246 Aquasport FF Rebuild/Mod

[bhdykes]

My brothers and I just purchased a late 70's 246 Aquasport Family Fisherman to rebuild and modify. We plan to document the entire process. We have never fiberglassed much less rebuilt a boat so this forum has been awesome.

Hoping for some guidance along the way. We have begun the demo process and will be refoaming the stringers soon. I'll post some pictures along the way.

[bhdykes]

Here's our hull:

[bhdykes]

We removed the gas tank:


And then the cabin and deck:


Next we are planning to cut the top off the stringers to refoam, sand entire inside of hull, and reglass.

Then the part I am totally unsure of, replacing the transom. It has a slight curve to it and we aren't sure how to handle it. We wanted to replace with 1.5" coosa board. Not sure if we need to cut the entire transom off and square off or if coosa can be flexed into the curve of the existing transom? Any help would be appreciated.

[wingtime]

Looks like a solid start to your project.

Are you sure the transom is supposed to be curved and it's not just warped?

[RickK]

If it's warped , like Wing said, I'd cut the transom off leaving a 2" edge and then clamp a piece of melamine on the outside and use it as a form.  Plenty of example rebuilds to look at doing it that way. Get some good measurements of the old before you start, if you're going to make it the same.

[bhdykes]

Finally have the foam out of the bilge. We have cleaned it out and ready for sanding before we cut the stringer tops to remove the foam.

[bhdykes]

No it doesn't look warped. The part of the transom that the motor mounted to is straight. Both sides of the transom have a convex/concave shape where it ties to the sites of the hull. Not sure how to handle this best. I assume the coosa needs to be one continuous piece running the entire beam but I may be wrong. Here are some photos of the boat to show what we've got to work with.










I think I'd rather go back with a full straight transom but I'm also thinking it might be better to go back with the factory shape.

[RickK]

Looks bowed to me (the picture from above shows it all) - If you place a straight edge across the entire width of the transom I think you'll see the bow, not only across but vertically too.
As far as full or back to the original depends on what you want in the end.  If you close it in you can put a flotation bracket on her.
If you take her back to original you will need a solid piece of core across the main portion of the transom (from the notch down).  You can fill in the side pieces.
For grinding, a good 40 grit flap sanding wheel on a 7" grinder will make short work of it.
Cut the stringers and cap back 18" carefully so you can reuse them.  You'll need that much room for the cloth laminations.  The hull and stringers look to be in great shape ('cept the transom). Before you cut the transom skin off make sure you keep the boat in the proper shape with bracing.  I think you'll feel better with a new transom.

[bhdykes]

Yes I definitely see it. I wasn't sure if that was the way it was built originally since the corners where the hull sides and transom meet have a vertical curvature. And awesome, glad to hear we can fill in the sides of the transom if need be!

We are going to go with a full closed-in transom and a Porta-bracket so I guess we will need to cut the corners off at the edge of the hull to get rid of that curve.

Thanks for the input on the sanding wheel, that part I'm not looking forward to so getting something to speed it up was a priority.
The hull and especially the stringers do look real good to my untrained eye, I'm impressed how well these boats were built. But I will feel immensely better once the new transom is on!

Next steps I see are:
1. Sand the entire inside of the hull and stringers.
2. Cut the top of the stringers off (to be reused) and remove foam from inside
3. Glass the stringer tops back on and entire inside of entire hull
4. Pour new foam into the existing holes on top of the stringers
5. Glass over the holes on top of the stringers.
6. Brace the hull
7. Cut the stringers 18" from transom
8. Cut out old transom

[Levi]

My brother and I got a 246 family fishermen a few weeks back and are doing pretty much the same thing and the transom is bowed out JUST LIKE you've shown here so I think it was built this way there's no way that they are all bowed the same and not be built from the factory like this ours is a 1978 what year is this one?
Could you post a picture of the core inside the transom?
We're currently exploring core replacement without doing any major modifications and I would like to have an idea of the shape of the core inside the transom so I can streamline the removal and replacement process since we plan on keeping everything stock.

[RickK]

I don't see as much bow in the lower transom as I do in the "wings" going up the sides and up top.  If the cap angles at the back to match the twist of the wings then I guess it was made like that - not sure why though.
So as I said earlier, if the transom is flat across the lower portion then you can put a core in the lower and fill the wings.  If there is a lot of bow in the lower portion then you have a decision to make.  I had a 3/8" inward bow on my 170 that I tried to clamp out with a little success.

[bhdykes]

We aren't sure of the year but feel pretty confident that's it's a late 70s. (The title says 1998 but that isn't correct). We haven't gotten into the core as we are still planning that part. Still have a bunch of sanding and stringer foam removal to go. But I will post some pictures once we get into it to try to help y'all. We thought about keeping the shape like you by removing the core and leaving the skin and doing what RickK mentioned since the lower transom is straight and is in good shape but I think we're going to put a straight transom back with a continuous core. Hopefully we will see some benefit. I've changed my mind several times already though.

[Levi]

I don't see as much bow in the lower transom as I do in the "wings" going up the sides and up top.  If the cap angles at the back to match the twist of the wings then I guess it was made like that - not sure why though.
So as I said earlier, if the transom is flat across the lower portion then you can put a core in the lower and fill the wings.  If there is a lot of bow in the lower portion then you have a decision to make.  I had a 3/8" inward bow on my 170 that I tried to clamp out with a little success.

I think it was made that way because the I/O powered hulls of the day had curved transoms so if you cut a notch out of a curved I/o transom I think this strangely shaped conglomeration is the result.
If the stamped in hull number is visible on the starboard side of the transom the second and third to last numbers in it are your year ours has 786 as the last three numbers and my title says '78

[bhdykes]

Oh cool. Ours has a metal tag affixed to the port side of the transom that matches the identification number on the title. The number is ASPX0592M79C. '79 maybe?

[Capt. Bob]

Here ya go.

http://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/hin.htm

October 1979 .

While I have your attention, my 84 CCP also had a curve in the transom. It was readily visible in mounting a full size platform (motor bracket/swim) on the hull.

Just a thought.

Good luck.