Grady Transom Rebuild

[VeroWing]

I know a lot of people with older Gradys are concerned about possible transom wood rot. I have encountered this on my 1984 22' Seafarer, and decided to rebuild the transom myself.
I'm almost finished, and I have documented along with pics, each step in the process. This rebuild is not for everyone, and I would only recommend it for real hands-on "do it yourself" people. But if you want to save thousands of dollars, and have a better than new transom, that won't rot like the original, then check my link below to see transom rebuild I'm doing. Mike

http://forums.bateau2.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=19949

 

[striped bass]

VeroWing
Terrific post. Looks like a lot of work. How much time have you invested in this project?
Hope you have speedy progress to the finish line so that you can get it in the water.

 

[VeroWing]

Its' definitly a lot of work, but it isn't as difficult as I thought it would be. I have worked on this transom project a total of 9 days. These days ranged from 4-5 hours, to 8-9 hours, and included driving around 11 miles (one way) three times for supplies.
I researched prices of having it professionally done. Prices I came up with ranged from 3,000 to 5,000. I'll have 500 to 750 in it when completed. For me it was an easy choice. More importantly, I have the knwledge that this transom rebuild was properly done with the best materials, and that it should last indefinitly.
Ok, back out to the boat. Mike

 

[CJBROWN]

Nice work.

I have seen pics of other transom rebuilds and they took the glass off the outside to rebuild. Seems your approach leaves the outer hull integrity.

The glass work looks great.

 

[jekyl]

I agree the way you have done it looks acheivable by an amateur. However your standards are excellent. Great work and how do you measure the satisfaction of doing it yourself.

 

[VeroWing]

Thanks for the compliments. Before I attempted to do this, I visited some local marinas and boatyards and spoke to quite a few knowledgable boat people. One sentence that many of these individuals said, I am really starting to understand now.

That sentence was, "yea, I did a transom replacement, ONCE."

 

[Grog]

Why did you do it from the inside?

 

[VeroWing]

After researching different methods of rebuilding transom, I decided that from the inside would be best for me. One of the reasons was, as CJB stated above, I kept the integrity of the exterior hull fiberglass which is the strongest part of the transom.
Another reason is, by removing rear cockpit floor section, you are able to access the stringers, interior subfloor areas, and it gives you the ability to wet-in fiberglass from new interior transom face to all sides and bottom of existing hull plus the stringers. This is critical when bonding new transom to existing sections of hull.
Third, and very important in my decision, is that I have never worked with fiberglass before, other than rebuilding fuel cell cover on this boat. I figured the rear splash area would be the best place to conceal my finish body work.
Seeing that the exterior transom fiberglass and even gelcoat were in pretty good shape, I was pretty sure I couldn't duplicate the factory finish.
Resumed working on it today, and will probably reinstall cockpit floor section tomorrow.
I'm on the home stretch now!

 

[wahoo33417]

Wow. Tremendous post. Thanks.

 

[VeroWing]

Thanks Wahoo. Below is pic of cockpit floor I reinstalled today. As you can see, in the center is cutout for cover, and on both sides there are teak covers for tops of battery boxes. This makes it only short cuts on sides to remove the floor section, and a minimum of surface finishing work I'll have to do. Mike

I still have to epoxy reinstalled floor section to transom and blend it up to the new notched height.

 

[BobP]

Nice work doing it from the inside, I see few of these done that way, much more work and cost, but hull glass stays intact.

And yes, it is better than original, can drop an F350 back there now!

 

[VeroWing]

Thanks BobP. I'm going to be adding twin 115s that are bumped up to 140s. Should be plenty for this hull.
I started the finish sanding and should have it ready for some type of finish coat in a couple days. I'm thinking of tinting epoxy to match existing gelcoat, and applying over seams. Once dry, I'll smooth down to blend in.

 

[JUST-IN-TIME]

you should have made the boat 5 ft longer, LOL

nice work!!!

I do not fiberglass, that stuff makes me itch!!!

 

[Brad1]

After researching different methods of rebuilding transom, I decided that from the inside would be best for me. One of the reasons was, as CJB stated above, I kept the integrity of the exterior hull fiberglass which is the strongest part of the transom.

When I bought my Grady back in '04, I saw a transom rebuild in progress on a mid-80s Offshore. The glass guys at the dealership were doing it from the inside (just like you did) and their reasoning was the same. Leaving the outer glass intact.

I would think the outer hull would be where the glass is thickest in the transom area. I know some guys cut the outer skin off. But I would think leaving the outer hull uncut would yield the greatest integrity.

Nice job BTW.

 

[richie rich]

I'm not sure if going from the inside vs the outside will make a difference as far as strength is concerned. Most cores, whether they are plywood, balsa, structural foam etc., are usually made with the same thickness glass both inside and out. That's your "I" beam, glass, core, glass...to work properly, they should be equal. The same load on the outer skin will be transmitted to the inner skin. What's nice about doing it from the inside is that it leaves the final finish outside in tact, ie, the original gel coat and color....no one will see the difference, and internally, you can semi finish it with a little work and bilge paint. As long as the layers are bonded well and you have 3-4 inch overlaps, the strength will be good from either side.

 

[grodywhite]

excellent job!

Mike - looks like you did a terrific job and i'm pleased to find that i'm not the only crazy person on this website. in mho, it's not the quality of the build of these older gradys that built their reputation but the quality of the hull design. i've completely disamantled my '77 dolphin 20 footer after finding rotted transom, rotted cockpit deck and rotted stringers and bulkheads all the way up to the bow. once i started, it was hard to know what to do - keep going all the way or have the hull ground up into swizzle sticks. like you, i did the work myself and found ways to better the original construction. now i have a bullet-proof boat with a very nice ride with relatively low operation costs.
the frustration for me was seeing how small improvements in the original construction would have made tremendous improvements not only in my boat, but all others built by grady. from what i've gathered on my short time on this site, owners of newer gradys LOVE their boats and i can only hope that improved construction techniques are one reason why.
once again, congratulations on your new transom. job VERY well done!
cheers
frank

 

[VeroWing]

Thanks Frank. Did you take any pics of your Grady when you did all the work? I'd love to see them. That must have been some undertaking. I know just rebuilding transom on mine was quite a challenge for me.

 

[NOTHING ELSE MATTERS]

I did the exact same thing as grodywhite did on my 192 fisherman 8 years ago, i even added two 35 gallon tanks in the floor, i didn't want to eliminate the center stringer, but when i was done, the boat was 10 times stronger and i should of had it eliminated. I changed everything on that boat, i mean everything. It took me almost two years to finish it though.

Vero, the job you did WAS amazing.

 

[VeroWing]

I guess there's more of us out there than I thought. I'm happy to be at the point where I am reinstalling parts and equipment. Everything that connects to outboards is complete, now I have to button up things up by the helm, reinstall trims, transducers, etc..
I actually pulled out quite a bit of non-engine related wiring today. Didn't like some of the POs workmanship. I'm too deep into this boat to not have every part at 100%. Where does it end?

 

[Bama96]

I guess there's more of us out there than I thought. I'm happy to be at the point where I am reinstalling parts and equipment. Everything that connects to outboards is complete, now I have to button up things up by the helm, reinstall trims, transducers, etc..
I actually pulled out quite a bit of non-engine related wiring today. Didn't like some of the POs workmanship. I'm too deep into this boat to not have every part at 100%. Where does it end?

When you sell it and move on to the next project.