Design student removing cap from hull. Where to cut???

Hello all,

I have been snooping around the forum for sometime now but, this is my first post. I have been working around boats/yachts since I was a kid and I have sponged up a wee bit of knowledge. I am now a Westlawn student and have purchased a 1977 16' fiberglass "Sea squid" center console to repair and learn from while doing so. She needs EVERYTHING done. My first step is to remove the cap from the transom however I have a few question and have not been able to find the exact answers through thread search.

1.) Where do I cut the transom from the aft section of the cap. She is typical of a center console with a small (and useless) compartment on both the port and starboard corners of the transom. I do not fully understand how I will re-attach these areas when the cap goes back on as I will be un-able to glass from underneath.

2.) When do I re-build the deck? Should I do this prior to the caps removal from the hull? While the cap is away from the hull and worked on independentley? Or after the transom has been replaced so that I may use the hull as a base for deck support? Depending on the answer to this question I may have further.

3.) Any suggestions on an inexpensive cradle the will be sufficient strength for a total cap/transom removal?

Any and all help will be much appreciated. If there are any other students of boat/yacht design give me a shout, especially if your in Florida!

Best Regards,
Jeremy Connelly

 

A few of your questions will be answered depending on the particular hull construction and design in question. If you could provide some photos of the boat, especially those areas you want to repair, and some close-ups of obvious deterioration if possible, the answers you get will be that much more appropriate and significant.

Alan

 

I should hopefully get some up today

 

i'd look for some jack stands (just because of the inexpensive werd lol ), most people will tell you a cradle because it will support and not let your boat move when you take the transom off, but, cradle only keeps your boat from moving "outward" from port n starboard, so you'll need to make braces going across and diagonally anyways, so stands will do the same for ya, and they dont get in the way as much as a cradle. as for most everything else, like alan said we'll need to see it ,to be able to give input that sounds like we might know something lol

 

Pictures

Had some technical issues with the camera. I was only able to take 3 pics. I will post more soon. Someone has "rebuilt" the transom before however they did junk work to say the least. I can see no seam where the transom and the cap were bonded. I think it was glassed, faired, and painted by the last folks who worked on her. So what do you think? Do you need pics from different angles? Further details?

 

I would cut the transom off from the outside. To cut it out from the inside would destroy the inner hatches. Cut the transom all the way around the outside edges but leave about 3 inches from the outer edges. You can dig the wood out from there. Grind the inner glass and glue the wood with thickened epoxy to the inner glass piece. You will have to slide the new wood transom down the slots of the outer edges. Screw the transom every 8 inches to the inner glass piece to maintain it's contact until hard. Remove screws when hard Glass the transom on the outside and use a filler to fair the outside. Fill all inner screw holes and refinish.

 

I see. I also intend to re-build the stringers, re-build entire deck, strengthen the inner walls of the cap as I feel they flex more than they should, and improve the seam of the cap/hull. The cap and hull are joined with rivets only and some have removed themselves or lost integrity over the years. So, would it not be better to remove the entire cap and repair transom while cap removed? Does the following order seem right:

1. Cradle/jack the entire boat
2. Brace the cap
3. Remove rivets of cap/hull seam
4. Remove the cap in one piece
5. Remove/Replace/re-glass transom
6. Remove stringers/re-bed/re-glass
7. Look for and Strengthen any weak spots in the hull
8. Remove deck form cap/re-build/re-glass while out of hull
9. Strengthen in walls of cap
10. Re-attach hull and cap. Glass seam
11. Re-surface/Fair/Paint

 

Jeremy, those useless compartments in the corners are not what you think they are. They are supposed to contain foam flotation. Boats of this size have to meet the Coast Guard Level flotation standard, when new, and as on most outboards the most difficult part of that is getting the stern to float upright when the boat is swamped. Usually this is accomplished by putting the foam in the corners as shown in pic 1 & 2. This boat is so old somebody probably already removed the foam in those boxes.

 

That is good info. I was un-aware of that particular dynamic. Very helpful info for a design student, Thank you! I figured they were meant to distribute the force of the outboard through the hull, like a transom knee. I was hoping to re-design them as a port live bait well and a starboard storage compartment. Perhaps I can extend the transom with an integral outboard bracket and replace the volume of foam that should be in those bays with a compartment running along the base of the transom/deck/hull joint. This would also strengthen the area where the bracket will add stress.

 

I found some jack stands at Harbor Freight Tools very inexpensive. How do you propose I create a suitable surface for the jacks to support the hull. Perhaps drill a hole through the centerline of the jack extension and fit a brack to a piece of softwood.

 

im sorry,,what i was talking about was "boat" jack stands, but if you already got regular car stands you'll have to fashion wood to them at different angles ( like a 2x4 on one side to make it close to the angles on your hull, for the front you can make a V shape to hold the bow. this might work as long as you dont have a steep angled bottom. boat jacks are set to the stand on a "ball" so they can swival almost any direction to go against any hull. i'd also put a piece of junk carpet on your wood piece against the hull, LOL i dont know if its just for protecting the hull or for stopping slippage, i just know we had hundreds and they all had that on them heh

 

Got it. Those things aint cheap! 6 of them on ebay still fetch $300.00, pick up only at that. I might have to do some creative engineering to get her of the trailer and on something solid and stable.