Bubble in Transom (I/O conversion)

[TheBizzTwo]

This is my first post, about to go down the path of restoring a 1976 Seacraft 23' and am pretty jazzed about it ... I also realize it's going to be a lot of work!

The owner before me rebuilt the transom using coosa board and had the entire process well documented. The boat was originally an I/O and they used the original transom skin to mount the coosa to (and removed the rest). Long story short, that's as far as into the project as they. Five years later there is a bubble showing (delam?) and I am guessing it is right where the void in the skin was for the original I/O. It's a little hard to make out, but its almost smack dab in the middle of the transom.

The plan is to bracket the boat and add an outboard, but not sure 1) how concerned about this I should be? 2) if there is an solution to fix it? The boat has not seen water since the transom was redone.

Thanks in advance. I plan on reading these forums daily for the foreseeable future.

[flyingfrizzle]

Looks like the bubble will end up right where the bracket will mount up at. You may want to grind it out and refinish that spot. Probably a delaminated spot or air pocket of sorts. If you clamp the bracket to that spot it may pull it in and make it not too noticeable but now is the time to fix it as you don't want to have to later after paint....

[TheBizzTwo]

That's new awlgrip on the transom already, but I guess grinding it out from the skin side makes sense. Thanks

[flyingfrizzle]

Originally Posted by TheBizzTwo

That's new awlgrip on the transom already, but I guess grinding it out from the skin side makes sense. Thanks

The bottom pic looked painted but the pic of the transom I was unsure about. Thought the white markings towards the top above the red arrow was filler. If it is fully finished and painted already and if the bubble falls under the mounting point of the bracket you may be ok to get by with it. Even if it dose partly show above the bracket flange you possibly can still do a less invasive repair. You could drill a small hole at the top of the bubble and use a syringe to inject thin epoxy into it. Use a flat object to clamp down on the bubble with wax on the surface to protect it from the resin bonding. Once it sets you would be ok. If that's the only place and the rest looks good and you don't want to repaint the transom that could be an option. Chance are if you can press it flat now without it distorting it may work but if it wont lay back down you may forced to grind it out unless you can mount a bracket high enough to hide it. Always a third option, don't worry about it and live with it. That one spot wont make the transom fail even if it spreads some long as the rest of it is bonded well.


Now would be the best time to do a full repair, get it right so you have peace of mind latter...

[uncleboo]

I vote for fixing it before you mount anything. It may be fine for the rest of your life, but, it may gnaw at you for the same period...

[Islandtrader]

Not to make things harder for you...however if you are going to grind it out and patch it I would also take a plastic hammer and tap the whole transom and listen for any hollow sounds and fix those also. You may be surprised one way or the other on what you hear.