1987 gregor baja special rebuild

[Joshyouwa]

All right so first off I am new here. I've been lurking and you guys really have a ton of good advice in this site.

A little background... I had a 18 foot nitro bass boat that I rebuilt and it turned out pretty nice but it was too heavy of a boat so I sold it and not 3 days later in rolled my new to me gregor.

It had a side console and a little deck in the back. The trailer is okay. So I decided to guy the boat and replace things since it looked to be in bad shape and I was right. I took out the floors, side console, foam, and took the 35 mercury 2 stroke off it. Reason for this is the transom is rotted out. So I've done some research and it seems my transom is a 2 piece transom?

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So my questions to you guys are..

1. No pt wood so use exterior grade but what to seal it with?

2. Can I add wood to the back of the boat aka the outside to help strengthen the transom?

3.How hard is it to paint this boat? Either inside and out or just inside? I've heard conflicting opinions on if it is worth my time and money to do so...

4. I live in southern california and would like to run to the kelp off shore, fish the bay, and still fish bass locally, should I keep it bare bones and try to keep the weight down?

5. The foam is kinda shot out inside the bench seats so what should I do? Replace foam in seats or add foam under a floor so I can utilize more storage?

6. After I get the old transom removed and cut new pieces do i glue them together or just insert them seperatly?

Any help, ideas, thoughts, or advice is welcomed.

Really appreciate all the info on this site.... Ill post more pics as i go or if you have a request for a pic let me know..

Josh


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[lckstckn2smknbrls]

Glue the 2 layers of plywood with Tite bond III. To seal the wood use a mixture of one part Boiled Linseed oil, one part Spar Varnish or Spar Urethane and two parts Mineral Spirts.

 

[Joshyouwa]

Thanks for the info. The problem is the braces are welded in and after tearing out the old transom which was 3 pieces layered of 3\8 wood I dont see how Im going to get anything thicker than that to go back in. Especially since I had to cut the pieces to even get them out... Of I could take the braces out and replace them after it would be so much easier



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[lckstckn2smknbrls]

I would remove the corner transom caps and straighten out the top cap or cut off the top cap and fabricate a new one.

 

[Joshyouwa]

Well today went pretty good. Got the new transom placed in and a few bolts to hold it. Will finish it tomorrow after I get new bolts

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[lckstckn2smknbrls]

How did you get it in? Did you seal the wood? Are you going to use stainless steel hardware?

 

[Joshyouwa]

I used all stainless hardware. I also sealed the wood with three coats of finish. Overall im pretty happy with my first transom replacement. Learned alot here and I thank you guys for that. Should hold up I hope but time will tell.
As far as getting it in... I copied what I took out. Made a template. And bent it in. I used the downs to the front of the boat to out pressure on the knew braces and used a rubber mallet to get the wood to slide down until I cleared the corner brackets.. No cutting needed at all.

Here is the finished product minus two bolts.

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[user 21075]

Nice work so far. Gonna be a nice boat 8)