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External Transom Repair?

atc250r

atc250r

Well-known member
In the Fall I ended up getting back a boat that has been in my family for 30 years. I had fixed it up for my dad to do some fishing in the bay when I bought my Checkmate. He got himself a more suitable fishing boat and graciously offered the old Glassmaster to me. I figured it'd be nice to have a boat I can leave in the water all season and save some wear and tear on my Mate.

Several years ago it developed a "crack" just below the gimbal housing very near the keel. The boat doesn't see any big water or high speeds. I goes from the marina to the cove 4 miles away and back sometimes pulling the kids on a tube at 15mph. I am looking to repair this without pulling the entire back of the boat apart. My plan is to cut the section of gel/glass that has separated, remove whatever wood I can, epoxy a replacement section of wood on place, then epoxy the cut off skin back, and maybe throw a quick coat of gel on with a brush. Someone recommend using a penetrating epoxy like this:

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/mobileportal/show_product.do?pid=1269

It doesn't have to look pretty or last forever, I just want to stop a bad situation from getting worse.

Thanks.

John
 
Did any water get to the wood behind the gelcoat or is it just a stress crack? You might be able to grind that section down then build it up with CSM, sand it smooth add some marine filler then gelcoat.
 
It definitely got wet Rob. The way the gel and everything is pushed out a little I wonder if it wasn't wet then got pushed out when the wood swelled from absorbing water or maybe it pushed out when the wet wood froze. I'm half tempted to 5200 the shizz out of it and call it a day or maybe cut off the pushed out section and MarineTex it.

John
 
I'd only use that cpes as a primer for whatever epoxy you're gonna use. It does penetrate very well but is thin and won't build up to anything strong. I use it on wood window sills at work, I'll grind as much rot out as I can get, then brush in some acetone( as it evaporates it dries the wood) then lay in the cpes. When you put it on it soaks in immediately, you have to keep brushing it on till the surface stays wet looking or it won't take anymore. I like the west system over the top, much stronger and better setup for filling/glassing
 
OK. So cut the delaminated skin off, cut out whatever is rotted, brush on acetone, brush on CPES until it won't absorb anymore, wait the required time for the CPES to cure. At that point do I cut pieces of marine ply to patch in and epoxy them together? After that lay epoxy in the hole as a bed, lay the epoxied patch i made into the hole, and then epoxy over the outside and lay the skin I cut off earlier on top? Of course I'd clean the back of the skin off with some rough sandpaper to give it a fresh bite.

Thanks.

John
 
You had me scared that the beautiful Mate of yours needed some reconditioning just as the weather is turning nice. Good luck with your project.
 
Sounds like you have a plan, west system has an additive called adhesive filler it works awesome for bonding, just don't plan on sanding unless it's with a grinder
It's too bad you're not closer I have a bunch of the additives for west sitting on the shelf
 
Thanks for the kind words Chris. I'm sure within the next few years I'll need to do a transom in my Mate but for now she's OK.

Jazzy, thank you for your input. If the plan I described sounds good to you then I'll go that route. It doesn't have to be pretty when it's done, it just has to keep the water out.
 
atc250r said:
Thanks for the kind words Chris. I'm sure within the next few years I'll need to do a transom in my Mate but for now she's OK.

Jazzy, thank you for your input. If the plan I described sounds good to you then I'll go that route. It doesn't have to be pretty when it's done, it just has to keep the water out.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the only downside to what you're doing is that you'll probably spend more on epoxy than you would on all new plywood, but I can understand why you're doing what you're doing. I'd just try to get the outer layer of glass cut back to somewhere where it's sound. Try the rubber mallet trick it makes a different sound when it's firm
 
atc250r said:
OK. So cut the delaminated skin off, cut out whatever is rotted, brush on acetone, brush on CPES until it won't absorb anymore, wait the required time for the CPES to cure. At that point do I cut pieces of marine ply to patch in and epoxy them together? After that lay epoxy in the hole as a bed, lay the epoxied patch i made into the hole, and then epoxy over the outside and lay the skin I cut off earlier on top? Of course I'd clean the back of the skin off with some rough sandpaper to give it a fresh bite.

Thanks.

John
Click to expand...

Are you going to glass around the cut out section (skin) once it's epoxied in place or is there any need to? Just wondering, I haven't used the CPES so trying to understand the process.
 
My thought was to just epoxy the cut skin back on top. I'm a total newb when it comes to these repairs.
 
I guess as long as it's sealed that should be fine. I'd cut strips of csm to cover the cracks then sand the repaired area smooth maybe add some marine filler if needed and roll some gel coat on it. You got a picture of the area?
 
I'll try to get some tomorrow if this rain stops. I think it'd be a good idea to go over the seam with strips of glass even if it isn't perfectly smooth when it's done.
 
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