Transom progress

I have gotten the back layer and the middle layer nicely fitted. The front layer is still presenting a bit of a problem, because the flange I cut away is not smooth, and it's difficult to get the edges smoothed down ot the level of the surrounding fiberglass with the tools I have.

I've located the 'kitty hair' fiberglass impregnated filler that was recommended to me. The only thing I'm missing at this point is the fiberglass roller, which I have been unable to find locally. Since I really shouldn't be spending money on this project right now, progress is kind of limited to what I have already accumulated.

I'd really like to get the transom done and out of the way so I can put the deck back on. That will be a major accomplishment!

Flange removal

I didn't snap any pictures last night, but there's not much to show except the flange is gone now. I dremeled it off last night. My dremel was really overheating. I have burned through about four of these in previous projects, looks like this might be number five. Anyway, the flange is gone and I hope tonight I can get the third piece of transom plywood cut and fitted, and get this project moving again!

Removing the flange

After discussing it with other vintage boaters, the best way to go seems to be to cut off the 'flange' of fiberglass on the inside of the transom. That will leave enough room to flush fit a third layer of MDO, and then I can glass/epoxy the entire front and mold it back into the hull. I'm also going to get some 'kitty hair' which is fiberglass impregnated filler or bondo, and use that to fill in the corners around the new wood. All together that should make a stronger than original transom. I just need to get some new fiberglass cutting disks for the dremel, find my dust mask, and get cutting!

Fitting the transom

Fitting the transom is turning out to be a bit tricky. The corners are not square, they are rounded, and the bottom is sort of a V shape, but not really evenly across the inside.

I cut two layers of the 1/2 inch plywood. I spent a bit of time trimming them to fit nicely along the bottom and the corners.

As you can see I'm fitting the plywood between the back wall of the hull, and the remaining 'frame' of the old front wall of the transom. Most of the front of the transom was badly damaged and I removed it along with the rotted woodof the old transom. But I left this frame of fiberglass to glass the new transom to, because it's much thicker than the back wall, and I thought that would be a good way to bond the new wood into the boat. However, two layers is only oneinch thick, and with the fiberglass mat I think it will fill in the space I have. I'm sure my transom needs to be more than one inch thick! The old one was 1 1/4, plus another 1/4 on the outside of the back of the hull. I'm going to think this over and see what the guys with more experience on the boat forum think.

1965 Johnson Sea Horse

A couple weeks ago I picked up this Johnson Sea Horse for $40. The top end is stripped, so its a long way from running. The reason for buying it was because it's a short shaft motor, and I think it has the parts I need to convert my Lark III to a short shaft. It's currently a long shaft. I don't know enough about boat motors to really know what the heck I'm doing though, so I'm just going to leave it parked on the fence until I figure out what to do next.

Plywood for the transom

Pics to come tomorrow. Today I went out and bought a sheet of 1/2 inch MDO plywood - few voids, exterior grade glue. The lumber yard insisted it was the next best thing to marine grade, without spending the $90 for marine - this was only $30. I also picked up a sheet of fiberglass mat, which was only $7 at the local bodyshop supply store.

I got home and finished up my cardboard template, laid it out, and cut out the first layer of the new transom. It's a bit tight, it's going ot need some work to get it snugged in nice and tight to the rear wall of the transom. It was getting late so I saved that job for tomorrow.

The sunshine has me feeling insipred. I'd really like to make some progress on it!

The slowest project ever...

Yeah, I really could step it up a bit, but plywood is expensive, and epoxy is expensive, and I'm in no hurry to get it done. Now summers halfway over. I'm aiming for next summer. No good ever came from rushing anything ;)