[Rhodes22-list] Crack in Transom - Part Two

[Jim Schroll]

Several weeks ago, I posted a message about a crack that had developed in the transom immediately adjacent to the track that the engine elevator guide wheel runs along.  In the meantime, I’ve gotten some estimates which convinced me to try the repair myself and spent as much time as three knowledgable folks were willing to spend with me developing a plan of action.  At that point, the heat and humidity kicked in.  50 years after developing diabetes and 18 years after sextuple bypass surgery, I don’t do heat and humidity, so I’m just now getting to start the work.

The plan was to cup out the outside so that I can lay several sheets of fiberglass on it and then sand it to a smooth finish.  I don’t want to have a high point from extra layers as that may just create a new stress point.  On the inside, the plan was to place several layers of fiberglass back by a piece of marine plywood, filling the space between the two piece of wood backing the engine elevator side rails.

Attached below (I hope) are pictures of the current state of affairs.  On the outside I have started sanding out the cup.  I still need to go farther up and to the right so as to have enough overlap of the cloth.  As you can see just above and to the right of the center of the sanded area, it appears as thought there was some sort of circular through hull opening at one time which was plugged.  The crack goes around half of the plug, and I suspect the relative weakness the repair contributed to the formation of the crack.  You can also see a series of holes in a vertical line left of center.  The top one in the sanded area and one above it (Half visible) were where the elevator motor mounting bolts went through.  The bottom hole in the vertical line was where the bolt on the bottom of the guide track went through.  The others, including one which is still plugged were, presumably, left over from an earlier engine mount or something else.

[cid:6E6286FF-25EB-46EA-B655-7DA5F7A63525 at fios-router.home]


On the inside, I had to chisel away the 1/4” plywood onto which the elevator was mounted  You will see that a little bit of the plywood remains to be sanded away; I didn’t want to risk chiseling a new hole through the transom.  I will do more sanding on the inside as well, but I don’t know that I will be able to get it perfectly smooth and flat without risking opening up the cracked area more.  My current thinking, pending another visit to one of my experts and/or comments from this group, is to try to put a wedge of epoxy with filler material on the inside, creating a flat surface.  I’d use a plastic scraper cut to fir between the two elevator rail boards.  When that is dried and sanded, I’ll apply three or four layers of glass, then epoxy a new piece of 1/2 or 3/4 inch marine plywood to that.  If there is still room to maneuver, I’ll try to put at least one layer of glass over than to tie the wood into the transom an bottom of the hull.

[cid:4B395ADE-1341-45BD-8135-F41C8DCFF822 at fios-router.home]

Comments and suggestions would be most welcomed.

Jim Schroll




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