Transom pictures
 

Ok I did it I pulled my motor today to start digging out the transom. I have read I believe every thread on it I could find and most of it seems pretty straight forward. I would like to put a bracket on the back and fill in the transom area and believe the bracket would mount just below where the notch is so it would be strong enough, then I could just fill in the rest.

Here are some pics I took today.

Screw driver went in a good 5 inches easily.
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/r...y/P2060013.jpg

http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/r...y/P2060015.jpg

http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/r...y/P2060017.jpg

http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/r...y/P2060019.jpg

http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/r...y/P2060018.jpg

Looks like you are on your way now.

Good luck with it.

If you want to add a bracket you will need to mount it at the height of the motor not just were you feel like it.

What size is your motor?? 20" or 25"? 25 is best as the shorter motor tends to get swamped more.
A 25" motor needs the bracket bolted at least 25" above the bottom of the boat, and add a inch of height for every foot back you go.

CC boats are harder to do then cuddys as they seem to be *** heavy later, Get the shortest bracket you can and still get the motor all the way up.

I would take this time to build the transom up, by filing in the cut out for the outboard, this will give you a nice full transom for the back splash. and the room you will need to add the bracket.

Also were you the guy asking about relocating the gas tank to the front?? (I get confused who is who) If so this is a good thing to do here on a CC to get some weight forward, so it counters the weight of the outboard that is now 2 feet behind the boat.

Good Luck.

I am not sure what motor yet as I will probably repower. I am definately going to fill in the back transom as you suggest. I was thinking about Nidacore for the bottom half of the transom and bringing it up to 25 for strength then I would imagine ply and glass above that or could I just pour the whole thing but that might be to expensive and heavy and I would have to glass it anyway. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

No, that was not me asking about the tank. I have a 78 cuddy and I actually have a 25 gal. reserve under the main floor panel between the front seats.

As long as the transom area were the motor is going to be is all solid I am sure you will be fine with ply and glass.

A cuddy is much better for this conversion as they are a bit bow heavy any way.

I would be VERY LEARY about redoing a transom using two different materials...Nidacore on bottom and wood on top sounds like a combo for problems down the road...I'd chose one material and go w/that, top to bottom...

I worked on it today and removed half the wood and noticed its not that much more to pour in. Of course I say that now I have not purchased the Nidacore. I really want the bracket but they are expensive and I don't know if I will get that much more room out of the inside with the way the splash well is laid off. However if I stumble across a nice bracket in the next couple weeks I will grab it up.

Lots of brackets for sale just need to look around. Try you local mariner, they hve take offs for sale from time to time. Thats were I got mine when I did it.

If I were going to do a OB bracket boat, I'd start with an I/O boat. I'd leace teh splash well like it is, repair the existing transom with Arjay, get the boat back on the water and fish it

I think you are right I need to get fishing and that is what I am going to do, I am going to bring it up to a 25 though, it looks as if that is what it was to start with and it was cut down.

My son wants to start a project soon so I will wait and do a bracket with him.

Ok, I have finally removed all of the wood I possible could. Now I just have to wait for some decent weather. If I learned anything from this it was to go and get the right tools. Chainsaw worked well but I was a little conservative with it. I went to the hardware store after I was done and saw some excellent drill bits and extensions that would have saved my arms. Now I need to order either the Nidabond or the Arjay not sure which one yet.

From my research I think Nidacore and Arjay are basically the same. Shop for price. You'll be happy with either. You got your resin to coat the insides?

Maury

Maury, I have read your transom post about a thousand times, that is what actually gave me the courage to try.

I have to fill in the notch in my transom and need to order some roving and mat along with the resin.

I was lucky - I didn't need to extend my transom. I'll say this - its nice to walk by my boat a year later and forget I did that work on it. Not having the transom painted or having a repair line anywhere is great. She still looks factory and that was my #1 reason for going the pourable route. I'm glad my post helped. Before you pour, make sure EVERY hole is covered - especially the inside drain plug hole in the bilge! :)

what is under the aluminum cap i hope theres fiberglass and you cut it off, tell me im right

Been there and done that, Good luck. Pleanty of fun ahead. Whatever you do, dont remove the outter skin. Go with a bracket, but listen to M.J., bracket needs to be a certain height.
Post plenty of pics, : )-

It was both. The upper part was glass and the notch had nothing. I have all the wood out now and will be molding up the sides of the notch to get ready for the Arjay. Hammer I won't be cutting the skin but I am still kicking around the bracket idea and leaving the splashwell. Haven't seen to many with that setup (probably a reason for that) but it might be nice to have something different.

I did see a stainless marine bracket on ebay last night I was considering, but man the money adds up fast doing a project.

The notch?

Sorry, where it was cut down from 25 to 20 inches. I call it a notch.

but before it was cut down it was all sealed with fiberglass?

Yes, it appears that is was. I take it that is a good thing right?

sure is a good thing because i have the same year wellcraft that you have-----1978 thats your year yes or no

you have a 235 evenrude----------you must fly whats your top end? i have a 150 mercury and my top end is about 32 mph

Yep it is a 78 and yes it does fly. I had it to 41 on the river but not on the bay and it had more left. I am a fair weather fisherman and don't speed around much. It does come in handy when chasing birds. I love to roll into boiling water with rock or blues in a frenzy. I really want a smaller motor but this one runs so good I hate spend the money right now on a new one. I know it is a gas hog but I only get out two to three times a month when the weather is nice. I love the 78 so far everything has been solid except for the transom and I probably could have gotten another year out of that. This is quite a project but thanks to all of you guys it is moving along nicely.

Steplift20 with the right prop that Merc should run around 40 mph. If its a V6 it would do real well with a 17" pitch.

im turning a 15x17 prop it runs reel well and with the weight i carry it s probably doing what it should do
78 steplift thats the one to own we should start our own club what do you think? how many 78 s are out there
I used to turn a 13 1/4 x 19 inch s.s. prop wasnt happy with that then was told to turn a 15x17 on this web site perfect size im happy with the r4esults

I know I like mine, the deck drains to the splashwell and I have foam. After reading on the site it seems a lot of things started changing on the 78 it's almost like it was a transition year in some respects. I am running a 17" pitch SS prop also.

I recall the 83' Mercury Boathouse Bulletin for the V20, the 150 did 46 mph with a very light load and a 19" prop. I ran a 17" SSTII prop with a Johnson 150 and also got about 46 mph trimmed out, but turning almost 6000 rpm as I recall. In real life with full tanks (72 gallons), several ice chests, 4 guys, a 25 hp kicker, and lots of tackle the propping was right and cruised well. Botom line is that top end isn't the "end all". Real life means cruising where the motor won't be in such a load that it burns pistons and cylinders. Folks that have bottom paint on their planing hull boats need to be happy with 2-3 less mph and sacrafice some MPG also. I see lots of pictures of trailable boats with bottom paint, it's a killer on performance and MPG IMO.

pics update transom
 

Ok I am just about finished and thought I would post an update. This is my first transom and fiberglass job so this isn't a closeup picture. Still needs a few coats of paint to finish. It's not perfect but it should get me fishin again. I am glad I took your guys advice and made it a 25.
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/r...y/P4040025.jpg

That looks great and for your first job WOW.

That is an great job! €

You are not putting the cap back on are you?? Skools and a few others just built it up with glass and painted when done, no more cap, means no more water in there!!

No cap for me, I like the way it looks without it.

Chomper, Man thats a Great job!! Got any pics of that pour stuff?
I really thought hard about doing it on my stringers and ribs.

Vic, no sorry I don't have any pics. I can tell you that is very easy to mix and pour but by all means make sure you have every little tiny hole blocked. I had two bust loose on me. It is all really in the preparation the pour itself is really easy (if the duct tape holds). The funny thing is one of the old motor mount holes broke loose and it went into the bilge I reached in to stop it and hit my float switch that I did not disconnect and the pump kicked on. I needed a new pump anyway LOL.

That sounds like something that I would do. LOL You'll be fishin soon.

looks good man....better than I would do:nice:

man that thing looks great, lets hang a yamaha 350 on it. :sly:

WOW, Great Job and fast to. I cut and removed my transom from the inside. New wood and glass, but it took me all summer to do it. Again..GREAT JOB.

Hey Skools 350 that would be down right scary!! lol. I actually went back and found some rough spots so I sanded again and repainted, much nicer now.

Hammer, I must have read your transom rebuild thread a hundred times awesome job on that. It helped me quite a bit.

man that looks friggin great, that suff you pour it do you just leave it there and it gets hard? did you have to get all the wood out or just what you can and the back looks great too did you paint it come work on my boat pppllleeaassee