need input on seacast/arjay for transom

[moldman]

I have a Cobra 201D that is going to need a transom repair in the near future so I have been reading all the posts I could find on using seacast/arjay for that purpose. I can not find in those posts how they joined the seacast/arjay to the knee braces and stringers. Will someone please enlighten me. Here are some pics of the cracks where the knee braces are connected to the transom. I added the aluminum bar in the picture when I put a 12" jackplate on the boat. Any input will be appreciated. Thx, Jim

[sandbarDan]

if the knee braces are not roted then you would just fiberglass them back onto your seacast/arjay filled transom. Or you could hallow them out also and fill them with seacast. But you would still have to tab them back to the transom with glass and resin.

[Marooned]

I rebuilt the transom on my Champion with Arjay. I removed all (and I do mean ALL) of the wooden transom core. After the core was removed, I used sanding drums on long drill extension to clean and scuff the fiberglass skins. Doing this also cleaned the exposed ends of the knee braces, stringers, and strong board. Before I poured the Arjay, I coated the entire inside of the transom, including the exposed knee braces, stringers and strong board with resin. Once it started to kick, I then poured the Arjay. The goal here was to get a strong mechanical as well as chemical bond between the new core and the existing wood supports. I think most of your questions are answered in this thread that I posted on the Champion forum: http://www.bbcboards.net/zerothread?id=655260

If you have additional questions, feel free to IM me.

[moldman]

Thanks sandbarDan and Marooned for your input. I know i can handle getting the wood out of the transom and pouring whatever compound I choose but I have never done any fiberglass work. Can you lay fiberglass over what is already there or do you have to grind the old off and then lay new stuff? As you can tell from the pictures the cracks are back under the splashwell and therefore very hard to get to. I also followed the link for seacast posted by arjone01 and read their instructions for using it. I am trying to find a similiar site for arjay 6011. Marooned you did a great job on your Champion. Hope you will post later when you get a chance to really put your boat to the test. Thx again, Jim

[Marooned]

You can lay new glass over existing. What you'll need to do for the cracks in the inner skin around the knee braces and such is sand off all of the paint and scuff up the existing glass real good. Once you do that, you can lay new glass over it. On my rebuild the inner skin was really thin in places, like around the motor mount holes and bottom of the strong board, so I sanded/scuffed the entire inner skin and layed a couple of layers of new glass to make it stronger. The way I did mine required a lot of standing on my head to work on the inside but it beat cutting a bunch of top cap off.

The website for Arjay isn't very informative but if you email them I found that they were extremely helpful and responsive. http://arjaytech.com/ Just click on the contact link and ask them whatever questions you have. They responded right away and sent me info.

Thanks for the compliment Jim. I've been using my boat all spring/summer and have put it thru the paces. So far it has performed flawlessly. Even had it out last Sunday on a very crowded lake where we got pounded by boat wakes....no problems!!

[BASSCAT7]

You will need to take those " cracks " on the knee braces all the way down to the base layer of glass and maybe to the wood itself.

Those are more that just surface stress cracks, those are structural and are from the transom flexing way too much and splitting the joint where the braces attach to the transom itself.
When laying new glass over old glass, especially with polyester resin you do not get a chemical bond like happens with fresh glass/resin in a cure. You are getting only a secondary mechanical bond, basically a glue joint.
Any repairs like you have need to be really clean on the old glass, grinding it down a few layers to expose clean raw glass.
With mechanical bonds on a structural area, it has to repaired down to the base layer , or close to it , otherwise you take a chance of the glue joint fracturing loose with a good hit like can be had in rough water.

[Marooned]

Good point BassCat! After rereading my post, the word "scuff" was a poor choice. Also, on mine I did all of the inner skin glass work after I removed all of the wood.

[moldman]

Thanks for chiming in BASSCAT7. I have read a lot of your posts and your opinion is very highly regarded on this forum. I would suspect that is because you know what you are talking about. I followed your instructions on wet sanding when I did my Cobra and it turned out great. I have suspected my transom was weak for some time now because I could trim my motor up a lot higher than other Cobra owners were triming but my rooster tail did not get any higher. Just visually inspecting the transom didn't reveal any thing nor did bouncing on the motor. When I put the 12" jack plate on and added the aluminum bar for the lower motor holes everything still looked good. I gained some speed but at the same time I probably brought my transom problem to a head. As I said in a previous post I have never done any fiberglass work. You know when you go to college sometimes you have to take a preliminary course just to prepare you for the course you want to take. I probably need the preliminary course to fiberglass 101.
I almost wish I had burned a piston in my engine instead of this transom problem because i have been itching to get inside that thing. Now that is my cup of tea. Jim