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Transom Repair?


Garfield28

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Hi all,

Just a couple of questions regarding my transom. 

I have a 5.2 savage escort, think its a 91 model, I was looking at installing a new sounder this afternoon and I took of a piece of plastic chopping board I was using as a transom saver, I put that on nearly 4 years ago now, I sealed all the screw holes with sikaflex, I also sikaflexed the whole back of the board and sealed the edges once I wasfinished. Today as I undid the screws I noticed a bit of water coming frombehind the board as I was loosening the screws off. Once the board wasremoved the holes appeared to be a little wet, so I got my drill and drilled into them a bit and I wasn't brinig out any board whatsoever, but to be honest I cannot remember if I did now the very first time either though, but what was coming out was like the fiberglass was like a wet paste. I only drilled within the hole itself, I never tried to re-drill thehole bigger, just put the drill bit in approx the same size as the whole. 

I think I have had some water seep in, and I'm not real sure how bad the damage would be, and not sure on exactly how to tell either. 

My question is from the pics, the area circled, because of the shape, would it be wood within that area or only fiberglass based on the shape? The actual part that the outboard is bolted to feels sturdy enough from what I can tell, I have also tapped around it and from what I can tell it sound the same and not hollow. 

If however I have a problem with this area, how hard is it to repair a transom based on the shape of it? Of all the pics I could find of re-paired transoms I have not seen one like this shape, so I'm scared that it cannot be done and the transom shape would have to change?

Any advice and pointers much, much appreciated. 



Thanks 

Geoff

IMG_20181016_135126058_HDR.jpg

IMG_20181016_135114819_HDR.jpg

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21 minutes ago, Garfield28 said:

Hey mate, its still out the back somewhere, I could track it down and take a pic... just curious, why would you like to see that? 

Thanks 

Geoff

just to see if you could spot were the water was coming in as it sounded like you sealed it well could have come from somewhere else ?

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Nah mate, I think there was some small cracks in the sealant around the edges of it, even though I sealed it real good, but I have been told that breadboard also expands and retracts and is no good for that type of use because of that, yet I read on google heaps of times its the way to go.... go figure hey. 

 

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13 hours ago, Garfield28 said:

Nah mate, I think there was some small cracks in the sealant around the edges of it, even though I sealed it real good, but I have been told that breadboard also expands and retracts and is no good for that type of use because of that, yet I read on google heaps of times its the way to go.... go figure hey. 

 

I didn't know that thanks

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I'm not an expert but my money would be on it being wood.

Polyurethane (sika) wont stick to breadboard (HDPE I think) so has probably been leaking and trapping moisture at the same time.

The commercial transom savers I've seen have dovetail penetrations in them and use epoxy iirc to bond to the hull so its a chemical bond to the hull but actually a mechanical bond to the transom saver and they don't use any screws......kinda hard to explain but simple when you see it.

I'd tow it down to Arnolds if it was my boat, the guys are pretty decent to have a chat too and will give you an expert opinion that you can make some decisions on.

I think anything fibreglass can be fixed but can be expensive and being  27yrs old I wouldn't be stunned if there's a few hidden surprises.

 

 

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I was watching an episode of “River to Reef” recently. The hosts are each doing a project boat for the series. One is a Haines V19 about the same age as your boat. A comment was made that a fibreglass hull starts to die the minute the first screw goes into it.  It was holding a fair bit of water and looks like major repairs are required.  Another comment was that salt water wouldn’t rot the timber but fresh water does?? Sounds strange but the guy who said it is a boat builder so go figure.

I hope your problems are small and not too expensive! Keep us posted.

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