Project 'Bad Habits' Build

[trendsetter]

I would use West Systems 105 epoxy resin and 205 hardener and seal up the transom. Mix in a small amount of acetone to thin out the resin and the wood will absorb more of it into the grain. Pay attention to the outer edges exposed grain; that's where the water will come in if it can. That and the bolt holes for the out drive. Fill those with 3M 4200 when you are re-assembling.

You can mix the resin+hardener with micro fibers to make a paste to make a water tight seal on that joint at the bottom. Not sure about the aluminum plate; never tried something like that before.

[Finished Business]

Then again I would have welded a vertical structural aluminum stringer system with major structural channels or something for the outdrive then clad the whole thing in with a sheet of 1/4" plate on the inside LOL!

I actually talked about this with a buddy, but cost and labor came to be the factor. I think I will do both epoxy and aluminum sheet, just for the extra mile.

AlanF. It is a mercruiser assembly and drive. I made sure to use the same materials as the original transom, which was 1.5". Maybe this drive is different? Its an alpha gen2...

[Finished Business]

OK, picked up some West Systems 105 from Industrial Paints and Plastics here in Langley...great little product, easy application and such. 5 to 1 Resin to Hardener

applied it liberally on the face of the transom, around the edges, and anywhere I could paint it on...got the fast hardener so it should be workable tommorrow. Going to sink a few more bolts through the transom to make it a little more rigid.

Will hopefully be ordering my pumps and wash down next week, reinstalling the gas tank and lines...and laying floor by the end of the month I'm guessing...

[trendsetter]

Nice, did you get the pumps with the resin and hardener? Makes it super easy, one pump of each creates the 5-1 ratio. That stuff is awesome. It will stay good for years in your garage too.

What kind of bilge pumps are you going to get? I think I read that you were going to go for a pair of 750gph pumps for redundancy. My suggestion would be to get a small, automatic bilge pump say 500 gph that's purpose to automatically pump out any rain or small amounts of water. The second pump should be much larger, 1500GPH is a good size, and connected to a manual switch. The big pump is what you would use in an emergency or as a temp if the small one fails.

If you are stuck out in a storm and you are taking water over the bow or the sides those 500-750 gph pumps are useless. They can take 45 seconds or more to pump the water from a single wave out. (Ask me how I know this). In those case you want the bigger 1500 GPH+ pumps. On my boat I have a single 1500 GPH johnson pump that I would never leave port without.

Oh, and stay away from those cheap sea-sense pumps. They fail frequently in less than one season. Get a Rule or Johnson. The one crappy pump rule has is there 500 GPH auto pump which is supposed to not turn on if there is oil in the bilge. They have an almost 100% failure rate after 1 season or so I've read.

Cheers

[Finished Business]

Hey TS...thanks for keeping up with the thread!

Was going to go with Attwood pumps, as that is what came originally with the boat. Haven't read many reviews on them, but they were priced comparably to Rule, if I remember correctly. I like Attwood for their variety of pumps that best suited my application. The 750GPH pump was the largest they made for the 3/4" line. Any larger and I would need to increase the line Diameter, which is really no big deal at all....maybe something I should look into as the difference in cost is minute...

Oh I didn't get the resin 5 to 1 pumps, tho I wish I did, but I carefully removed the seal so I could put it back in place and reseal the canisters for the next small project...doesn't take long for the mixed product to tack up, thats for sure!

[Finished Business]

pic of the resin'd transom...ready to keep moving, a lot of hardware to install and consider before I close up the floor!

But movin' along!

-FB-

[Finished Business]

While I am waiting for my new sending units and gauges...with a whack of material on the shop floor, I figured I might as well turn it into boat floor material! I spent a few good hours making some tedious cuts (as the framing of my boat is not perfectly straight, close but a little off.

A few extra's I added were an aluminum splash guard at the base of the transom, as well as 2 access hatches on either side of the bilge area...so I can access the drain holes at the back of the boat easily, to clean an inspect. Also, if an aerator pump craps out I can access it quickly via the panel to replace or maintain it. I picked up a nice 6' stainless piano hinge to hinge the access panels, as well as the doghouse (once I build that...). There will be another aluminum wall installed at the transom to close up all the batterys, pumps and whatnot, that has also not been built yet.

a few pics give the whole scope of the floor, with a detailed pic of the splash guard and access panels.

Whatchy'all think? Finally a step where I see things coming together!

Cheers!

NICK -FB-

[Sculpin]

Oooohhhh shiny! Looks killer Nick.

[trendsetter]

Looks great! Nice job. It's going to look a lot better covered with salmon blood though..

[Sculpin]

it's going to look a lot better covered with salmon blood though..

X2...........