Arthur Armstrong Broadbill Rebuild

[Steve Sanford]

Trey~

I just read through this whole thread and want to reinforce one thought: It's critical that you seal the plywood transom thoroughly with epoxy before you encapsulate it in CSM and polyester resin. Most early production 'glass boats used wood for framing/reinforcing. The industry learned the hard way that polyester is not truly water proof. Water vapor can move through it an saturate the wood (esp. with condensation) and create the perfect environment for the fungi and bacteria that cause rot. So, the wood rots within its 'glass capsule. The stringers in my old 'glass sneakbox are a good example of this process. Most manufacturers use structural foam instead nowadays.

I would seal the whole transom with 2 coats of epoxy, esp. the adges. Then, smooshing it onto transom interior with ployester-saturated CSM (you probably know that epoxy is chemically incompatible with mat before it cures) is a good plan. I would then "tab" the entire perimeter with a 2" border of CSM but leave most of the interior face of the epoxy without 'glass (no real benefit). As long as the epoxy gets painted - to avoid UV deterioration - you'll be good to go.

Keep the pics and stories coming!

SJS

 

[Tony H]

Trey~

I just read through this whole thread and want to reinforce one thought: It's critical that you seal the plywood transom thoroughly with epoxy before you encapsulate it in CSM and polyester resin. Most early production 'glass boats used wood for framing/reinforcing. The industry learned the hard way that polyester is not truly water proof. Water vapor can move through it an saturate the wood (esp. with condensation) and create the perfect environment for the fungi and bacteria that cause rot. So, the wood rots within its 'glass capsule. The stringers in my old 'glass sneakbox are a good example of this process. Most manufacturers use structural foam instead nowadays.

I would seal the whole transom with 2 coats of epoxy, esp. the adges. Then, smooshing it onto transom interior with ployester-saturated CSM (you probably know that epoxy is chemically incompatible with mat before it cures) is a good plan. I would then "tab" the entire perimeter with a 2" border of CSM but leave most of the interior face of the epoxy without 'glass (no real benefit). As long as the epoxy gets painted - to avoid UV deterioration - you'll be good to go.

Keep the pics and stories coming!

SJS

Steve that's some great advise. I wouldn't have glued the boards together either I would have epoxied them and then epoxies the whole things with 2 coats of expoxy and then followed Steves advise and just tabbed them in place.

Be carefull if you get it to thick the deck will not fit back on it. the lip over the transom will measure 1.5" wide atleast the molds we have do so if you used 2 pieces of 3/4" ply you have very little extra room once its glassed for it to fit back in place.

I am redoing one right now that we made a liner mold for the new models so make sure its going to work before you glass the new transom in place. I will add that a full wood transom is way over kill for this boat. We are only using a 18" wide 1" Coosa Board core for the transom in the new boats.

As always great work and take it easy on the crappies would ya? lol

 

[Tony H]

One last thing it looks like your CSM is very light on resin. Make sure its completely saturated and if its white anywhere it needs more resin. Could just be the pics but looks like its starving for resin.

 

[trey]

I really appreciate all the insite guys. Unfortunately I only have poly resin on hand. I've read of several rebuilds of larger boats using only poly and glass to seal the wood with no problems, but I'm sure the problems won't become apparent until several seasons down the road. If it does become an issue I will have to address it at that time and chalk that one up to a should've listened lol. Not like I've never messed anything up before! Tony, the mat on the transom does look as if it is lacking of resin, because it is. The removal of the old transom removed the inner layer of glass. I just put a bit of resin and glass on there to stiffen it up so I did not break it while manuvering the boat in and out of the garage. I will be sanding it and repairing much better when I get to that point. The other pictures may look like they are lacking, but I think it is just the lighting/camera issues. I will investigate further and make sure though. It is storming pretty bad here now, hopefully I can get something done tonight!

 

[trey]

I got a little done tonight. I took my belt sander and my air grinder to all the edges of the transom and smoothed them over. Then I made fillets on the edges of the motor board. Will get the rest of the transom wrapped tomorrow. You can see in the following pictures that I should hopefully be okay with the thickness of the transom. If I have to make some adjustments to the cap I should be able to handle it. More pictures!

 

[Kristan]

Nice job on the rebuild and some nice Sac a Lait!

 

[Huntindave McCann]

I got a little done tonight.

Trey,
You realize that you would get more done on the boat if you would stop taking time away to harrass those crappies. :>)

Nice work of both counts.

 

[James A. Miller]

Trey- Thanks for the great Pic's! I have a similar model boat, with a closed bow. It has been a wonderful boat to hunt from, easy to hide, and it seems to take pretty rough water with ease. Thanks taking the time to share this re-build. Miller

 

[Capt Rich Geminski]

Nice job on the transom. Think I wouldn't round the side and bottom edges, easier to glass in fillets. I may have put the motor mount on the outside of the hull. Job looks great...

 

[trey]

I realized I had forgotten to post pictures of the underside of the cap for you to see the flotation foam. Took a couple pictures this morning, may be a little hard to see because I had to hold the cap up with one hand and take the pictures with the others.

 

[trey]

Didn't get a whole lot done last night. Got the fillets ground down smooth and glassed one side of the transom.

 

[Tony H]

Very nice work so far. The foam is interesting for sure. hard to tell how much is in there but there is a few cubic feet for sure. I would assume they used block foam and glassed it to the deck right? very interesting way of doing it for sure.

 

[Gene R.]

Trey, Mine only has the foam in back and up starboard sideabout a foot. Mine isn't covered with glass though. Looks like it was poured in a mold then attched some how to the under side of deck. Glued I'd guess. Is your front hatch/compartment from the factory that way?
Nice work so far. What you OB using for power? I have mine emptied and getting ready to add decoy racks front and back to grass rails. I'll start post when I get rolling.

Gene R

 

[trey]

Gene, my foam lookes to be molded as well, but glassed over. Could have been glassed at a later date though. The front "dog box" was not factory, someone cut it out and added a combing around it. The combing is now rotted out and will need repaired. I'm not sure if I am going to leave it open like that or close it back. If I leave it open I will make a cover for it like the factory cockpit cover. I'm trying to get someone to build me a fuel tank to go in front of the "dog box" and not take up too much space, but if they cannot or will not I will have to use the "dog box" area for a fuel tank. I would really like to build some kind of small mud motor to go on this boat. Anyone have any experience with a mud motor on this hull or links to projects with them?

 

[Cody Williams]

Great looking work! I'm not really familiar with this hull but it looks to be a planing hull, if so it would be a good candidate for a longtail mud motor. I would think something in the 10-15hp range would probably be about right. If you're interested in building your own there is a lot of info out there.

 

[trey]

Thanks Cody. Yeah I plan on building my own using the 420cc Harbor Freight Predator engine. Last night I got the transom put in. Got some small fillets but will go back over the edges and tab it all in nicely. I'm not sure if I will work on it tonight, may have to go chase the crappie again!

 

[Cody Williams]

That harbor freight 420 is a pretty good motor. I would suggest reinforcing your transom some, and maybe tying it into the other bulkheads with longitudinals. Those mud motors put a lot of torque and stress on the transom, and your motor will probably end up weighing about 130-150lbs or more when you are done. Can't wait to see what she ends up looking like when you are done!

 

[Huntindave McCann]

I'm not sure if I will work on it tonight, may have to go chase the crappie again!

Nice to hear you have your priorities in order. :>) :>)

 

[trey]

I planned on doing some reinforcement. Do I need a motor that big or should I stick with one of the smaller Predator engines? Do you know what kind of power I could expect from each one?

 

[Tony H]

I planned on doing some reinforcement. Do I need a motor that big or should I stick with one of the smaller Predator engines? Do you know what kind of power I could expect from each one?

Trey the Broadbill was rated for a 25hp outboard and I am hearing that a 15hp was plenty motor for the boat. I am not really familiar with the Mud motors but weight would be a concern.