Taking The Transom Apart

To replace the wood in the transom I am using a Porter Strait oscillating saw tool to cut off the layer of fiberglass to expose the wood. So far this is working great. Good depth control, ability to plunge cut and good over all control. I don't want to go through the thin outer hull material. Based on how easily the cutter was working I decided that there must be bad wood underneath. The photos show that clearly thing were rotten all over the transom. The wood is still wet even though she has been under cover now for 3 months.

Portside transom is gone. Crumbled as I pulled off the face sheet.

Starboard side transom showing soft area and how easily the face sheet of fiberglass is pulling off. 

Also note how I cut the stringers back from the transom. Once the wood is replaced and the fiberglass skin redone I will then glass the stringers back into the transom.

Trailer Rebuild

So the trailer had to be rebuilt somewhat so that the boat can be taken to a workshop. Started looking at the components and decided that the axle and spindles were ok to use, however, the leaf springs and hangars were questionable. I headed over to A&N trailer in Tulsa and found all the parts that I needed, new springs and hangars. Got the old parts off and then welded on the new hangars. Put it back together and nothing fit !! The problem is the new hangars move the springs outboard a little bit compared to the old hangars, so now the holes in the axle for the bolts in the springs don't line up. What to do? I head back to A&N and ask for a 1.5" square axle spring seat. They have nothing. They have not sold a 1.5" square axle part in years. Ok, I knew that from the first trip because they sold me 1.75" axle plates and U-Bolts. The lady behind the counter said I do have 1.75" round axle seats. We get one out and start doing some measurements and discover that it is slightly less than 1.5" wide so I turn it sideways on the axle and put it all back together. As I cranked down the U-bolts it effectively swaged the axle seat onto to the axle. Problem solved. After the axle was back on I installed new wheels and tires. The old ones were 6.00-9 which also has not been available in a long time so we put on standard 12" tires. At this point it is all back together and ready to roll. Next step is to install two new bunk boards and complete the wiring of the lights. Will I get it all done by Saturday. We hope.

Work Begins

Work has gotten started in earnest on the boat. To start with I have removed the windshield so that she will fit into the garage. The first photo shows that she just barely fits so work is going to go pretty slow.

The next series of photos shows the condition that she was in before I started working.

Port side wood work and liner. You can see that the liner is coming out as well as the wood. It should be bonded up nice and clean against right under the shelf.

Port side seat back. These fit up against the transom well. The seats clip into the metal bracket that is shown

Port side showing the seat back and the transom well. There is an upper closeout that has already been removed. The first picture shows the close out still in place.

Starboard side  showing the side where the transom well meets the finish. The steering cable has already been pulled out and is just laying across the top of the well.

Starboard looking forward showing the operating console and the forward starboard bench in the cuddy.

Port side forward. The bench has already been removed. The console was removed during a rebuild in the mid 1980s. This seemed like a good idea at the time because it opened up the floor plan, however, further investigation shows that the consoles tie the floor structure into the upper part of the cabin structure. Not being there may have allowed the structure to flex more than desired.

Looking up the center of the boat.

Looking under the port side of the transom well showing where the fuel tank used to be installed.

Looking under the starboard side of the transom well. Here you can see that the deck is rotten. It was vacuumed out.

Just forward of the starboard rear seat there was missing piece of the floor board. You can see all of the trash under the floor here.

This shows the right side liner still in place. You can just see the transom well in the upper right corner of the picture.

That documents the starting place. Over the next week I pulled out all of the floor boards, the operator console, the transom well closeouts, as well as the liner and misc other parts. The under deck foam was removed and then all of the trash was vacuumed out. There are four stringers under the deck. The tops of them are all cracked and will have to be rebuilt. The next order of business was to remove the transom cap and cut out the transom well. A Saws-all was used to cut the transom well off of the transom. Then the screw heads that hold on the transom cap were cut and the transom cap removed. On the starboard side the transom was found to be so rotten you can just stick a 10" screw driver up to its hilt in the wood

This photo shows the port side of the transom. You can see in the upper left corner of the photo where the transom is clearly crushed. The wood is discolored and is extremely soft through out.

This photo shows the starboard side of the transom. you can see the transom well sitting in the bottom of the boat.

Headed to Oklahoma

After sitting in a barn for the last year and half or so, the boat is now headed to Oklahoma where work will start in earnest on restoring her. The goal is to have her in the water for the 2015 boating season.

The key areas that need to be addressed are all of the ply wood parts need to be replaced. The transom needs to be replaced and of course all of the upholstery. The overall hull seems to be in pretty good condition. Before any work starts I am going to have one of the local ACBS experts on fiberglass give me his thoughts on the project. Hopefully the answer is that all is well with the hull and we are mainly looking at repairing. The most extensive part of the project will be replacement of the transom as well as replacement of the transom corners. They were lost or failed many years ago and there are only plates there now holding the corners together.

Here are some more pictures of loading her on the trailer. A neighbor used his tractor to tow it out of the barn. Then we put the tongue of the boat trailer onto the flatbed trailer. After that we used the tractor to push the boat into position. Finally the tractor was used to lift the stern of the boat on to the trailer.

June 2013 Update

Since the motor run I have been working on redoing the cowling. The results are still in question. But I will post pictures once I get done. In the mean time I pulled the plugs out of the gear case and water poured out. ARG !!! Got to looking at the drain plugs and realized that I had two washers under it. Called my mechanic and he confirmed that will cause leaks. He said bring it in and he would pressure check it. So took it to him and ran the check. It all checked good so will try again with only one washer.

In the mean time I found a 1961 motor. Started the tear down and rework on it. Will post updates as it comes along.

Engine is Running

After my attempts to get things going without success I pulled the carb and soaked it in cleaner. Then I installed a carb kit and put it all back together. Setup my test tank (just a garbage can full of water) and tried to start it. No fire, no cough, nothing !!! Then I realized the plug wires were not installed on the plugs !! Arg. I installed the wires, hit the key and she fired right up to a nice smooth idle. 

Picture of it running showing my test setup.

Here is some video of it running.

While the engine was running at idle I shifted the motor into both forward and reverse gear. All seemed to work fine there. After the engine run I drained my test tank. The lower unit was covered in exhaust goop. Gear box was ok. Picture of lower unit after test run.

With the test run complete its time to finish up the trim details and start putting all the cowling parts back on the motor.

Carb Rebuild

After a second attempt at getting her to start, it was obvious that something was wrong with the carb. Fuel is just dripping out of the carb body. Called my local dealer and they actually had the carb kit of the motor. On the way back with the kit I grabbed a gallon of chemtool parts cleaner. The carb came off easy enough. Then I removed the choke pressure acctuator, and the float bowl. The float was in pieces and the needle valve was shot as well as the fuel inlet valve. With it completely apart, all the parts went into the basket and then into the parts cleaner. Then I walked away for 24 hours. Next day I pulled the parts out and all the old crud and paint were coming off. Over to the sink and lots of hot water later the parts looked brand new. Back to the work bench where new parts from the carb kit were installed. Carb was reassembled and made ready to put back on the motor.