Cutting Out & Removing the Rotted Transom in a Jet Boat
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ต.ค. 2024
- Like many owners of these older Jet Boats, the time has come for me to replace the stringers in my 1979 Centurion. I have not come across much detailed content on the process required to perform this repair on these types of boats. Because of this I decided to thoroughly document my journey through the process, showing the problems I encounter and how I overcame them. I will do my best to explain the tools and techniques that I used to perform these repairs. My goal is to try to keep the detail high in these videos, while also trying to keep them from getting to long and drawn out. So I will try to break these videos down into smaller segments. So if you haven’t, I encourage you to subscribe to the channel so you can be notified of the new videos coming out. I hope that you find this series of videos to be helpful for your project. If you have comments, suggests or tips that you would like to share please leave them in the comments section!
In the third video of this series I remove what is left of the wood for the transom. Before I was to even remove the wood I had plenty of prep work to address. I needed to strip all the cables and wiring off the transom. I also had to remove the fuel tanks, which were fiberglassed in to the boat.
I also removed all of the bulkheads in the froward bow section, and the ones that were holding the front of the fuel tanks in. I did this for several reasons. The biggest reason is that they were installed very poorly. They were only tabbed in on one side which was causing a sharpe line and pressure point on the fiberglass of the hull, thus eventually creating the crease in the gel coat on the outside. The forward bulkheads were too far forward for my liking. I can see that originally there was also a bulk head installed at the forward most edge of the stringers, which has since been removed. So I plan to move the forward bulkheads rearwards, and I will reinstall the additional one in the front to give the bow enough strength.
The intake for the pump had to be removed also. There is about 1" of wood on the transom that runs underneath the intake. This is a big project and I want to take my time and do it right. I will also take this opportunity to have my intake modified for a shoe and ride plate.
Once the intake was removed I was able to start working on the removal of the transom wood. I found that cutting a cross pattern into the wood, then chiseling it out was the best method. It was slow and time consuming, but I was able to get it done with no damage to the fiberglass of the boat.
Once the transom wood was removed I found a few areas that will need some attention. Those items will be addressed in the next video.
Thank you for watching!!!
If you enjoyed this video take a look at my other videos on this 79 Centurion Jet Boat.
Cutting Out the Stringers in my 79 Centurion Jet Boat: • Cutting out the String...
Replacing the Stringers in a 1979 Centurion Jet Boat: • Replacing the Stringer...
Comparing the Berkeley & Dominator Jet Drives: • Comparing The Differen...
Restoring Berkeley Jet Pump: • Restoring a Berkeley 1...
Assembling Berkeley 12JG Jet Drive: • How to Assemble a Berk...
Berkeley Stuffer Installation: • Installing a Bowl Stuf...
Installing an inducer into a Berkeley Jet Pump: • Installing an Inducer ...
Restoring and polishing out the transom: • Polishing out the Gel ...
Restoring the Gel Coat on a 1979 Centurion Jet Boat: • Resurrecting the Gel C...
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I just bought a Tahiti Jet boat with an Olds 455. Transom is in need of replacing.
I wasn’t sure whats involved. Now that ive seen this video. I know i can tackle it. Ive been restoring classic vehicles for 30+ years. This will be my first boat restoration. It’ll need new gelcoat also. But thats the easy part for me.
Subscribed. And thanks for the in depth explanations on each process. 👍🏻
Thanks for the support. Glad that you found the videos helpful for your project! Hoping that your build goes quickly and smoothly!
~ Nick
@@AutoTechNick i noticed you have both vehicles and the boat project going on.
I saw you have the Honda in a paint booth.
Im assuming you are in the auto body industry?
@@johnnymula2305 Actually I spent 20 years as a mechanic. Then some how I found my way into the aerospace industry, manufacturing rocket engines.
Auto-body has always been a side hobby for me. I have had some training both in school, and while working at a street rod shop in high school, but it has never been a day job.
~ Nick
@@AutoTechNick so, you’re literally a rocket scientist 🤣👍🏻
Im enjoying the boat building series.
Very thorough, but not over complicated. And no BS. Just straight forward to the point. And edited very well. (Which seems to be the hardest part to get right).
Not even close to a rocket scientist 😂 😂 😂. I won’t place myself in that group! I was initially hired on for my technical experience, but I quickly moved into a management position. I do work with a bunch of incredibly smart people though.
Thank you for the kind words. I really do appreciate them. I do put a lot of effort into the edit of the video, but that is a skill that I have had to acquire to support this venture.
~ Nick
Wow! Good stuff here. Motivation to finish my James Bond CV19SS
Good work, can’t wait to start the tears down ofmine
Thank you. I appreciate the kind words. Best of luck with your project!
Thank you! This is the only video that I've found that shows dealing with the intake plate mounting! I'm currently preparing to mount a berkeley jet drive in a Carlson Glastron 512 that has a mercruser in it. I hope it turns out. Now I just need to find that marine white epoxy stuff. 😁
James, I am glad that you have found the video useful. Like all of us, I have read and heard so many horror stories about cutting the intake out. Well with the right tools and correct approach the job is a breeze.
I was able to get by Sea Goin Poxy Putty from CP Performance, after a short wait on backorder. That will be the stuff that you are looking for to set your intake:
www.cpperformance.com/p-13943-heavy-duty-sea-goin-poxy-putty-3-lbs-1-quart.aspx
Best of luck with your project!!
~ Nick
@@AutoTechNick thank you! I was thinking you'd have to reinforce it with metal or wood first. I've watched clear up till you finish the one tank install. Those stringers look amazing! Wish I could find some oak that wasn't extremely expensive, that'd never rot 😆
@@lovetofly32 Typically not. As long as the fiberglass is built up thick and strong enough that is all that is needed around the pump intake.
I will be dealing with my pump intake here in the next few videos, so I can cover some of that.
I don't know if I could bring myself to burry beautiful oak under all the fiberglass for the stringers!!! Doing it with the CVG Doug Fir was hard enough! I am confident that with the proper water drains and care of the boat I will not need to worry about more rot.... Hopefully, I'll be long gone and my son will have to be the one who deals with it the next time... 😂
Great work
Thank you!
I have to do the same thing to the Hawaiian 21 ft long way to go but your videos will help me a great deal. thanks so much. would send pictures if you like!
That is great to hear that these videos will help you out with your project!! Absolutely send me some pictures of your project! I would love to see what your working on!
~ Nick
I'm going to need to replace the floor and carpeting on mine soon and if I find a mess like this I'm done lol.😁👍patience.
Its not as hard as it seems. It is time consuming and messy. Lots of physical grunt work. But it’s a totally doable DIY project.
@@AutoTechNick oh I know it .. I came from SoCal jet boats by the way and loveing the videos 👍
Thank you very much! It is nice to hear that you guys have found value & maybe some entertainment in the videos!!
@@AutoTechNick no thank you , I enjoy and appreciate the knowledge I gained from videos like these. Looking forward to seeing the finished product
Good video series’s, I have to do the same on my 86 bahner.
Thank you 🙏 I greatly appreciate it. Hopefully these videos will help you out once you get started on you project!
So far yes I have an idea of what’s to come, definitely watching your progress.
Just an idea, when the tanks go back in, do NOT use a stiff fuel hose. The deck on these boats will flex, it's just a fact of life. If you have ever seen spider cracking near fuel fillers, I can almost guarantee there is a stiff fuel hose attaching the tank and filler. When the hull cap flexes, and it will, the filler turns into a reinforcement point,(when a stiff hose is used) solidly attached to the hull via the fuel tank. This stiff point stresses at the fasteners under the filler at 4 points, which are usually just small nuts. Eventually, lovely spider cracks will appear.
I will be looking into using a silicone baffle or equivalent on my tanks when they go back in. Sort of an accordion style connection to allow independent flex of cap and hull.
That is a great tip Ernest! Thank you for sharing.
I did notice significant spider cracking for the bolts holding my fuel fillers on as I was removing them. My hoses were pretty firm and short upon removal, I never gave it a second thought to as why though.
I noticed the same situation on my Raysoncraft when I pulled the fiberglass “shoebox” tanks out- the filler connector hose is quite stiff. Also I’ve been wrestling with how to reinstall my new aluminum tanks after cutting the old ones out with my oscillating tool (great invention!). After seeing how the factory installed your aluminum tanks with ‘glass, I just may do the same and tab them right back in.
@@daveaustin69 I plan to change the way my fuel tanks are mounted in the boat. I would like to move away from glassing them in. I am working out a way to mount them so they are fully bolted in. I like the thought of being able to quickly and easily remove them if I need.
I'm on the ass end of my transom work on my 73 eliminator. I have the pump out getting rebuilt, transom was rotten from cavitation plate hardware on the driver side. Luckily the stringers were in good shape. I totally deleted the plywood all together, 6 layers of 1708 with laminating resin, top coated with a curing agent, all tap plastics products. The seam of the boat had to be straightened out after the wood and old fiberglass got chipped away. It was a shitty but fun project for me and my kid to do. Good luck
Thank you! Sounds like you had a lot of work to tackle on your project! I considered eliminating the wood on my transom, but decided not to mainly because I have swim steps on the back of the boat the we frequently use. Because of that I will be replacing my transom with ¾ marine grade plywood.
Are you going to set back the pump? I would like to see that done before I do mine
I HEAVILY debated this!! I decided not to for several reasons.
1. I am running an older Berkeley Jet-O-Vator rather than a Place Diverter. The way these Jet-O-Vator’s function is by reacting off of the transom housing cover in conjunction with the steering cable. If I did a set back pump I would have had to completely re-work that in addition to making the new transom plates.
2. I did not want that extra scope of work at the moment. I want the boat back in the water.
3. I am adding an adjustable shoe and ride plate to my boat. I want to make only one change at this time so I can see and feel how the boat reacts.
4. In the future I plan to upgrade to a Place Diverter and a droop snoot. Again making one change at a time to understand how it really affected the boat
After those items I will likely come back and pull the intake and perform a setback. I know, I know I am crazy for doing it twice…. But those that know me well wouldn’t be surprise in the slightest, 😂
Aaaaaaand now after typing that response I am questioning my chosen path once again… For now I am going to stay focused on the replacement of the transom and stringers. I’ll see how I feel once it’s time to set the pump intake. I might just go for the setback right away. 😬
It may have been rigged with a closed cooling system in the past. The pickup and dump in the hull were likely for the heat exchanger.
That is possible. Certainly seems like the long and hard way to cool the engine 😂
Silver city… where are you located? I’m in Bremerton
Heck yeah! The best beer around IMO. I am just across the water from you over in the Seattle area.
You removed the thru-hull water strainer pickup scoops.
Yes, but what were they using the water for? One suggestion was for engine cooling/ electric water pump?
@@AutoTechNick the strainers would feed water for cooling. I don't know if the original motor had a raw water setup or intercooler.
My 1970 Larson was converted to a 3 stage jet pump in 1974. The jet pump pushes water to a stock GM belt driven water pump and to wet headers.
Also you are never going to find one that the intake is centered between the stringers. So unless you offset the motor between the stringers it will never line up.
Correct. We cannot assume that the stringers are actually square and center in the boat. The pump is installed and centered off the keel and the engine needs to match the pump, not the stringers. When I am going back in with my new stringers I am going to do my best to get everything true and center, stringers included. Everything will be centered off the bottom / outside of the keel.
I presume the booth is vented with fan(s) ?
Yes. I have a wall mounted fan at in the rear of my shop that is pushing air outside. At the front of the booth I use three regular box fans to blow fresh air in. This setup has done a fantastic job at preventing the rest of my shop from getting buried in dust. I can show this setup in some detail in the next video.
I imagine you take notes on the wiring and everything as well as pictures ….
Great question Dave. I have not discussed those topics in a video yet and I probably should. Before and during any project I am very heavy on taking many, many pictures from different angles. They always come in handy during assembly. As for the wiring, my down and dirty method is just taping both ends of the wire indicating where it when, or what it controls. If you look very closely in the time lapse you will notice the blue painters tape that I used to mark the wires with.
My guess would be that the pipes were installed for an electric water pump. The person who installed them didn’t know how jetboat cooling works.
🤔 Hmm that is a interesting thought. We have owned this boat since the early 90’s so electric water pumps were pretty primitive tech at that point. The size of the pickups and tubes were different from side to side as well, which I find interesting.