Transom replacement

[Torts]

Hi i am changing out the transom on my 1994 princecraft super pro 196but having some difficulty. The top rail that needs to come off to access the wood is tucked underneath the side walls which has a lip that rivets the 2 together. I took the rivets out hoping I could bend this lip and sneak the rail out but it’s solid and won’t really straighten. I was going to cut the top rail and repair it later but if the transom wood goes all the way to the corner I won’t be able to get it out. Also all the Philips screws along the outside of the transom that need to come out appear to be bolts as they are just spinning. The problem is there’s so much foam I can’t get to the nuts on the inside. Im not sure if I should just hack it all out and replace the foam or is there a better way to attack this. The depth of the foam is 14” and prob 2-21/2ft wide on each side of the motor. I’ll attach pics any advice helps. Thanks in advance. 

[Torts]

[Queechylakepro]

1st its February 28th people are launching and fishing right now. Is it that bad you cant get through this season?

If the answer is yes check out No Fish Nick youtube transom rebuild theres 2 videos. Also check out Calumet Marine transom renewal lots of photos and descriptions.

Foam and motor well tub will all come out. Those phillips head are probably secured with nut like starfish with tentacles embedded in transom wood. 

There is a load of work just getting everything out and dismantled.

Both those renewals I referred to above are done inside shops with people that have sheet metal work experience. You can get it done but do you want to sacrifice this season. Go fishing think about it gather information. Then after Labor Day let the real labor begin.

[Torts]

Thanks for the info I will def look into that. I finally got the top rail off and thank god I’m doing the job now the wood is so rotted I’m lucky my motor isn’t at the bottom of the lake. I can poke my finger through it with ease. Lots of work ahead hopefully I can continue with progress 

 

 

[Frogger]

Once you get the wood out, things we’ll be down hill from there.  Seems the hardest part is always the start. 

[rolmops]

You can probably get all the wood out without  having to take the entire transom housing apart. It is done with a very long drill that you keep on inserting and cleaning up as you go. If that works, and you have the space cleaned out, you can just rebuild your transom by pouring a liquid transom maker like Seacast or Carbon Bond that you can pour in from the top. It will harden up inside your housing and after cleaning up and putting things back together , you are good to go.

You can only do this if you have a heated inside space to work.

[Torts]

That would be a lot easier. Anyone have any experience with these products? Are they as reliable as marine plywood? 

 

[BRUCE]

Electric  chainsaw  with no oil or battery  one doesn't  bother the glass much. Tile blade on a 4 inch grinder  goes through  glass like butter 

[Torts]

The hull is aluminum not Fiberglas but yes the wood should be pretty easy to get out it’s so rotted just messy. 

[BRUCE]

Sorry  it looked like  glass good luck  .there alot of videos  on this also

[G-Daddy]

I used seacast to replace the floor of a Sportcraft 252.  Easy to work with and it held up well. Still solid after 7 years when I sold the boat. 

[rolmops]

4 hours ago, Torts said:

That would be a lot easier. Anyone have any experience with these products? Are they as reliable as marine plywood? 

 

It is just as reliable as marine plywood. I did an Islander transom with marine ply and another with seacast. The seacast took half the time and is probably stronger than the ply.

The Islanders have roughly an 8 foot wide and 4 foot deep transom. On the picture it shows that you have an outboard so you probably have a smaller transom like 8 foot wide but only 2 foot deep  so you can get away with 1 marine plywood board, which will save you easily $200.

There are a lot of youtubes  showing how it is done. It seems to be expensive when you see the price, but 2 boards of 3/4 inch marine ply, the proper epoxy to glue them together and then seal them end up to be about the same price and they will rot again sooner or later.

Just do not try to glue or pour in cold weather it does not work well.

By the way, It is a good idea to put safety above catching a few browns and maybe ending up on the bottom of the lake

Edited February 29 by rolmops

[Torts]

Looks like I won’t be able to use a liquid product the wood of the transom is just secured to some mounting brackets as shown in the pic the rest is open to the bilge so nothing closed to contain the product. Sorry about the pic the boat is very dirty right now lol 

[rolmops]

The wood being open means that it will be very easy to replace. I just took it for granted that it was all closed in. But now it looks like you just may want to take the splash box out, cut the foam away, replace the wood and put new fresh foam in. Just make sure to put in closed cell foam, regular styrofoam will soak up water like a sponge and make things very heavy

Edited February 29 by rolmops

[Torts]

Ok rollmops thanks very much for the info hopefully I can figure out how this splash box comes out. It would make cutting all this foam away much easier. 

[Shakemsam]

it's labor intensive but once to start drilling out the rivets to remove the splash well, you will see it's not that bad. Plus you can get to replace all those thru transom bolts and seal everything with 5200.. Replacing the foam is optional. lots of info out there about the pros and cons.

[Torts]

I’m thinking of sealing up the transom with either bondo fibreglass resin or total boat penetrating epoxy. Any thoughts on these. Also any suggestions for a closer cell foam. Most I’m seeing are in a liquid I was hoping for one in a spray can. 

[Shakemsam]

28 minutes ago, Torts said:

I’m thinking of sealing up the transom with either bondo fibreglass resin or total boat penetrating epoxy. Any thoughts on these. Also any suggestions for a closer cell foam. Most I’m seeing are in a liquid I was hoping for one in a spray can. 

Nothing available in a spray for the DIY that I'm aware of. For the sealing, I assume you're talking about the plywood in the transom. You will most likely have to sandwich 2 pieces or maybe 3 for the correct thickness. Total Boat epoxy is fine but not necessarily the penetrating type. Lots of info on youtube.

[rolmops]

I know nothing about bondo fibre glass.

The closed cell foam is a different story. there is an easy alternative to the liquid stuff. It is the big BLUE foam boards you can get at Lowes. I capitalized blue, because blue is a closed cell material. Buy a board and cut it in the desired pieces,shove it in and make sure it does not move around. This can be done cheap and easy.