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transom bow due to large outboard
Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2006 7:22 pm
by jim
My 1958 Sea Lancer came with a 110hp motor that was installed on the boat in the seventies. The top outer board of the transom has a little outward bow, I presume due to the size of the motor. I am trying to decide what to do about this (other than repair the transom which I will do in any case). One option would be to repair the transom by replacing the rotten wood and correcting the bow and get a smaller motor. I am somewhat reluctant to do this because the motor seems to be in good shape. Another would be to put some metal reinforcement in between the layers of the transom. A question would be what kind of metal to use. A third would be to repair the transom and keep the same motor. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks, Jim
Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2006 5:57 am
by txcaptdan
Jim,
I just finished a transom restoration on my 20' Cruisers Inc. It had several damaged inner vertical boards that were replaced. When I started fitting the oak cross brace I realized that the transom was bowed out about an inch and a half from center. This transom had a big Chyrsler and a bad cross brace on it. New oak brace and new silicon bronze bolts pulled the bow almost completely out, and I suppose it will relax to straight in time. I have yet to mount 90 hp johnson but transom is as solid as can be expected.
You can see progress at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/classicoutboards/ under photos - A New Boat.
Some new wood and a new oak braace may cure your problems.
Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2006 6:33 am
by a j r
My 1957 Sea Lancer had a 1967 Mercury 110 HP on it from 1967 until last year. No problenms with the transom. I did not change motors because of problems, but because I wanted 1957 motors on my 1957 boat.
Replace the rotten wood - that's your first order of business. As "txcaptdan" wrote, maybe getting the oak cross brace replaced and tightening the carriage bolts will pull things back into shape.
There should be two metal braces that go from that oak cross brace and twist and attach to the stringers. Is that still on your boat?
I don't know about your metal sandwich idea. How about a piece of okume marine plywood sandwiched between the two layers of solid mahogany lumber? Use 3M 5200 adhesive and screws to attach everything together. This would mean total rebuild of the transom.
Just my two cents worth!
Andreas