[reskewed]

I am helping my nephew paint the inside of his new house, in exchange he is giving me a 1969 21' grady with a soft transom ( I would have helped him anyway, but he offered )
anyway, is this a good candidate for a conversion from I/O to outboard? Maybe twins?
boat is in otherwise ok condition, with PLENTY of "deferred maintenance":eek2: I'm thinking a real nice winter project.......... any input will be greatly appreciated!

 

[J Lavender]

I'm no expert but if the transom is soft it's possible it has other structural issues as well (stringers). If the transom is the only problem I would think you could replace the entire transom and put a single OB on it.

As the owner of a 20' grady I can't see putting twins on it. The link below will take you to a downloadable copy of the original brochure. There are two 21'models

Grady-White Boats___Superbly Engineered

 

[rrr]

Here is some pics of my dads '66 bertram. The transome was re-enforced and the I/O holes were patched.

 

[rrr]

Now with the cut...

Finished Product...

 

[rrr]

I have pictures of my workboat if you would like to see some different ones. Just gimme a shout.

 

[reskewed]

Thanks rrr, I would like to see any pics you may have of how the I/O holes were patched ant the reinforcements of the transom.


I drool every time I see that Bertram!!!!!!! AWESOME!!!!!!!

 

[rrr]

Haha thank you. Thoses are the only pictures. In my boat I have three pieces of 3/4'' plywood with a layer of thick fiberglass mat inbetween. Then I have three layers on the outside of the last layer.

What I would do the patch the holes is this...

1. Grind the transome including in the I/O holes.
2. Fiberglass 3-5 layers of fiberglass in using the method I said above.
3. Cut pieces to fit the I/O holes...use as many pieces as you need and whatever shape you need to build out the hole to get it as smooth as possible with the transom.
4.Put some filler/putty on the low spots and blend everything together.

A better explaination of step 3...

You may cut out an exact pattern of the hole but there may be a dip or something in the plywood so cut a little strip to compensate for that dip.

To get your plywood against the transom (assuming its curved), drill alot of holes for bolts or use alot of screws to pull the plywood back.

Not to insult your intelligence but the more contact you have with fiberglass the stronger you want it to be and if your going with something like outboards you don't want that thing rotting out of being to weak.

It may sound short but it takes a long time.

 

[reskewed]

Thanks.
When I get the boat to my house and give her a once-over, I will take pics and ask for more input at that time. I think I understand your description. I will take pics and post every step of the way, If you see something not done right, please chime in-- I'm much greener at this than you are

 

[rrr]

Yeah I'd be happy to help!

 

[done workin]

Mark

Here's the link to the tranosm repair site as well as the Mako Site.

TransomRepair Home Page

ClassicMako.com

Not to insult your intelligence but the more contact you have with fiberglass the stronger you want it to be and if your going with something like outboards you don't want that thing rotting out of being to weak.

yeah right

In the almost 20 years I've known him I've never been able to do anything with or to his intelligence

 

[rrr]

Haha...hard headed like me.

 

[reskewed]

Chris, that has been like the blind leading the blind!!