hull and deck separation by transom on a 89 tidecraft

[Jon P]

I just got this boat its a 89 tidecraft with a johnson 150gt on it and took it out to the river yesterday i took it around the lake once and started to notice the motor moving alot i pulled it out of the water and it the deck and hull have separated at the transom brought it home and took the motor off whats the best way to fix this problem i will post some pics asap

[Jon P]

the transom is good should i just glass it all back together i need some insight please im tryin to post some pics

[rgsauger]

Are you certain that the transom is not soft inside? Rotten? Something caaused it to split...

[Jon P]

heres some pics of it where its separating if this can help and the transom doesnt seem to be rotten i mean it is a 89 so its not brand new. it looks like all the rivets come out in the back the transom may be a little weak but i dont think its rotten

[1BadAction]

That transom is rotten, guaranteed.

[2.5_stoker]

i hate to say it but listen to 1Bad...hes usually right on the money

[afr]

That transom is rotten, guaranteed.

i with jim
bring it on down i got nothing to do right now i can pop a new one in there pretty quick

[Jon P]

Can anybody tell me why the deck overlaps the back and has alomst a 3/4 inch gap on both sides of it until it gets to the sides and the rivets wasnt even touching anything in the back because of the gap i just have never saw a boat put together like that the sides are flush. the 3rd pic i posted is of the partof the boat im talking about. i just dont understand why it was not put together like the sides even if it does fit over it it should not have a gap like that right? thanks for all the insight guys

[Jon P]

Can anybody tell me why the deck overlaps the back and has alomst a 3/4 inch gap on both sides of it until it gets to the sides and the rivets wasnt even touching anything in the back because of the gap i just have never saw a boat put together like that the sides are flush. the 3rd pic i posted is of the partof the boat im talking about. i just dont understand why it was not put together like the sides even if it does fit over it it should not have a gap like that right? thanks for all the insight guys

[Jon P]

the 2nd pic is of the gap 2

[1BadAction]

The hull/deck fit is always a little sloppy in that area. Some boats worse than others. If that's the tidecraft I'm thinking it is, the bottom was a splashed Hydrostream viper, which probably contributes to the poor fit back there. Can you post a picture of the whole boat?

[Jon P]

[1BadAction]

Yep, that's the one. I believe they are either a viper or a ventura that has been streched with a bass boat deck. Should run pretty good with that GT150.

[pboddie77]

i bet our transom is gone also.... that much gap and movement like you said... have you took a hammer to it and see how it sounds? if it sounds like a thud its bad if it sounds crisp its good but go through the whole thing thats what i failed to do i got a square foot radius of a rotten transom making 1 crack on the top of my transom making me think it was good but nooo.. im in the process of replacing stringers transom and floor

[Jon P]

it does it got a little scary it wil outrun my bro in laws glasstream it does have a jackplate and a raker prop but i can see the wood it loks fine even tried to stick my knife in it the transom was the only thing holding the motor on the boat and i didnt cut it no slack the i looked at this boat 8yrs ago it was under a barn then with a inch of dust on it and my bro in laws dad got it and hey kept it in his garage it doesnt have many hrs on it the boat motor or anything i thought if the transom was bad that motor would have came off thats alot of power on just the transom with out it being tied in to the deck