Transom & Stringer replacement

[blaze_125]

To attach the seat to the pedestral I'll be using one of these:


Those don't have a locking mechanism and the one that do, don't look very sturdy at all!!!

So yeah, I'll bolt that onto the pedestral and keep it simple for locking as you can see in this crappy photoshop attempt.



Just a simple spring loaded bolt that will go through a set of holes in the swivel base.

And I might ditch the galvanized steel pedestral for one of these:

But I think those are made of mild steel... so rust is still a problem. The main advantage of of those pedestal is the width of the base. Being wider, the weight it carries will be better distributed on the floor and bolts holding it all together.

[blaze_125]

There ya go...

Right now, instead of 4 I got 3 bolts attaching the swivel to the seat. I'm using the empty for the spring loaded bolt. I may need to think that one again, but for now it puts theory into practice and shows it actually works.




As you can see, I'm getting rid of the custom piping and I got a "real" pedestral instead.

[David Valle]

Amazingly good research for a hobby project good job blaze.

thanks for all the pics

How do you plan to fix the base? Seats look good but maybe too top heavy?
I'm going to be doing the same job on the yellow boat. I also have a 16mm marine ply sole and srews seem too weak. Using parts that will rust concerns me ( although you did mention fresh water lake ) . T

[blaze_125]

*See attachement for better understanding*
On the picture, the brownish parts represent the stringers and crossmembers; the light grey represents the floor, the darkey grey represents the seat locations.

The front seats(the one pictured above) will be located between 2 crossmembers. In those locations, the floor will be reinforced with a second layer of plywood that will be epoxied to the underside of the floor. That second layer will be cut to snuggly fit between the stringers and crossmembers. Doing so will give more meat for the bolts to grab onto. Because of the rather small coverage of the base, I'm affraid I may end up ripping the pedestral from the floor if I bolt it down onto a single layer of plywood. I find it hard to explain how I see it, but I'm 99.99% sure that 2 layers will be stronger than 1.

Once the floor and reinforcements are in place, I'll lay the whole peice in the boat over the stringers and I'll position the seat to the desired location. With the seats positioned, I'll mark the pedestral bolts locations. The floor will then be taken out of the boat, and I'll drill the holes for the pedestral bolts. I'll put t-nuts in the drilled holes and call it a day.

Using a t-nut/bolt combo will be way better than using regular self-tapping screws for multiple reasons.

• bolts are usually strongers than screws
• if you remove/re-inserts screws you end up damaging the plywood and after a few times, you need to use bigger screws because the hole doesn't offer enough grip anymore
• screws rely on the screw thread to spread the load; t-nuts/bolts rely on the t-nuts surface to spread the load
• unless you get big screws, screws have less surface than bolts. Less surface = less resistance = seats ripping off the sole fare more easily
• screws spread the load all around it. T-nuts/Bolts spread the load all around the bolt thread surface, and the t-nuts spead it even more from under. So you spread the load on 2 axis instead of 1.
• and some others I can't think of right now

So using t-nuts/bolts I can remove the pedestral a million times and still use the same holes and bolts to put it back on. You won't be able to do that with self-tapping screws.

Seats look good but maybe too top heavy?

I'm not sure what you mean by that.
The seat is a Walmart special lol I already dumped alot more money into this project that I originally thaught, so I have to cut somewhere... When I started this project, I was supposed to only replace the seats and transom. Turned out I had to do everything I just did and spend way more than I thaught I ever would. I kept all my receipts aside, I can't wait to see the actual amount of money invested in that boat. I paid the boat/motor/trailer combo 1700Cdn$ last year...


T-nuts:
I'm using 3/8" hardware.

[PAR]

Make sure they're stainless and use an anti seize compound on the machine blots when you insert them. Then bed the pedestal bases and the fastener head well, or moisture will travel down the treads, into you're efforts.

[blaze_125]

Anti-seize? Really? I was actually thinking blue lock-tight for some reason...
Lock-tight would make a semi water proof thread, and yet still easily be removable with an impact. But I guess even if the bolt is stainless and doesn't rust. the minerals carried by the water down the threads will end up rusting and freeze the bolt with "surface rust".

I'll dump 1 of the t-nuts and a bolt into a bucket of salted water for a few days to see if it starts rusting or not.

The plans for tonight... Epoxy the crossmembers in place, epoxy the underside of the sole, measure motor bracket vs transom thickness, design bracket to hold the bilge pump(s)

8 days away from d-day and counting.

[blaze_125]

As I was doing the epoxy on the crossmembers... I ran out!!!
7 days and counting...

And I dumped a bolt and a t-nut in a mix of water/salt/vinegar. 12 hours later, the bolt is turning blackish, the t-nut seems intact. I'll give it an extra 36 hours.

It looks like the motor bracket is 1/16" bigger than the transom... it'll be a tight fit lol

[PAR]

Your salt water test should be wet, then dry, then wet, each time allowing it to evaporate then get wet again.

Blind nuts are great (T nuts) but if a bolt has corrosion on it, then it'll tear out it's grip on the wood and now you have a bolt that can't come out, just spinning in the hole. Some anti seize solves the problem.

[blaze_125]

The cross members are now fully epoxied!
And I just baught an engine crane so I don't have to break my back trying to put the motor back on I so can't wait to put it back together

6days and counting; The in-laws are killing my time line though, I got to head to their place tonight, sleep over, and come back home sometime saturday during the day. That's like 12-18 hours of work gone!

[blaze_125]

No pics, but the floor is in. The rear end got its first coat of epoxy and I'll top it off tonight with a second coat or thickened epoxy.

[blaze_125]

Small update...

Sole ready for carpet. I'll find something to fill the gaps on the side of the sole and make it even all around.


I couldn't find anything else than black bed liner, so I went out and got some "grass carpet".


Right under the transom well there is an access to the bilge pump.


And obviously, it can be closed or open.

[PAR]

I would strongly recommend against carpet. It traps moisture between it and the sole, which eventually causes moisture to get into things you've just fixed. Carpet has ruined more soles then anything else.

[blaze_125]

even the plastic carpets? There is absolutely no fabric in that carpet, it's all plastic and rubber.

[PAR]

Plastic carpets are just as bad. The moisture gets between them and the sole, eventually causing problems.

[blaze_125]

then what should be put down on the sole other than bed liner?