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I know how you feel ranger...i inherited an aluminum bass boat from my uncle in palm springs, little did i know free things always seem to cost more...I have almost everything completely stripped out to start building her back up again...I'm in Anamheim if you ever wanna fish, i go to perris sometimes and my friend fishes your lake...How's fishing been up there...? Sorry for stealing you thread there...lol..nice swimbaits by the way..!
Hey Fly, The fishing at Canyon has been descent. Alot of 1 to 2 lbrs and a few pigs. We had a tourny here Sat. I stayed home to work on the boat but I did swing by the wiegh-in. The bite was a little off but a 7.5 and a 9.4 were weighed in. Perris is about to get alot busier from the closing of Diamond Valley. You should ask your friend to bring you out here someday, the fishings usually better than most lakes.
Stay in touch http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif
Yeah i know...have wanted to come check it out one day, but i can't tube if i am a guest right...? Perris will get busy but it's not as easy as DVL, so i think people will give up after awhile...Those who know the lake and know how to fish will have good results...anyway 9.4 is pig!!! i still need to get a DD, soon enough...swimbait season...!!! Good fishing and nice work so far on the boat!!!! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ranger230v »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The transom obviously has problems. Its wet, but not completely rotted. Its apparent that it can no longer withstand the forces the engine puts upon it. So the only thing to do is to completely replace it. Some people might try to remove the bad areas and scab in wood to the good areas but I think this is a big mistake. Another idea thrown around is putting an aluminum or stainless plate on the back, under the jack plate to distribute the load over a larger area. I'm not buyin that either.
It's going to get done with marine ply and epoxy resin. Replacing the transom on a Ranger is alot of work. You might see guys pull the caps off some other brands of boats, but Ranger caps DON'T LIFT OFF. Here are some pics of what took me all day to do. The caps are glassed to the hull everywhere your eye can see. You might think this is overkill but it will make my ability to do the job correctly alot easier.
Keep in mind I'm going to replace the the stringers and sole in the bilge compartment as well.
I took out everything that would be in my way ie: steering, throttle, all electrical, gear shift cable. Just left nylon string from a weed whacker to fish everything back through when I'm done.
Once I get the actual wood out and stringers removed, I'll make another post.
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Okay, so Im just curious, you actually had to cut into the transom I am assuming with a grinder/cutoff wheel or a sawzall ? I didn't know Rangers didnt lift apart in two, maybe I have just seen bullets or stratos I guess.
It would seem that would be an awful thing to have to fix, not necessarily the transom so much as the upper railing and the storage units/etc.
Kiss, If I read this post 6 months ago I would have thought Ranger230V(me) just ruined his boat. But Iv'e learned alot since then and have the confidence that if I take my time(patience) I can get through this project with great results. I'm prepared for some setbacks as I have never done this before. But one thing Iv'e come to realize, its not rocket science. Just cutting, grinding, fitting, glassing, fairing, and painting. Sounds simple http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/Laugh.gif
The length of time this is going to take is a little daunting, but it must be done.
I got the inside skin of the transom and the stringers out this weekend. Also started removing the core of the transom. I'm glad I decided to do the transom because the whole thing was wet.
Anyway, stop buy and check out the progress from time to time, it should be interesting.
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Oh I agree totally, a rotted transom, either fix it it or scrap the boat basically not much choice. It just sucks that you would have to cut into that top railing so much, thats gonna take some time and detail work, but then again thats part of the fun.
I have restored a few bassboats, never had to do a transom though. Very interested in your progress on this.
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Well I got the inside skin, and the plywood core removed. I also removed the back section of the stringers. I left 6" of stringer sticking out from bulkhead. I will scab the new stringers into them when that time comes. After spending 8 hrs with a mallet and chisel to remove the transom core, I then had to grind all of the bedding puddy out. I bought my transom wood today but my epoxy and glass supplies wont be here until next week. I'll spend the weekend detail grinding and sanding the entire area, to make sure all the new work adheres properly.
Here's the latest shot with the transom core gone and the stringers removed.
http://i526.photobucket.com/albums/c...g?t=1224907249
http://i526.photobucket.com/albums/c...g?t=1224907836
THIS IS AWESOME! Great work...can't wait to see more!!! http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/USA1.gif
Thanks Stranz, I got the whole area ground and sanded. I also made a template out of cardboard and transferd it to my transome wood pieces. When you fit your transom you dont want it to be a tight fit. You want there to be space all the way around that will be filled with epoxy/fillet. Hopefully I will get the transom glued together this week.
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hey great work steve, looks like you got your hands full, but your doing a great job. keep after it...can't wait to see the final results.. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif
Thanks "J", about one day a week is all I can spend on it right now. Thanks for checkin in. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif
Well I got some work done this weekend. I started with glueing the transom pieces together. First I mixed up a batch of resin and coated out the faces that would get the glue. Then I mixed up 18oz of resin and added wood flour to it until it was between ketchup and peanut butter. That was applied to both faces with a notched spreader. Then stuck'em together and weighted them down. I had about 10% squeeze out, thats just what you want. In the morning it was rock hard.
http://i526.photobucket.com/albums/c...g?t=1225682016
Then it was time to make some fillets. The outside skin on my transom was only an 1/8" thick. I decided to make it thicker before bedding the transom. I mixed up a peanut butter batch of fillet(epoxy resin and woodflour). Filled in some recessed areas from the stringers and radiussed the corners. The glass I'm using is 1708 biax. Its 17oz biaxial glass with mat stitched to one side. The biax is the strength while the mat adds thickness, makes it stiffer. I cut the glass to size( 2" overlap all the way around. Mixed the resin and went for it. It helps to poor the resin into a painters tray so it wont heat up and kick off. Used a plastic spreader for most of it, a brush to coax the corners, and finished it off with an epoxy compatible foam roller. You want it completely wet out but with no puddles. The light patches you see aren't trapped air, its the remaining spots of the old bedding puddy.
I got everything ready to glue in the transom but ran out of daylight.
http://i526.photobucket.com/albums/c...g?t=1225683199
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Well I got the transom glued in today. To avoid a bunch of puckers (low spots) around the bolts, I used a piece 3/4" mdf on the outside of the transom. I covered the inside of it with packing tape. I also covered the bolts with packing tape to keep the glue from sticking. The holes were pre drilled.
I mixed up 48oz's of glue (epoxy/woodflour) and applied it to both surfaces with a notched spreader. I got it lined up and stuck the bolts through. I cut the packing tape off the threads and started nutting them. Working from the middle out I tightened them enough to get the air out but not enough to squeeze al the glue out.
http://i526.photobucket.com/albums/c...g?t=1225754390
http://i526.photobucket.com/albums/c...g?t=1225754476
I got the transom glassed in this weekend. I made some fillets first, to make sure the glass would conform and stay down. I started with 3 layers of 12oz biaxial tape (6" wide). These were offset.
http://i526.photobucket.com/albums/c...g?t=1226288798
That was Sat. On Sun. I started by sanding the entire area then wiped it down with acetone. I precut my glass before I started laminating. I used 3 layers of 1708(17oz biax with mat stitched to one side). This stuff is a bear to wet out. The first layer is 3" oversized all the way around. The second is 6" and the third is 9".
http://i526.photobucket.com/albums/c...g?t=1226289208
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Sweet job..... that looks like its one solid transom.... http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif
DeSean
Thanks DeSean,
Yeah the next time theres an earthquake, I'm gunna be curled up next to my transom. That thing is bomb proof.
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Know what you mean... keep up the great work... will post pics of my Ranger restore when I finally make a posting of it... your boat is giving me lots of ideas for mine....
DeSean
OK I'm back. I went ahead and put a fourth layer of 1708 cloth across the transom and took it all the way across the curved part of the transom and into the corners of the hull. Then I cut the stringers and glued them in, made my radiussed fillets and glassed them in with 3 layers of 12oz biaxial tape(6") on all sides.
We're expecting 3 days of rain starting today so I gotta bag the boat up and wont be able to work on her this weekend.
http://i526.photobucket.com/albums/c...g?t=1229195627
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your really going all out for this, which is awesome. hope your getting your cooler weather now. keep us updated..thanks http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif
Dang you can hang 2 motors on the back of that!! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/smile.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif
Work looks good, clean and well thought out!! Hope mine looks the same, should start reconstructing over the Holidays http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/smile.gif