Transom replacement
 

I have an 82 Grady Tarpon, I know it's not a V20,wish it was, in need of a transom replacement. I'm either going to go with a pourable transom, such as seacast, or marine plywood. I plan on cutting the cap about 3' from the transom. It'll be about dead center between the 2 gunwale rod holders and will require the least amount of fairing. I plan on using gelcoat to finish my repairs rather than paint so I'm limited to vinyl ester or poly resin. I don't really have any pics yet but I will in the future. Progress will most likely be quite slow since I have my Wellcraft to fish and if I ever get a free window to fish I'll use it since my daughter was born they seem to be few and far between.

Where I'm at right now.
http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/...ps88a50fe3.jpg
http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/...psf9d55c84.jpg

That's not a v shame on you.

transom ideas
 

Are you cutting the cap all the way across the deck?

I'll be doing my V20 transom this off-season. Here is my idea for access to the inner skin of the transom.

Make use of the 2 door openings and cut the cap as shown in the picks. The spashwell should come out in one piece.
The bonus is that I'll have access to the inside when glassing it back in. Access thru the 2 doors and the battery door so I can glass from the inside, just leaving a thin line to fill on the outside.

I can't tell if that Grady has the same doors but its a thought.


Anybody see any flaw in my idea???

My Grady is different. The splashwell is part of the cap but the floor is separate. My plan is to cut the cap at it's narrowest point then either cut the floor and do it with wood or hollow out the cavity and pour it.

skunk, i might have to do something similar, but i was thinking about lifting the fuel tanlk cover and cutting from there to the sides, through the rodbox cutouts. this would give access to the last couple of feet of the stringers also.

This is what the stern of my boat looks like. Nothing like a v20.
http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/...psfa665a8a.jpg
I plan on cutting the cap at one of the tape marks, I haven't decided which spot yet. The mark closer to the stern the cap is wider the other mark the cap is narrower.
http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5b224874.jpg

when I replaced my transom I cut out my splashwell and worked from the inside.
http://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/..._1223315_n.jpg

http://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/..._7820025_n.jpg

Striper, looks like your deck is not part of the cap so you are lucky.
I'm going to try to keep the cuts accessible from the backside so I don't have to feather the glass repair. Looks like you'll be able to do the same.
Just a thought but if you make your cuts in the stern near those cushions, straight back, you can hide the repair with cushions and teak/starboard across the top.

Captpete, thanks for the picture. I though about staying just in the spashwell but I don't think I'll be able to reach the far ends of the transom on my '84. Your spashwell is much wider and you don't have the doors.

My floor is definitely separate from the cap. I may have to cut a little of the floor away to get to the skin but that isn't too big of a deal. I'm hoping to start cutting within the next few weeks.

You can always cut out the exterior skin of the transom about 6 inches or so from the sides and keel. Then once all the bad core is out you can re glass the skin back on with vinyl ester resin and fair it out. It's a very common way to redo transoms especially if you are pouring one in. By leaving the 6" or so of the old skin on, you will have more than enough to glass back on to. If you are still concerned you can go past the transom and onto the sides around that edges. It's just more faring work. That's what I would have done with my V, if the stringers weren't gone.

I would cut the cap directly across those rear rod holders. That way you won't have to worry about replicating any of the non-skid. You may have to replace core in the area too and it will already be open at that point.

I've decided that I'm going to use marine plywood and poly resin. I'm going to cut the cap at the tape line nearest to the transom. I'm going to glass the cap to the transom at the splashwell, eliminating the aluminum trim. As of right now I plan on keeping it a 20" transom and using the jack plate that I bought. Raising the transom would require quite a bit of glass work to the splashwell. Who knows though, my plans may change. As far as fairing and finish work, there's no worry there, I'm an autobody painter by trade. My biggest concern is tinting the gelcoat to match perfect, it's a bit tougher than tinting paint for some reason.

personally I would zip out a few screws and raise the cap in one piece.... much less glass work and no worries about trying to match old gelcoat

Way too much work to lift the cap than to lift a 2 foot section. I have 2 reasons: the Grady has a 3 piece hull and I plan on selling this boat.

Still haven't started yet. Hopefully I'll drag the boat over to my job in the next few weeks and start cutting and cleaning out the old transom so ill be ready to go in the spring.

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

I finally got my wellcraft down to the marina and used it a few times so now it's time to move back onto this boat. I should be cutting the cap off the rear of the boat some time this week. I'll post some pics when I begin.

Finally started cutting into it today. I got the cap off and I'm getting ready to cut the floor.

Floor is out. Stringers look good but transom is mush, comes out nice and easy so far. Need to make a little dust tomorrow to get the edges out.

Got almost all the wood out.

are you leaving a few inches of the inside skin at the bottom? thats what I did. The electric chain saw was by far the best way to dig out, Trust Me.

I'm removing it all, I'm replacing it with new wood instead of pouring it. The wood in my transom was so bad at the bottom that it looks like black mulch. Amazingly the stringers are dry as a bone. Im going to use marine plywood and poly resin, it's not a wellcraft so it doesn't deserve any high end materials.

Removed all the foam to the first bulkhead. The bulkhead has some rot in between the center stringers. The right side was a little wet as well, hoping it'll dry now that tge foam is gone.

Looks like I'll be scrapping this project, unfortunately. Some recent news will have me with little free time to work on this boat so I'm just going to strip and scrap the hull. I'll be listing my motor again after I build a better stand that will allow me to run it.

Sorry to hear Striper. At least it says Grady White on the side so someone will pick it up from you.

Probably just going to strip it and take it to the dump. I put a lot of time into the boat already but it's time to cut my losses. Maybe down the line I'll get a v20 like I really wanted.

Boats stripped waiting to go to the dump. Second kid on the way can't be tied up with two boats.

Put that thing on craigslist for FREE, someone will come get it and you won't have to pay to take it to the dump. I'm up to having had 35+ project boats in all various condition and only had to take one to the dump it was so bad.

PS: anyone want a Slickcraft 235?

Thanks for the advise. Someone picked it up yesterday. A great sight.

Some cliche about the two best days.....

Yep... it's a kinda sad thing, that second one, but it's better than the dump. (and a lot cheaper).

It was a bit depressing seeing it go. I was close to completing it but with the second child on the way I wasn't going to have the time to finish it. The new owner plans on fixing it, hopefully he does.