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Enforcer Floor resto

Good job so far. Looking at those transom photos makes me remember the sick feeling in my stomach when it sunk in that I was going to be doing transom surgery.

That's gonna' be a gret boat when you're done.
 
As I continue removing the rotted wood from the transom it's apparent that the factory didn't intend for the wood to be removed. The transom has more screws, nails and dowels than a house does. Second the transom is in three pieces, top, middle and bottom sections and it's a PITA to remove.

Now on to my dilemma, the top that's angled in is all wood, if there's any glass and gelcoat it's small amount, second to remove the middle section looks like i need to take the angled section off. The problem is I don't anything about gelcoat, so I'm kind of leary of removing the top.

I've tried cutting into the middle section, a wood chisel, a pry bar, wood wedges and it's a royal PITA to remove. I've got most of the bottom wood removed to the outer skin, that's a tedious job because it's coming out in small pieces. Here's some pictures:

100_1796.jpg

100_1797.jpg

100_1798.jpg

100_1800.jpg

100_1801.jpg

most of the transom on top
100_1805.jpg

100_1804.jpg
 
cmpulse170 said:
As I continue removing the rotted wood from the transom it's apparent that the factory didn't intend for the wood to be removed. The transom has more screws, nails and dowels than a house does. Second the transom is in three pieces, top, middle and bottom sections and it's a PITA to remove.

Now on to my dilemma, the top that's angled in is all wood, if there's any glass and gelcoat it's small amount, second to remove the middle section looks like i need to take the angled section off. The problem is I don't anything about gelcoat, so I'm kind of leary of removing the top.

I've tried cutting into the middle section, a wood chisel, a pry bar, wood wedges and it's a royal PITA to remove. I've got most of the bottom wood removed to the outer skin, that's a tedious job because it's coming out in small pieces.
Click to expand...


I have a few questions:

1. Are the three sections of the transom wood laminated together to make one piece?
2. Do you think getting the bottom section completely out first will help you get the middle section out?
3. Are all three sections wet and rotton?
4. You indicated that the top section does not have any fiberglass/gelcoat on it?, Did you mean on the inside? I expect that the outside of the top section has multiple layers of fiberglass mat and the gelcoat that you will leave in place but remove the wood from it.

I'm asking because you may have a option. It is less desireable from a proper restoration point of view, but may become a viable choice if you get totally stuck and don't want to pay a pro to finish what you started.

First do all you can to remove the bottom wood. It has to be the worst. Work your way up to the top. If on the way up you find that the wood is dry and solid or at least very solid and only a little wet. You may want to stop there, dry it out and leave it in place. The joint between old and new will need to be supported and you may also want to add material to the inside of the upper section(s) that you don't remove.

Rob
 
karzrus said:
I have a few questions:

1. Are the three sections of the transom wood laminated together to make one piece?
No. At first I thought so. Originally the hull is a O/B version made to look like a I/O. So the bottom under the splashwell (removed) is one piece, the middle section was added to cover the opening of the splashwell and the top section was added to make it look like the I/O version. Take a look at Old Hickory's resto we both have the same hull. He's building his transom to look like mine does now.

2. Do you think getting the bottom section completely out first will help you get the middle section out?
That's what I'm trying right now, but still coming out in small sections. I bought a 3" wood chisel that's made for removing hardwood flooring. That seems to be helping.

3. Are all three sections wet and rotton?
Yes soaking wet, to the point when I try removing the wood I'm getting wet.

4. You indicated that the top section does not have any fiberglass/gelcoat on it?, Did you mean on the inside? I expect that the outside of the top section has multiple layers of fiberglass mat and the gelcoat that you will leave in place but remove the wood from it.

I'll try to get a close up picture of this area, looking from inside it seems very little mat is holding it in place.

I'm asking because you may have a option. It is less desireable from a proper restoration point of view, but may become a viable choice if you get totally stuck and don't want to pay a pro to finish what you started.

First do all you can to remove the bottom wood. It has to be the worst. Work your way up to the top. If on the way up you find that the wood is dry and solid or at least very solid and only a little wet. You may want to stop there, dry it out and leave it in place. The joint between old and new will need to be supported and you may also want to add material to the inside of the upper section(s) that you don't remove.

I've got most of it out, but it's delaminating so intead of coming out in one piece it's in layers. Hope that makes sense.

Rob
Click to expand...


I'm thinking the same thing as you mention, I need to let the wood dry out some more so that it might be easier to remove. I'll get some pictures of how it's coming out. Thanks for the comments/suggestions.
 
I know it's delecate work as you don't want to damage the outer glass but I like the speed and mental heath relief that power tools offer.
You may find that power saw cutting the wood in horizontal strips 2' wide or so may help you take it out it strips. A circular saw set with the blade shallow enough to ensure you don't go throught the bottom layer(ply) or two of the plywood (you don't want to hit the fiberglass) may be your best friend right now..
Was your transom 1.5'' thick (3 layers of 1/2'' plywood?) in the middle at the motor bracket and 1" thick everywhere else?
It's likely the thin glass on the top section was just to keep the water out not for structure. They do the samething on the floation chambers, two or three layers of matting no more.
 
karzrus said:
I know it's delecate work as you don't want to damage the outer glass but I like the speed and mental heath relief that power tools offer.
You may find that power saw cutting the wood in horizontal strips 2' wide or so may help you take it out it strips. A circular saw set with the blade shallow enough to ensure you don't go throught the bottom layer(ply) or two of the plywood (you don't want to hit the fiberglass) may be your best friend right now..
Was your transom 1.5'' thick (3 layers of 1/2'' plywood?) in the middle at the motor bracket and 1" thick everywhere else?
It's likely the thin glass on the top section was just to keep the water out not for structure. They do the samething on the floation chambers, two or three layers of matting no more.
Click to expand...

I'm to close to the skin for power saw now. The transom was 2" thick, special order from the factory.
 
Today I had little time to work on the transom and finally made some progress. I got most of the wood off except the top and down in the lower left facing the transom. Once I got most of the wood removed, 24 grit sandpaper on the grinder became my best friend. That combo quickly took off what was left of the wood. Now I've got to grind the rest of the body filler off the fiberglass and finish removing the wood on the top. Here's some pictures:

100_1814.jpg

The wood left on transom
100_1815.jpg

100_1818.jpg

100_1817.jpg
 
Wow, sorry your having to do all this. Thanks for all the good info and pics so far. When the time comes could you list all of the materials you are going to use because I am replacing the floor and stinger in my Predictor right now and I do not know what I am doing.
 
ToP_Enticer said:
It looks much happier all dry! Good work getting that all out, I can imagine how frustrating it must have been.
Click to expand...

LOL!!! Frustration is a good word for this site, I was saying other things removing the wood though. That transom kicked my butt, but finally got all the wood removed.
 
83PREDICTOR said:
Wow, sorry your having to do all this. Thanks for all the good info and pics so far. When the time comes could you list all of the materials you are going to use because I am replacing the floor and stinger in my Predictor right now and I do not know what I am doing.
Click to expand...


Check out my other resto "pulse170 floor resto" I've listed all the materials used for that one. The Enforcer will probably double that, but I'll have a list for this one as well. Good luck with yours.
 
cmpulse170 said:
LOL!!! Frustration is a good word for this site, I was saying other things removing the wood though. That transom kicked my butt, but finally got all the wood removed.
Click to expand...


Good to hear you were able to plow your way through, I on these type of projects I allways get a bit of a boost when the taking apart is done. Looks like that's about where you are now.:) Buying new stuff and installing is alot more fun.:bigthumb:
 
Getting all the wood off the transom was definitely the most frustrating part both times I did it. All the demolition leading up to that goes fairly quickly, then you're stuck with this one single task that takes hours and seems like it will never end. I became very good friends with a wood chisel while doing mine (carefully cutting squares into the wood with a circular saw did help speed this along in my case).

Once you're past this it gets better because you're building instead of tearing apart - that always seems to be a motivational turning point.
 
When you have her all sealed up and solid again what are you going to do for flooring? Are you going to go with carpet or a perelli type?
 
groundloop said:
Getting all the wood off the transom was definitely the most frustrating part both times I did it. All the demolition leading up to that goes fairly quickly, then you're stuck with this one single task that takes hours and seems like it will never end. I became very good friends with a wood chisel while doing mine (carefully cutting squares into the wood with a circular saw did help speed this along in my case).

Once you're past this it gets better because you're building instead of tearing apart - that always seems to be a motivational turning point.
Click to expand...

I agree. The last resto I didn't have to do a transom repair, but I did hit a couple of snags along the way. I'm guessing maybe two or three more days of grinding/prepping the transom and floor then I can start the rebuild.
 
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