68' Rayson Craft Outboard- NEED HELP

[polariskid23]

Just kidding, totally needs to be replaced. I am in Michigan and my garage is not constantly heated, so when I was doing the sound/pound test and even the drilling test, I was not getting the right results. I drilled a small hole at the bottom last night and left the heat on. Today, there was water dripping slowly and I did the drill test again to get a bunch of mush. So gonna replace it which isn't a bad thing. My motor is not gonna run anytime soon anyways. I know where to cut the glass, but what should I use to cut it? I have a grinder or a jigsaw for tools. And if cut out the transom while not having supporting stringers will it warp the fiberglass a lot or should I not worry about that. It is pretty much a flat bottom and its on a roller trailer.

[rgsauger]

Sucks about your transom but no real surprise there. Would it be possible to lift the rear of your boat and maybe place plywood or something under your hull between it and the rollers to more evenly support it? Or, many people even pull it off of the trailer and build a sub-frame/cradle for it to rest in while working on it.

Electric chainsaw, sawzall, small circ saw, hammer and chisel, air hammer and chisel bit, handheld planer...there are a bunch of options for cutting out the wood. Once you are close inside, then you use a sander and 36 grit or so discs to take it the rest of the way down...

[polariskid23]

I could lift the boat up to put plywood under. I would really like to build the cradle. I have seen those on other threads and it would really eliminate any problems. But its been -5 degrees everyday since I bought the boat. I got lucky is was 30 degrees out the day I tugged it home. I am not going to cut the whole cap off, I was just going to do around the transom.

[rgsauger]

If just the transom, then it prob doesnt matter about trailer vs cradle as the upper will hold it in shape. Still, make some marks on top of boat before you cut, measure, and write dimensions down before cutting. TAKE TONS OF PICS!!!!!

[polariskid23]

I am going to cut the back end and get the transom cleaned up but it looks like I will have to stop there for a while until it warms up. I will get the wood cut to fit, but I can't do any epoxying or glassing. I still have to get up there and see how the bulk head looks and if I should pull that out. Anyone think I will be able to pull the bulkhead out without cutting the top off?

[Raysoncrafter]

After looking at countless threads over the last few months about structural repair and transom replacement, if it were me, I'd probably cut the cap off along the original bonding line forward about a foot, then cut it across the gunwale and lift that section off. I think that would give proper access to the top of the transom so that it could be cut out from the inside,then the inside of the exterior 'glass/gelcoat skin could be cleaned and prepped completely top to bottom and fully side to side. Then using the original cut across the gunwale as reference, you can trim and reinstall the cap over the new transom structure.

Does it sound like I have the process in order? Whaddya think? Did I learn anything from all that web browsing?

[polariskid23]

I was going to cut along the transom where the cracks have already formed and then all the way to the edge where, like raysoncrafter said, along where the cap and bottom are mated together. I just hope I can clean out the bottom of the transom ok. The cap that is above the transom goes down half to the bottom. Oh by the way, where are your pictures of your rayson craft?

[Raysoncrafter]

Here you go-
And yes, I put another dolly in front of the first one- after the photos. I got this thing off the trailer and onto the dollies BY MYSELF this afternoon- but I needed help pushing it over to the shop!

In the transom shots you can see the cracks running along the top of the transom along the cap joint line. The transom top was not left open, but was fully glassed over before the cap went on, so it's not likely any water intruded into the transom in that direction. Also in the interior transom shot, you can see over in the left top corner the spot where the fuel tank was cut out from the hull.

[Raysoncrafter]

Here's a couple more-
In the second and third, you'll see the stringers going the full length of the hull, and how the front bulkhead is placed over them and tied in. The old blue paint is actually gelcoat Paul sprayed into the hull after it was done just to cover it up- he later carpeted it. It took a big ol' pressure washer to take the glue off, and it did! No scraping and lacquer thinner for me...

[rgsauger]

Raysoncrafter... I Like your boat!

[polariskid23]

[polariskid23]

I got the fiberglass off, but it came off in three chunks. Each corner an then the middle section. The corners also had studs from the fiberglass down into the transom. When I got all the fiberglass off, you could see the sparkle from all the frozen water inside the transom. Its gonna be a pain to get the wood out. I have to get the speedometer cable out of the wood too. So far so good though. I have a lot of glassing to do when I put this thing back together. I also have to determine if I want a splash well or not and if I want to raise the transom of a little or not.

[OFFSHORE GINGER]

I can't do any epoxying or glassing. I still have to get up there and see how the bulk head looks and if I should pull that out. Anyone think I will be able to pull the bulkhead out without cutting the top off?

Before cutting out the bulkhead could you post a few pics and or does the wood look somewhat Blackish like the transom , and just curious considering you have mentioned using Epoxy have you given any thought on what type of fabric you should use , and might i recommend using a matless cloth like #1700 Bi-Ax . I have to say that my mother in law lives a stones throw from Midland ( Freeland ) and a town that i lived in before moving to the West side of the state considering i was raised in the Saginaw area .

[Raysoncrafter]

Wow. You'll be glad you did all this once you're done. I'm looking at this on an iPhone but shouldn't you be able to scrape most of the wood off the skin, then use something like a 36grit disc to scrub the rest off? Should make quicker work of it hopefully. Are you going to consider using epoxy for the repairs, too? I've read so much on this type of problem that, other than my cramped schedule, I don't think I'd shy away from doing this myself ... But only if I HAD to!

[Raysoncrafter]

(poor imitation of Carl/"Swingblade"). Yew need to lissen to that there Ginger feller there- he's rite smart.