does anyone have a good source for the aluminum angle trim cap material for transoms? ideally stainless steel i guess. i'd like to renew the trim cap on my tournament 190 since the galvanic effect of the dissimilar metal in the stainless mounting screws has rotted out the mount holes. this requires the trim be bent around a significant curve and i notice the original aluminum gauge is thicker on the outer (vertical) leg of the angle, presumably so it can be stretched when bending around the curve of the transom.
aluminum transom trim
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SkunkBoat
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The first place that comes to mind would be Mcmaster Carr.
Not sure where you are located, but look around town for a local metal fabricator/welder. They'll have ready access to this stuff, as well.
Not sure where you are located, but look around town for a local metal fabricator/welder. They'll have ready access to this stuff, as well.
wahoo33417
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Mine is at the dealer now getting the new Grady composite cap put on. However, on mine, the aluminum began corroding from the outer edge, not from the screw holes.
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I have a 1998 Islander 268. I am getting ready to have the aluminum piece taken off and glassed over. I am having both engines taken off the aluminum piece remove off the top and the plastic removed from the front then glassed completely over.
do you have a link to a photo of the composite cap? there is no dealer near me to ask those questions.
i have tried various options including a local marine shop fabricator. equal sided and thickness aluminum angle is easy enough and i may go that route. the issue is the tight curve in the corner on this boat presents a challenge to bend the angle without splitting the material. i have been reading up on annealing aluminum so i can use a thicker grade of aluminum.
If a local fabricator can't bend it... what about piecing together a couple short (straight) pieces and welding them? Maybe you just need one piece (in the middle between the vertical and the horizontal) to make the corner a 45* instead of a curved? Wouldn't be too hard to build the glass up to a 45*... and you really wouldn't even need to make it anywhere near perfect as the L-channel will hide it.
the 223 has a sharp corner notched transom and i don't like it visually with two trim pieces meeting and a mitre cut. the curve on the 190 looks much nicer.
i talked to a local commercial boatbuilder about this for a little 14' runabout i am restoring that got me going on doing this project for all my boats. they said to use the transom itself as a jig to bend the trim piece by attaching the transom cap to the centre of the transom and using a heavy roller to work it into the corners. however, they use an uneven thickness transom cap trim piece (which is too small for the grady) that is 1/16" thick on the horizontal and 1/8" thick on the vertical and hence easy to bend into place without splitting the vertical side as it stretches at the corner.
so i am looking now at annealing the aluminum and doing something like this for the grady with a jig and using aluminum angle with 1/8" thickness on both sides.
https://www.glen-l.com/weblettr/webletters-5/wl43-windshield1.html
SkunkBoat
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Another thought... If you glass it, as others mentioned, then that solves the water ingress issue. Then, the cap becomes strictly a cosmetic thing to cover up the (what can be) rough glass job. What about using PVC? That can be gently heated with a heat gun and bent quite easily.
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i will definitely seal it under the cap with epoxy. my plan is to drill out the cap screw holes with a 12" lineman bit and back fill them with epoxy sealer to treat the transom and make sure there is no serious rot. i did that with the 14' boat project this summer. luckily the sawdust tailings were good after the first inch or so.
i am also open to the idea of cosmetically glassing it shut i guess but i think the paint work would show. i would prefer to do something that looks more original in case i want to sell the boat. i think nothing gets a buyer more squirrelly than a transom that looks like it has been bodged.
Would you post a photo of the work? I'm sure mine will need the work eventually.
Can't argue with that!
You're probably planning on doing this and just didn't mention it... but when you seal the cap with epoxy - throw a piece of fiberglass tape over it, as well, to keep any cracks from opening up. Epoxy, by itself, is somewhat brittle. It's like concrete w/o the rebar.
Fishtales
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I'd glass, then glue on the factory phenolic piece they use today - exactly to your point....
wahoo33417
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I pick up boat Tuesday. Will get photos of Grady's composite cap and try to post them Tuesday evening.