Transom replacement

GulfCoastThompson · Post by **GulfCoastThompson** » Wed Nov 25, 2009 11:04 pm

OK I am ready to remove and replace the transom and I have a few questions. I have a 1960 Peshtigo Sea Lancer:
1. There are 5 of screws and 5 nails on the outside of each lapstrake along the transom. What is the most popular method of removing the nails?
2. Is it easier to replace the transom with the boat upright or upside down?
3. I am also going to replace the keelson's. Would you replace this first or the transom first?
4. The interior of the boat was painted by the previous owner. I have removed most of the paint. Any suggestions on removing the remaining paint and preping for varnish? I am considering sand blasting but I have no experience with it.
Thanks for the imput.

thegammas · Post by **thegammas** » Fri Nov 27, 2009 8:53 am

I can only comment on the sand blasting question, which I would recommend against, or doing so with great caution.

I saw a plywood lapstrake boat that had been blasted and it badly damaged the plywood and hardwoods. The wood is naturally softer in some places than others, such as at the growth rings vs the wood in between rings. Blasting removed the soft wood first, raising the grain up to a point that the restorer, to whom the boat had been brought post blasting, did not think it could be saved for anything but patterns.

Whomever was doing the blasting must have seen the results immediatly, and for some reason did the entire boat anyway.

Maybe they were using a very aggressive blast agent at high presure, and a soft agent, low presure approach would work without the damage. Try it on an inconspicus place and look closly at the results to decide if you want to do the rest of the target area. Just my uninformed opinion.......

If you do test blasting, please report back. The interior of my boat was painted and I'd like to bring it back to varnish, but I'll never have the time to do that unless a very very fast method of stripping could be used.

GulfCoastThompson · Post by **GulfCoastThompson** » Fri Nov 27, 2009 11:59 am

Thanks for the feedback. I have the same thoughts about sand blasting. I have stripped most of the paint from the interior using a commercial stripper and a pressure washer. this removed 98% of the paint. I was worried that continuous pressure washing would also damage the wood. I have purchased a small corner sander and I guess i will spend many hours in finish sanding. Just a note on the stripper. I tried the best that Home Depot and Lowe's had with marginal success. I then bought stripper from Mobile Paint at almost twice the cost but it worked fantastically.

JoeCB · Post by **JoeCB** » Fri Nov 27, 2009 2:11 pm

Just some thoughts... for nail removal first try prying out by grabbing the heads with a pair of diagionals or nippers. If it's looking like you are doing too much damage to the plank from digging deep.. first remove all the screws then slip a fine tooth hacksaw blade under the plank and cut the nails.
As for the sisters ( stringers) I whoud think the since the sisters must fit tight to the transon it would be easier to do the stringers first, leaving them a bit proud, trimming to fit aginst the tramsom.

Joe B

Oh, on the dykes, if you grind off the bevel on the back side of the cutting edge you will have a tool better suited to the task at hand.

Dreamer · Post by **Dreamer** » Fri Nov 27, 2009 3:52 pm

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Category.taf
I used this tool and was able to cut the transom from the strakes without damage to them. After the transom is removed the screws should be easily removed from the underside.
Can't say it's the right way, just seems to be working for me.[/img]

john · Post by **john** » Fri Nov 27, 2009 7:17 pm

I found it easier to completely disassemble the boat. Lapstrakes and all. Nails at transom were easy as nail holes in transom were surrounded by soft wood, just use an ice pick to get under head and pop them out. It was so easy it was scary.

I spent a very long hard month trying to strip old paint and varnish, till I got frustrated and disassembled boat.

See link below to see pictures. Only took about 4 months! With everything disassembled paint removal was very easy, and I was able to cps and varnish all wood on all sides before reassembling, using same old wood with new screws.

thegammas · Post by **thegammas** » Sat Nov 28, 2009 7:37 pm

So John, when you disassembled the boat to that degree, how did you keep the shape of the hull?. And also, I noted the picture where you are apparently testing the boat in cold weather and she is planing beautiful. Agian, how did you get the right shape?

John Hart · Post by **John Hart** » Mon Nov 30, 2009 9:47 am

For what it is worth, a recent issue of Woodenboat (I think Oct) has several articles regarding fastener removal...the authors described their favorite methods and tools.

These would be worth reading before you start off... I know I had such a terrible time snaping heads off, when I worked on my Seacoaster four or fice years ago, I wish I had done some research and prepared a little better.

john · Post by **john** » Mon Nov 30, 2009 5:33 pm

Peter

I carefully blocked the hull and removed a little at a time. I was lucky as all but the inner keel, and one board on lower transom at drain were in good shape and were reused. I just reassembled the hull using the same holes. It worked surprising well.

It was cold, that day, testing at Chrismas week, was about 40 degrees in the dead of winter. It's very cold here when the temperature does not reach 50 during the day. Top speed was 40+, picture shows gps for exact speed.

GulfCoastThompson · Post by **GulfCoastThompson** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 8:15 pm

thanks for the info. I will have to find that issue of Wooden boats. What is the preferred method of removing putty? Ice pick? I have read on here about sandwiching a plywood piece in the transom. Is this the preferred transom rebuild now? When fastening the new transom do you replace the nails with nails or screws? And finally, at least for this session, is 5200 used in between the lapstrakes and transom?

jim hays · Post by **jim hays** » Sat Jun 19, 2010 9:29 am

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO HELPED DURING MY TIME REBUILDING.could never get pictures posted!! but the time has come to sell I have listed it on ebay 190406516791 if anyone is interested in looking.have some pictures. was excellent for my recovery after cancer surgery to you fellas now doing work on your boat check some of the old postings a lot of ans wers to current questions are there. I know I asked alot of them. I will keep this site at the head of my favories where it has always been again thanks to all Jim Hays