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New Update: I was trying to decide if I wanted to assemble and then paint it all, bolts and all, but I decided I liked the shiny bolt look. So I spent a week with 4 coats of primer sanded in between, then 4 coats of paint, wet sanded, then 4 coats of automotive clear, wet sanded. It turned...

I think Lithium batteries are the way to go these days if you're replacing older batteries. The weight savings is significant, they should last longer, and they give full power until their run dead. I'm still rocking lead acid's in my boat but as soon as they kick, I'll be going with Lithium...

Update. She's starting to look like I did something finally. I spent quite a bit of time sanding the exterior of the transom skin in preperation for primer and paint. That GFlex epoxy is incredibly tough stuff and is pretty hard to sand even. I had to go down to 80grit on a finishing sander...

Spent the evening with an angle grinder and finishing sander cleaning up the excess glue on the inside and outside. I can't say enough good things about this epoxy. I have never seen a glue to tough. I took a utility knife and though I'd trim the stuff that oozed out on the top edge of the...

Its been a hot minute since I posted anything new. I've been in mostly a holding pattern with the boat as weather and temperatures here in good ol PA have been cold, rainy.. then cold.. more cold, snow.. rain... you get the picture. Today, after a long and impatient wait, I have a couple of...

With mine, I had to remove the splash well as the top rolled over the transom edge and was part of the cap system. There was another sheet of aluminum, with a few screws on the backside of the wood as well, it acts like a cover and is painted to match the boat. I decided to replace that piece...

It can be TIGHT, depending on how swelled the wood is. But, I'd go over the entire thing to ensure every bolt and screw is out. There is a ton of fasteners. Here are a couple of places that caught me by surprised and I missed. 1. There is a channel the bottom of the transom wood sits...

I have both 4200 and 5200 on hand, though I never had a need for the 5200 at this point. A trick with 4200 and I'd imagine it works with 5200 as well, is to take a heat gun and heat it. It softens right up and you can remove it fairly easily.

Thats exactly the type of information I was looking for. Thank you. My boats too are fresh water only and trailered so I'm not overly concerned about the galvanic issues. I will look for the 316 SS bolts however. My wood core build was to glue up the layers, then dropped it in the boat...

As some of you guys know, I'm knee deep at the moment on a transom resto on a Starcraft boat. So far so good, everything is going beautifully. I'm taking stock of the hardware I need to replace as I will not use any of the old stuff when I put this thing back together. Looking at...

For sure. This is him through the last few years and he and I's fishing addiction... they grow up too quick!

Nope... lol. I used penetrating epoxy on the whole thing and regular epoxy on the holes. Thankfully, most of the holes filled about 3/4' when they cured. Belt sander with 120grit cleans up the backside mess easily. I should be good to go. Lesson learned.. I haven't worked a lot with epoxy...

Ha! buddy... i have a 15 year old son who turns out boat in a mine field of lures, rods, etc every outing. I keep reminding him to keep the boat in order becuase if someone hooks a musky, its a chinese fire drill every time to get the net and land the fish.. lol. The issue with musky rods...

Transom wood has been drilled and redrilled. Most of the holes are 1/4" with the exception of the tie down loops and the outboard bolts which are 1/2", and the splash well drain holes that are 1". I drilled all holes while in the boat at the correct sizes, pulled it and redrilled the 1/4" bolt...

I don't keep fish.. ever.. because I don't eat fish aside from a handful of saltwater varieties that I can tolerate... lol. I think you're right, I'll probably just replace the lines and temp plug the fittings. At least on of them. There is one in the bow too that I would really prefer it to...

I honestly thought about converting one of the livewells to a cooler by lining the outside of the livewell with foam board as well as the lid hatch for some insulation value. Truthfully, I don't really care at all about resale value on this boat in the future. I got the boat for 4k, which the...

Thanks brother! I know one thing, it'll be stronger than factory once its completed. You're idea of using plywood to clamp it makes good sense. I also snagged 4 12" deep c clamps from harbor friend the other day. Those things get at least half way down the panel. I do plan on thoroughly...

Update time. I got quite a bit done recently and hoping to start assembly in the next couple weeks. The weather is finally improving and I'm hoping to do the epoxy work in a couple of weeks if I get a couple of warmer days above 60. All metal fab is completed with the exception of a minor...

The only issue here is that the transom isn't sealed to allow a poured core. The only option I see here is something like Coosa board for a composite and they aren't getting 700 dollars from me

Thats the hope. And in ten years, if I still like the boat and everything else is still solid, I can keep rolling with her until I get wealthy enough to afford a nice new rig.