Reconstruction of the transom will consist of one layer of ¾ in Meranti/HW ply, This layer will consist of 4 separate sections. The inside layer of laminate will consist of a single skin of +/- 45* 600grm Double Bias. These braces will be constructed from 1 thickness of ¾ in thick Okoume/HW ply and then glassed using 1 skin of 600grm Double Bias E glass. Internally the braces will also go to the full height of the transom/topsides and will extend forward to tie the transom to the aft topsides giving additional support to the topsides/hull join. These bearers will extend aft through slots in the reconstructed transom and will form part of the pod structure. To support the weight and stresses imposed by possibly two V8s we plan to build longitudinal bracing glued and glassed to the existing internal engine bearers and forward to the first bulkhead. The pod will provide positive buoyancy when the boat is at rest. However I am not convinced one engine will give me enough speed so the reconstruction has to be strong enough to take the weight of two V8 outboards with minimal alteration. We have purchased one Johnson 4.0 300hp V8 outboard to power the Wellcraft. We plan to build a pod on the transom and incorporate a boarding platform on either side of the engine(s). A straight edge showed us the remaining laminate on the transom was fairly straight and would require no rectification. So complete removal on the transom and parts of the existing engine bearers, which we will need to laminate to. I have decided to remove only that which is necessary for our transformation. The transom removal was quite straightforward the removal of the recently added glass cloth was time consuming and tedious in the extreme. The positive was the removal of plenty of excess weight. We removed more than one full rubbish bag of grinding residue (dust). This excess was between ½ and ¾ of an inch thick in places. Excess resin had been allowed to accumulate at the base of the transom and require considerable grinding to remove. Much of the substrate had apparently not been prepared for glassing contributing to the poor adhesion of the glass. Some areas the cloth had not been wetted out properly and had consequently not stuck. Some of the glass we were able to rip off the substrate. It had been poorly applied and had not been clearly thought out. It became very quickly apparent that the whole transom would require removal through to the glass and gellcoat.Īt some point in it’s more recent history heavy Woven Rovings glass had been laid over the transom, engine bearers hull sides etc, it covered everything up to and including the first bulkhead forward of the transom. It appears as though poor quality repair work had been done on two or three different occasions on the transom. We foundthe phrase restoration was not correct. Prior to purchase I had been assured that both the floor and transom were solid and that the boat had recently undergone a $US15k refit on mechanicals and transom etc. Prior to purchase we could see from photos that there had been some restoration done to the transom. We then removed all appendages from the transom both inside and out. Replacement engine to be one or two Johnson 4.0 300hp V8 outboard engines. Inboard/outboard to outboard conversion on 1985 Wellcraft Nova with Indmar Vortec 320hp 5.7 litre V8 engine and Alpha one drive.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |