok, I am going to replace it. Time to create my project list. I know I will need resin and fibergass matt. What kind of plywood would be best? I see that some recommend Coosa, But I don't have any idea where to get that at in central Indiana? Would plywood be easier, as it is more readily available? Also, What thickness(real stuff, no particle board..lol). The original boat rating is for 75hp. I have also seen that most require two separate pieces, resined together. Is there a particular reason for this, or is this just for thickness. also, the boat is sitting on its trailer, would this be enough support, to keep it from distorting, or should i screw a couple pieces of wood or strap across the top to keep it from distorting?

thanks again for all the information, It will be put to good use!

[Omeron]

Get a sailboat. The number of hours of enjoyment you will get out of this boat,will be far less than the hours you will be putting into it.

[PAR]

Dragon, I as well as several others have listed pretty much step by step instructions for the tasks you'll need to perform, prevoiusly.

You have a deck cap, which covers the upper edge of the hull shell. This makes removing the transom core a bit more interesting, but nothing a reciprocating saw can't handle.

You can try to preserve the exterior hull shell and work from the inside, but this complicates the process a lot, especially because you're splash well is bonded directly to the transom.

The easiest way is to cut away the hull shell from the outside. I use a reciprocating saw for this, which makes quick work of it. Cut around the perimeter of the transom at least 3" inboard of the edges. This will create a flange at the corners of the transom, preserving the natural strength of the hull shell.

With this cut, which will include parts of the deck cap, peel the old skin off the transom. Save this and the pieces of deck cap, because you'll reinstall them later.

The rotten core will be visible and it needs to be completely removed. The bulk of it can be ground off, but behind the flange will need some "inventiveness" on your part. All the surfaces will need to be ground down to good mat, no dirt, grease, gel coat, paint, etc. can be inside there.

Your boat will have a 1.5" thick transom (or it should). Usually this is done with 2 pieces of 3/4" plywood, but can also be done with 3 pieces of 1/2", which is stronger, but more effort.

You don't need mat, though some may suggest you can improve the bond between the plywood sheets with mat. It's not necessary, if you apply a thickened epoxy mixture to the sheets with a notched trowel and "bend" the one sheet onto the other. This prevents air gaps and bubbles between the sheets, which can occur if you just drop the second sheet onto the first one.

Of course the plywood needs to fit close and snuggly to the hull shell. It also has to be "tabbed" into the shell. Lots of thickened epoxy and cloth will do a fine job of this. Then re-install the old transom skin and cap, which need "bridging" to tie them back into the hull shell.

This is the quick description. There are many previous threads on the subject. Read up on them and get a good mental image of the job.

[dragonjbynight]

I have read through many of the posts, and I believe I now have a firm idea of the work at hand. Though, I will keep looking more up until the day I begin the process. I don't think it will be easy, but knowing myself, I believe that I can do it fairly well. might take a week or two, but thats allright by me(mostly to come up with material..lol) I'll keep my posts up to date.

[dragonjbynight]

Originally Posted by Omeron

Get a sailboat. The number of hours of enjoyment you will get out of this boat,will be far less than the hours you will be putting into it.

would love too...but a motorboat is more convienient to the "puddles" we call lakes in indiana..

[dragonjbynight]

Ok, just finished dismantling the hob job repair...WHAT A MESS!!! First and foremost, Thankyou Alan, Jim (is that much?) Par and Charmc. If I would have taken that boat out as it was, someone could have been hurt. It is a mess, but now that I have some insight into the problem, I completely understand your beginning warnings. To be honest, I didn't completely understand the problem, now I do. The transom board is all but gone. It is complete mush. As I pulled the bottom bolts out from the "fix" they were soaking wet.

and underneath that large piece of metal was this mess:

[the1much]

Your welcome man,,and ya its Jim hehe ,,now remember,,doing this slowly means doing it safely ,,so it'll be as safe as possible. ,,,and that "thanks" of yours,,,,goes from now on,,,,so no need fer it to me,,,it jus gives me a "swelled foot" hehe
and also let this be number ,,,like,4" of the "rules of boating",,,,its easy to hide things fer a while under glass and wood hehe

[dragonjbynight]

rules...another thing to add to my editing job..

[alan white]

Originally Posted by dragonjbynight

That is probably true Alan, and from the viewpoint of replacement, completely understandable. and as with paint to houses, all are only as good as their foundations, Same apply's to boats. I am certainly absorbing a mountain of information, and very much appreciate you guys taking your time to share your experience.

At this point, I am somewhat at a loss. I don't necessarily want to give up on the boat, yet realize, that I am completely unprepared. I could just throw it together and see how far it goes, or try and remod the whole thing. Either way, I still would like to learn how to do the work. If I decide that the whole thing is a waste, I will try and replace it anyway just to have some hands on experience. So please keep the comments coming.

No effort is wasted if you learn something. I firmly believe that the hardest lessons teach the most. I've worked unbelievable hours to make silk purses from sows ears and while I didn't get rich, I now have a deep appreciation for efficiency in design and work. This stops me in my tracks when a project comes up and it causes me to analyze the whole process without emotion.
I KNOW what can happen. But how I learned was to take on far more than I should have, and bulled my way through in spite of the thousands of hours I'd never be compensated for.
I say do the project. It's only one boat. and who knows? Maybe you'll make a profit...

A.

[dragonjbynight]

In searching the different threads I have come across many opinions about the type of fiberglass to use. matt, cloth, roven, chopped? I know what each kind is, but for my repair, not which to use? Also, is there a particular type of fiberglass resin to use? In this case where there is alot of damage to the fiberglass on the transom, would it be easier to reglass the entire transom instead of re-attaching the cutout piece? If that needs to be done, i know that it will have to be brought out to the level of the ground down section on the rest of the hull, then attached there....missin anything? lemme know.

[PAR]

It's much cheaper and easier to repair the removed portion of hull shell (at the transom) then re-make a new one. Since you're working with wood and 'glass, you'll want epoxy. Poly is the redheaded stepchild in comparison. Cloth is all that is necessary with epoxy, because it doesn't need the bulking generation mat provides for poly resins. If you have to error when tabbing back into the hull shell, error on the side of too much tabbing, rather then too little.