Mike B's 19-1 Refinish

[RickK]

My $.02.  If your plan is to not do anything to the stringers or the sole then Seacast makes sense as you're not cutting any of the liner, cap, etc. It is a little work though but there are examples to follow - I see you reached out to Lars - he'll answer you soon.
If you are unsure of the stringers or the sole is shot then yes, removing the transom core from inside the boat makes sense. I cut the liner (front of the transom) free and pried it off then using a circular saw I cut 2" wide strips of transom and cut it almost to the transom glass and then used an air chisel to peel it off the transom glass. Makes it very easy. If you can find a long chisel, it's even easier.

[umecheme]

I'd love to not touch the cap, liner, and stringers.  Do you have to take the cap off to put plywood in? I'm sure there's 15 ways to do it, and 50 different opinions.   I'm contemplating making battery boxes for either back corner, so i think i can live with cutting the liner, but i'd love to not take the cap off and rebuild the back foot of stringers.  Me and Jasper Newton Daniel are looking the situation over. I'm going to give this a couple days thought before getting the angle grinder out and committing....  $800 worth of Seacast might be the better option, even though my gut is telling me to replace it with marine plywood...

[umecheme]

Jasper says I'm not putting enough value on my time... and just buy the Seacast....

[RickK]

Again, if you intend to tear into this boat, then you can use wood, like I did in my rebuild for the transom core.
The question is what is below deck. The stringers are trapezoid design with foam filling - 2 on your boat plus 2 on the outer edges  - are they soaked?
https://classicaquasport.com/smf/index.php?topic=14284.msg141517#msg141517

[umecheme]

Rick,

The stringer foam was soaked.  Have all the foam out.  At this point with basically everything open, i think i cut the rear foot off the stringers, lift the cap in the back, and replace the plywood...

[RickK]

Give yourself more room - like 18". Usually the overlap as you laminate is 4", 8" and 12". You'll do that once on the transom skin itself, then add core with troweled thickened resin and fillets and finally do the 3 lams with 4,8 and 12" overlap. By the time you're done your lams should put you about 16-17" out from original transom skin.
And also add this into your plan:
Here is a link to where I explain the thought of the PVC pipe
http://classicaquasport.com/smf/index.php?topic=13148.msg133124#msg133124

Here is a link to where I show what is actual problem
http://classicaquasport.com/smf/index.php?topic=13148.msg133556#msg133556

Here is a link to Hawgleg's rebuild that shows the PVC pipe installation to keep a drain at the new low point of the boat
http://classicaquasport.com/smf/index.php?topic=13148.msg134262#msg134262

[umecheme]

Rick,  the boat had a surprising amount of water in the bilge when i popped the deck off.  Maybe its the way its sitting on the trailer.  The tides here run between 8 feet in Southern Maine and 20 ish feet up where I am, so all the ramps are pretty steep.  Do you think this fix will help, or will extending the pipe just leave more water in the bilge when Im sitting on a steep ramp with the plug out?  Thoughts?

[RickK]

I wish I had thought of the pipe before I did my rebuild. Now I always have water a foot in front of the garboard plug and it takes either raising the bow way up or I need to use a sponge to dry it out.  We have a member that drilled a drain in the bottom because he couldn't get the water out of his either.
The purpose of the pipe is to compensate for the low point being moved forward as you add all the fiberglass and core to the transom. You'll be grinding the pipe down after you finish getting the transom in. After you glass the pipe in and finish the laminations of the transom you can pour some water in the bilge and see where the new low is and grind the pipe to that point.

[umecheme]

I gotcha now... 3 times looking at your pic, and this final description  i see where youre going.

[umecheme]

So.... it was definitely in need of a transom....  Pretty wet.  I'm glad i decided to keep digging. 



Another question,  I can tell that there is a hollow spot behind the liner down by the deck, but up under the cap, it appears as though the liner is attached to the hull.....  I'm very hesitant to cut this with the angle grinder...  Whats the best way to separate the two?

[RickK]

Here is a pic from the rebuild I linked above.


He decided to cut out the transom but you can see the liner along the sides.  He cut it and the stringers back about 18" from the transom.  The cap will be in the way of you getting the core in the boat.  You don't have to cut it but you will need to release it from the hull it so you can prop it up, which allows you to slide the core in from the rear.

[umecheme]

  One step ahead of you Rick!  

I was just explaining to my buddy at lunch who was asking how I knew what to do next.  I told him I'd have an answer to my question by the time we got back from lunch.  Thank you all for the help!  I'm learning a ton.

[RickK]

 
If you want to save the liner on the face of the transom, its possible if you're gentle while prying on it and make sure you release it all around. Take your time.
Having it intact will allow you, after the new core is in, to glue it with thickened resin troweled on the core. It won't be structural but it'll save you from finishing the inside of the transom. If you look in my rebuild of the 170 you'll see the liner I made with side cabinets and glued it all in. I built it from scratch but it might give you some ideas.  Everything you see in my rebuild was my first time trying it. Everything you see was made from scratch, stringers, floor, console most of it) virtually everything. You can do it too.

Here is a glimpse so you don't have to spend a couple days looking through the thread. Like your boat, I had a trough and that was the only way to get cables, wires, etc. to the rear, or anywhere. I ran pvc pipe to the corners of the boat and I needed to hide and protect the openness of the pipe - cabinets were the idea


Liner/cabinets


Installed and running the cables/wires from them






The thing you need to understand is if you can build a box in wood, you can do the same in fiberglass. Fiberglass work is easy - try something and if you don't like it, grind it back down and try something else. And don't be afraid to spend a day or two staring at the hull, thinking things through.
And remember, we're here to help.

[umecheme]

Free for the taking... slightly used marine plywood.

[umecheme]

So... My buddy made me feel guilty for lack of progress, so I spent a few hours in the garage during the ice storm.  Cut everything within 18 inches of the transom as prescribed.  I've been putting it off, out of fear of damaging the hull with the grinder.  Used the Dremel and a Rotozip bit, came out way easier than expected and much less dust to clean up.



I was about ready to walk away, when I decided to spend a few minutes digging at the wood in the transom.  Not really much integrity left to any of it other than the outer foot on both sides.  Definitely needed, and I would have regret not doing it as soon as I tried to hang the outboard.  All of this has convinced me to break down and buy a below deck fuel tank.  I had myself convinced I'd live with an above deck, but, I might as well do it while I'm in here.



While screwing around, I thought up this little flowchart for decision making in the future.