need some guidance. stringers & transom

[brywheat]

Here are some pics..
Admin feel free to delete the orginial thread I started in the General Forum

Thanks again for all advice, Im sure I'll need more

[tartuffe]

Yes only score the first layer, once it is fully adhered to the outer skin it will be strong enough to torque that next layer in place. Even with all that torque it still will not fit absolutely snug against your first layer, that is where all that thickened resin you troweled on comes in handy.

I used that blue styrofoam board to cut my templates, it works really well.

There is a trade off regarding how snug you want the wood to come to your gunnels in the corners of your transom. I left enough room that I could easily get the thickened resin all the way into the corners. I left about an inch. It was very easy to make sure I had zero gaps in my corners but it did eat up ALOT of thickened resin.

Regarding brackets, I have no experience so I can't comment there. Brackets are sexy as hell but I opted not to put one on when I did my restore. It just didn't match my needs for the boat.

[brywheat]

Thanks again Tartuffe

Off the next two days, hopfully be able to get to Harbor marine and pick up some supplies.

What kind of ply did you use Tartuffe?
Im thinking of going cheap and using Fir, however Ive been told Okume BS1088 Joubert, Meranti BS1088, or Meranti BS6566, are the have trade-offs for the cost. The BS6566 I've been told is best for a structural/ resin fiberglass bonding and it will bend easier to match the transom curve and is stronger, the $20 etrxa per piece may be worth the trade-off.
What would you use??

[tartuffe]

I used marine grade Baltic birch, it was some high dollar stuff but all of those you mention are all quality products from my research but I have not used them. Sounds like you are on the right track.

So do you plan to save the cap or are you going to transform her into a center console?

I used 1/2" divynicell foam for my floor core and hatches. Really great stuff to work with. May want to research those foam cores and consider them for your deck. My hatches alone weighed 80 lbs before the recore and 33 lbs after and solid as a rock.

[tartuffe]

One thing I will say about the wood you select, I had my boat at my friends dealership in his pit doing some fine-tuning on the engine. It is incredible the amount of force that is placed on that 1-1/2" of ply and maybe 1/4" of fiberglass. I see guys using everything from the products you mentioned down to bottom-dollar plywood.

Once it is all done, and the 600+ hours invested are to be enjoyed, never worry with if you should have spent the extra money on the wood. Skimp on light packages, pop-up cleats, rod holders and all the bells and whistles as they will end up costing far more than what you spend on the structural components and you can change those out later as they start to show their age.

[brywheat]

Tartuffe

That raised another question. If I decided on the full transom/ bracket. . How thick should the transom be? I'll be replacing the stringers to and plan on tabbing in knees which will rise from stringers to the top of the transom. I'm either glassing in insulation for a fish box or making a livewell.

[tartuffe]

I would think to go with the same setup for a transom with a bracket of 2 layers of 3/4" ply. The one thing I would do would be to have an aluminum or stainless backer plate made to bolt the bracket to on the inside. Whomever you buy your bracket from should be able to tell you how large of an area you will need to distribute the force across.

I have a piece of aluminum c-channel that the bottom bolts of my motor bolt through. Because of the curvature of the transom I laid out a thick pad of thickened resin, covered it with saran wrap and mashed the channel into it. Once it cured I peeled the saran wrap off and sanded down the resin that squeezed out. This gave me a perfectly flat area that the c-channel rests against.

http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-...storation.html

[brywheat]

Thanks

Awesome build by the way. So you used compsite board?

[Starzofchaos]

Have you thought of using Divinycell 5lbs or Core Cell 5lbs foam core instead of the wood? Its a little bit more expensive, but the amount of weight you will save and the thought of it never rotting out...

http://www.merrittsupply.com/default.aspx

[tartuffe]

I used divynicell for my deck. Its a great product but while it is lighter than wood you will use far more fiberglass and resin in such a crucial structural application so the weight savings will be offset and it will be more difficult to use compared to the wood in the stringers. The transom wouldn't be a suitable application either since the foams are crushable.