1973 196 rebuild question

[Duffy1470]

Indeed. Think I'm going to do 1 more layer of 1708 and one of csm. I've got a roll of csm 50 inch wide so why not.that will make 3 layers of 1708 everywhere plus areas of overlap and one of csm.  The aft skin got about the same but no csm. 

[Duffy1470]

If you remember back a few pages I talked about my transom being an inch to high, well, when I cut it down to 20 inches I only did so in the motor notch so I had about an inch of exposed Coosa with no back fiberglass skin over it.  I really don't know what the hell I am doing so take this with a grain of salt. 
1. Feathered the existing skin with my grinder and 80 grit on a sanding pad back about 3/4 inch
2. A lot of thickened resin in this area from transom gluing session so while feathering skin, ground as much of that smooth with skin
2a. Really delicate as the Coosa is way easier to damage than skin or remaining resin
3. Smeared a super lightweight layer of thickened resin where I felt uncomfortable grinding
4. While thick resin still wet laid 1708 on it
5. got thickened resin in arm hair
6. Just pulled arm hair off.

Obviously 5 and 6 are the key steps in this process. For real though, anyone care to comment. Did I do wrong or will that work. I will probably put another layer or 2 on it then csm. Thanks for any input.

[dbiscayne]

Is the 1708 overlapping the horizontal top of the transom? Or just on the vertical area? Hard to tell from the pic. Without the former you'll get separation where the thickened meets the 1708.

[Duffy1470]

It's not overlapping/making the turn over the top. I was planning on laying csm over the whole thing, making the turn on the front and back edges with that. I attempted turning the corner and failed with 1708 earlier so I figured I would try this. Bad idea? Thanks.

[dbiscayne]

I get it that 1708 doesn't like to make sharp turns. Have had good luck wrapping saran wrap over the glass, pulling down tight past the wet resin then taping it down. Leaves a nice finish too. But some of the corners it just won't work. The CSM will probably keep it from separating.

[Duffy1470]

Saran wrap! Magnificent.  I will do that.thank you.

[dbiscayne]

just be sure to rip the saran wrap off after an hour or so before the resin is completely dry, makes the release a lot easier.

[RickK]

Great suggestions from dbiscayne 
Something to think about: 1708 is for structural strength. The top of the transom just needs to be covered and faired out. I might just start with 3/4oz CSM in a couple layers and then 1.5oz to give it some thickness. Tear the edges of the CSM so it folds over the edges. To finish it off I would smear some thickened resin over the whole top, thickened with something that is easy to sand, like wood flour or micro bubbles. It'll look like the factory liner cap that used to be there. This is a pic of what my transom top looked like from the factory. The transom top and transom inside face was actually part of the liner.  You can see that in the pic. The right side of the pic is where the engine cutout starts

[Duffy1470]

Excellent. If I can't make one work I will try the other. I thought about getting 2 pieces of 3/4 foam toe rail like used in flooring and using them butted up against each other to make a nice rounded surface but all curves would be impossible.  So, thank you very much

[RickK]

If you use the transom to enter the boat from the back sometimes, a flat square surface feels secure.

[Duffy1470]

Has anybody ever treated the transom like a mold? Taped it off, laid glass, popped it off, cleaned it it up in terms of bubble and blemish removal, and then glued it back down with thick resin?

[Ulysses485]

I am not really following what you mean by a transom mold. I just built exterior skin molds and posted some updates on my threads. I understand your building your transom open so finishing it will be different but not sure what you can do different other than working the final shape with glass and then making it look good with filling and fairing. Also, now that the gallery is back up I would recommend using it because the image quality and viewing experience is much better for people trying to decipher what your depicting.

[Duffy1470]

Roger on the gallery. Transom mold explanation:
 1. Take clear packing tape and tape the top 3 or 4 inches of the transom off
 2. Lay glass over that
 3. Pop that off after it dries
 4. Fix blemishes
 5. Glue back down with thick resin.

Is it a stupid idea? Probably.

[Ulysses485]

So are you thinking of building a small stringer looking piece to set over top of the transom like a cap and glue it down? Personally, I would leave the remaining transom work to using glass and then fine tuning the finish with fillers etc. If your using polyester resin like I remember, you really want to stay way from it as an adhesive (especially on the transom that receives quite a bit of stress) and stay using glass until the very thin fairing and filling tasks at the end. Your strongest bond will always be a chemical bond (wet glass on wet glass). Thickened resin should really only be used to build radius inside corners, bedding coosa, stringers, etc. Polyester resin without structural glass as a glue will eventually crack.

[Duffy1470]

Unrelated topic to previous. Does anyone know how to make gunnel tops look like mullet build, see link here https://classicaquasport.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=13496.0;attach=1836;image
I think it's called a rolled edge gunnel.  Is it more , less or same amount of work.  I also like the way he did his finish work with the splatter. I assume that is more of a commercial finish to avoid finish work. What is that grade of finish called?

I am researching how to attach other people's pics. My apologies for the n9n working link