new to forum - my V-20 project

[nepatsfanatic]

Wow, I think that is a pretty quick method to get in there with the chainsaw, plus it saves a ton of time trying to patch it all together again. I agree that cutting of the outer skin really is not cool, it must compromise the hull integrity pretty badly and is probably not the way to go. Do you have any pics of the repair as you were doing it? Did you remove all wood coast to coast or leave good areas alone?. I'd be real grateful for supplier info and materials type used, quantity, cost, etc,. It looks to me that I would have to cut a portion of the rear cap or remove the entire top of the boat and also the liner that forms the floor, etc., to get access to the inner transom skin. Your method is sounding better and better!.

[macojoe]

What I know about the pourable stuff is that you need to get all would out of there, cause it will not stick to the pourable stuff.

The issue with cutting the out side of a V20 it that is has a curved transom and you don't want to lose the curve by cutting out the skin and having to figure out how to get it back toghter the right.

All you have to do is cut the back of the cap to gain access to the transom.

[nepatsfanatic]

good to know, I did see the curve and actually thought it may be from fatigue! I'm liking the pourable more and more. I am very handy and mechanical, but not a glass guy, limited experience only. Forgot to mention... your rig is beautiful, no doubt awesome for the big seas.

[nepatsfanatic]

Well.... I cut of the transom cap tonight and was crushed to find rotten plywood mush is all I have in there. I also found that some previous hackery had been performed with bondo, resin ,mat, etc. I could literally scoop out most of the wood with a spoon!. I drilled a few small test holes on inner skin and after drill penetrated the fiberglass....nothing!. I'm amazed how rigid this transom feels considering its hollow! Oh well got that of my chest, I'm gonna have at it tomorrow with the spoon followed by the chainsaw. Arjay looks real good for this project, will be searching for nearest supplier to MA, any suggestions?

[Alex]

I just replaced the rotted transom in my wellcraft sun hatch.Looks just like your boat but its not a v20-its 19 feet 6 inches.I still dont know what the difference in boats are besides length.My transom looks identical.I did everything with only removing the top piece where the outboard hangs.I also cut the sides where the bump molding begins.Takes a long time-use a compressor to blow the loose wood out.The long steel rod shaped like an L thats used on a driveway gate comes in very handy to dig the wood out.I heated up the end cherry red with torches then formed a chisel end .Worked great.good luck.

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by Alex

The long steel rod shaped like an L thats used on a driveway gate comes in very handy to dig the wood out.I heated up the end cherry red with torches then formed a chisel end .Worked great.good luck.

That's great tip Alex...thanks for the info.

[nepatsfanatic]

Nice one Alex!, very grateful for the tip, I will definitely make up one of your "super chisels", I have some 1" square bar that would probably be good for this. I was amazed how bad the rot was in mine, it went right up the whole transom into the areas where tow hooks are. Are you planning to do pourable?, I saw a guy somewhere who did a great job using ply strips cut to the thickness of the transom and stacked them laid flat one piece at a time using epoxy. From what I've seen its unusual, but sounds feasible, the guy is a structural engineer and figured this would be strong, and I guess retains properties of original ply transom without having to tear whole boat apart. Must have been cheaper for the materials than straight pourable too. I am thinkingg Arjay pourable for mine, seems to be popular and successful, I haven't heard any horror stories either!. Do you have pictures?, I'd love to see em. Thanks again, Steve.

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by nepatsfanatic

I saw a guy somewhere who did a great job using ply strips cut to the thickness of the transom and stacked them laid flat one piece at a time using epoxy. From what I've seen its unusual, but sounds feasible, the guy is a structural engineer and figured this would be strong, and I guess retains properties of original ply transom without having to tear whole boat apart.

Laminate structures are stronger than solids. That's why plywood is so strong. By crossing the grains of the different layers you achieve tremendous strength. An 8 layer laminate with the grains all going in the same direction will be almost 50% stronger than a solid block of wood of the same dimension, but cross the grains in that same laminate and you get a board that is over 15 times stronger than a solid.