Diary of a Preditor Restoration

[Chris E]

Yes, fill any low spots. And if your going to paint anyway, then definately secure the transom with screws from the outside, just run them through a peice of wood first then into the glass and into your transom.

1. Have several wood blocks ready with screws already in place, then you can just hold them up to the transom and hit them with the screw gun.

2. Make sure you predrill the fiberglass so that the screws go right into the transom. Your going to fill these holes anyway. The idea is your squeezing the fiberglass layer between the wood.

This method is way cheaper than investing in hundreds of dollars worth of c clamps in various sizes. That you may only use on this boat.

i'd better only do this once!!!!! although a starliner could be fun

 

[Mr. Inline 6]

Pics

Chris,

How about some pictures of your tramsom work?

Rick

 

[175checkmate]

I used coops method when I put mine in. Worked really well and clamped them together real tight.

 

[Walt Woolvett]

Predictor

Nice boat. How hard and how long did it take to find it. I've got a Vmate 1 and am looking for a Blue predictor and just might drive to the USA.
Walt Muskoka

 

[Chris E]

lucked out on finding it, it was in barrie, wish i got it a bit cheaper, but i've wanted a checkmate since i worked at pride of muskoka in 90. as you can see, it's in really rough shape, and i've been so busy i haven't had time to work on it. August should be a little less crazy so i'm hoping to get the transom done soon.

is your boat on the river? i've seen a v mate sitting up from kerr park.

it's a lot easier to find a boat in the us then here. and the prices are way better. there is a predictor on ebay that looks to be in decent shape.

 

[Chris E]

No babysitter today, so i had a couple of hours today and managed to get something done. as i mentioned earlier, i screwed up the first transom cut and made it a little short. so i decided to make that the outer transom section. a little filler and fiberglass and it's all good.

here are some new pics







i removed what the former owners idea of a stringer was and cleaned it all out. looks a lot better - got the new stringers measured out and am ready to cut - just a little late to fire the saw up outside - maybe thursday. going with the same set up illmattic did.



this the knee idea i'm thinking of using - off a grew challanger

 

[haftoo55]

HEY Chris E
Just make sure your transom is not to thick for your deck to go over. In between motor well and back of transom. I made that mistake on the first 1600. End up routering out 1/4" of transom to get deck to go over. Alan

 

[Boston Predictor]

I think you might be done before 175checkmate lol
just bustin balls

Looking great Chris.
How come the transom tapers off like that on the sides?
Geoff

 

[Boston Predictor]

How is the gelcoat on back of the transom?

 

[Chris E]

I think you might be done before 175checkmate lol
just bustin balls

Looking great Chris.
How come the transom tapers off like that on the sides?
Geoff

dunno, that's how it was, thought about going straight accross, but figured checkmate probably did this for a reason so i left it.

gel on the back and bottom are good, problem is the the right side, someone made a repair and really buggered it up. looking at regelling but we'll wait and see - depends on the budget.

 

[175checkmate]

With the transom thicker than the factory put in you will have to trim the splash well to fit. Had the same problem with mine.

 

[Chris E]

With the transom thicker than the factory put in you will have to trim the splash well to fit. Had the same problem with mine.

i know, that will be part of the modification, i was thinking of filling the splashwell in, however, i think it wll just throw water over the back of the boat and onto the back seat passengers - my kids.

 

[sawcat]

Stay after it your getting there

 

[Chris E]

Well, first productive day in a while, looking at the pics, it looks like it took all of an hour - these stringers took me 4 hours straight - and it's still not done, must of been in and out of the boat 40 times today!

 

[MateFever]

Lookin good Chris. You're making so much better progress than I am on mine. Of course with my boat being 2 hours away, makes for a long haul for a weekend of work. I outta just pull the damn thing down here and keep it in my buddy's barn. Keep it up man.

 

[Chris E]

well a productive sessions with the boat - used coops method of fastening the transom to the outer skin which appears to have worked very well - no hollow noises - and a ton of screw holes to fill later on. attacked the inner transom with some body filler to fill out the peice i cut too short (idiot!). today i finished the body filler, gave everything a quick grind and laid over two peices of fiberglass on the inside of the transom - how many layers should i do? i have done one with boat cloth that covered the transom, then one with csm and it was about 3" larger all around to fasten to the boat to intigrate the whole structure.

 

[175checkmate]

Looking good, I ran glass about 8" past the wood on the sides and bottom. Wanted to make sure it was not going anywhere. Its overbuilt for sure.

 

[merc245]

I guess we'll just have to take your word on that one. 175 LOL

 

[Chris E]

Looking good, I ran glass about 8" past the wood on the sides and bottom. Wanted to make sure it was not going anywhere. Its overbuilt for sure.

well you're right your boat hasn't gone anywhere - i'd like mine to hit the water sometime just kidding Gus - couldn't leave that alone (believe me i tried)

 

[175checkmate]

I know guys, I can take it.