84 Tournament i/o transom replacement

[84grady197]

Hi all,

I am gearing up to get this transom replaced. After doing the deck drains last year and seeing g the state of the core I knew it wasn’t far away.
has anyone on here done an i/o Grady? Just looking for hopefully some pictures and advice. The rear seats will have to be cut out I assume to get full access. Want to remove all skin, then old core. Epoxy in new coosa or plywood then tab it in and put layers of 1708 back on. I attached some pics I found quickly to show the stern.
Any advice is appreciated!

 

[PointedRose]

You might not have to do the entire transom. With an outboard, the structural integrity is more important with the weight and torque strain. With an I/O you don’t have the same level of strain (assuming you are keeping as an I/O). Are you seeing signs of water intrusion at the outdrive?

 

[84grady197]

Not yet. No cracking either. However I’m starting to see a tiny bit of flex in the out drive pulling away from the transom. A hairline crack when I push down on it.

 

[DennisG01]

How concerned are you about aethetics (and/or how time/effort do you want to put into the aesthetics)? You can do it much easier from the outside. Cut the outer skin off in a few pieces and then epoxy them back on. There's more detail that can be discussed - but that's the jist of it.

 

[84grady197]

Not that concerned. I’m sure a little fibreglass polishing would get it back together pretty good. All I know is everything I seem to read says to do it from the inside and retain that outer skin.
I get the jist I think. Stringers tap hard and were re done by previous owner when he dropped the 4.3 mercruiser in.

 

[DennisG01]

You can totally do it from the outside - much, MUCH easier! When you break it down, it's actually pretty straight forward. Pull the drive, then pop the engine out and remove the transom assemblies.

Keep your perimeter cuts about an inch from any edge... and keep in mind that a place like the transom bottom/hull bottom area is probably about an inch thick to start with. The goal is to retain the "edge" and only cut off flat pieces of glass. Exploratory holes with a small drill bit will be your friend.

 

[84grady197]

You can totally do it from the outside - much, MUCH easier! When you break it down, it's actually pretty straight forward. Pull the drive, then pop the engine out and remove the transom assemblies.

Keep your perimeter cuts about an inch from any edge... and keep in mind that a place like the transom bottom/hull bottom area is probably about an inch thick to start with. The goal is to retain the "edge" and only cut off flat pieces of glass. Exploratory holes with a small drill bit will be your friend.

Thanks for the input. I’ll have a good look at her this fall. Plan on pulling the motor etc. will start to plan this winter project.