First Mod: New Transom On My Lowe 1457 Sea Nymph - UPDATED!!

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haute

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Hi Guys,

After a season on the water, I thought I'd post the rebuild of my transom.

I'm rebuilding the transom for three reasons:

1) The actual transom on my boat is the same thickness as the hull, and I want greater rigidity

2) The previous owner mounted the electric on the starboard side, and for someone who tills with his left hand, that made things *super* awkward for me. So when I moved the electric to the port side, there was no hull thickness to really mount the electric to. I tried shims and all sorts of crap like that and after nearly losing the motor a couple of times in deep water, I wanted to fix that situation.

3) I want to raise my motor by approx 1" to bring the anti-vent plate near level with the bottom of the boat. Doing this on the stock transom is nearly impossible.


So, here is what the transom looked like when I bought it:

lowe2.jpg


Some closer images of the transom:

tra1.jpg


tra2.png


tra3.png


I decided to go with some sort of reinforcement across the *entire* transom, both inside and out, while keeping with the stock reinforcement.

In terms of materials, I went with 2 x 3/4" pieces of G1S (Good One Side) plywood for the outside transom, and 1 x 5/8" G1S for the inside of the transom. The two pieces for the outside were glued together with carpenter's glue, allowed to set, then any voids were filled with epoxy. The entire piece was then sealed in epoxy.

On the inside of the transom, I wanted the reinforcement to mirror the outside so that meant I had to accommodate the knee brace, which was jigged and routed, covered in epoxy, and checked for fit:

tra4.png


tra5.png


The back piece was then checked for fit as well:

tra6.png


The most current step was to mount everything up, clamp, and drill the holes. From there, the holes were bored out, so they can be filled with epoxy. Here's a shot of my buddy filling the holes:

tra7.png



... and that is where it sits now.

The next step will be to fold and cut a 1/8" piece of aluminum sheet to cover where the motor will go. This will wrap from the bottom of the inside to the bottom of the outside, with 1" aluminum bar under it to give my motor the 1" lift.

========== UPDATE ==========​

So after filling the over-bored holes with resin, here is what it looks like:

tra8.jpg


Fitting up the pieces to drill through:

tra10.jpg


tra9.jpg


I decided not to use voidless plywood, so I needed to fill all exposed voids with resin. Here's an example:

tra11.jpg


The resin I used isnt UV protected inherently, so I used an entire can, with multiple coats, of Rustoleum UV-protecting semi-gloss clear coat:

tra12.jpg


Example of holes drilled through the resin. Unfortunately, some resin cracked and settled a little less than flush, so I went back after this and repaired them, even though this shot shows flaws:

tra13.jpg


To ensure the bottom is water-tight, I used rubber grommets on the inside of the the exterior and interior transom pieces, sealed with 3M 4200. So, that means outside to inside, wood - 3M - grommet - 3M - transom - 3M - grommet - wood:

tra14.jpg


Here's everthing bolted up, testing fit before the aluminum plate:

tra15.jpg


tra16.jpg


tra17.jpg



Next was the aluminum plate/motor riser. Here's a shot of my buddy folding the aluminum plate:

tra18.jpg


Here's a late-night shot of the finished product. Note the 3 x 1/2" aluminum bars under the plate. This is how we raised the motor. After the riser, the anti-vent plate of the motor is now 1/2" below the bottom of the boat, rather than > 2" as it was previously.

tra19.jpg


There is some extra folded plate which I will add for the electric trolling motor. I will post some day-time pictures of the finished product later.

Hope this helps some of you!
 
Be sure your epoxy is UV rated. I used West Marine's 105 system, and the sun ate it up in less than a year. It is stained and peeling off down to bare wood, even though I put two coats of MinnWax spar urethane over the epoxy, and it is supposed to be UV resistant (but sure didn't act like it!).
 
great post, I have a small sea nymph that looks exactly like your picture. I need to go the same thing. for your template did you fold cardboard in half, cut one side and open it up so it's symetrical, then trace it on your wood?
i'm going to do the same thing here soon
 
Colorado1135 said:
great post, I have a small sea nymph that looks exactly like your picture. I need to go the same thing. for your template did you fold cardboard in half, cut one side and open it up so it's symetrical, then trace it on your wood?
i'm going to do the same thing here soon

Thanks.

We used CAD (Cardboard-Aided Design :) ) to trace it all out at once, not half, then out.
 
Great job.

FWIW -

Epoxy is UV sensitive and will deteriorate rapidly - but only when exposed.

Urethane is UV resistant and can be exposed. Life expectancy > 50 years. See Gel Coat in Hatteras from the early 1960's !!
 
" We used CAD (Cardboard-Aided Design :) )" :mrgreen: Hafta remember that one!

Great design and workmanship. Well done!
 
The simplest and most effective UV-resistant finish is paint.

Most varnishes that claim to be UV resistant actually do not protect that much. Even so-called "spar varnishes' that you get at the local store. You should go with a traditional spar varnish.

You have to sand and re-apply the varnish every few years to maintain its protection. Otherwise the epoxy will degrade and will have a milky haze.

Paint is easier and simpler.
 
Hi Guys,

After a season on the water, I thought I'd post the rebuild of my transom.

I'm rebuilding the transom for three reasons:

1) The actual transom on my boat is the same thickness as the hull, and I want greater rigidity

2) The previous owner mounted the electric on the starboard side, and for someone who tills with his left hand, that made things *super* awkward for me. So when I moved the electric to the port side, there was no hull thickness to really mount the electric to. I tried shims and all sorts of crap like that and after nearly losing the motor a couple of times in deep water, I wanted to fix that situation.

3) I want to raise my motor by approx 1" to bring the anti-vent plate near level with the bottom of the boat. Doing this on the stock transom is nearly impossible.


So, here is what the transom looked like when I bought it:

lowe2.jpg


Some closer images of the transom:

tra1.jpg


tra2.png


tra3.png


I decided to go with some sort of reinforcement across the *entire* transom, both inside and out, while keeping with the stock reinforcement.

In terms of materials, I went with 2 x 3/4" pieces of G1S (Good One Side) plywood for the outside transom, and 1 x 5/8" G1S for the inside of the transom. The two pieces for the outside were glued together with carpenter's glue, allowed to set, then any voids were filled with epoxy. The entire piece was then sealed in epoxy.

On the inside of the transom, I wanted the reinforcement to mirror the outside so that meant I had to accommodate the knee brace, which was jigged and routed, covered in epoxy, and checked for fit:

tra4.png


tra5.png


The back piece was then checked for fit as well:

tra6.png


The most current step was to mount everything up, clamp, and drill the holes. From there, the holes were bored out, so they can be filled with epoxy. Here's a shot of my buddy filling the holes:

tra7.png



... and that is where it sits now.

The next step will be to fold and cut a 1/8" piece of aluminum sheet to cover where the motor will go. This will wrap from the bottom of the inside to the bottom of the outside, with 1" aluminum bar under it to give my motor the 1" lift.


========== UPDATE ==========

So after filling the over-bored holes with resin, here is what it looks like:

tra8.jpg


Fitting up the pieces to drill through:

tra10.jpg


tra9.jpg


I decided not to use voidless plywood, so I needed to fill all exposed voids with resin. Here's an example:

tra11.jpg


The resin I used isnt UV protected inherently, so I used an entire can, with multiple coats, of Rustoleum UV-protecting semi-gloss clear coat:

tra12.jpg


Example of holes drilled through the resin. Unfortunately, some resin cracked and settled a little less than flush, so I went back after this and repaired them, even though this shot shows flaws:

tra13.jpg


To ensure the bottom is water-tight, I used rubber grommets on the inside of the the exterior and interior transom pieces, sealed with 3M 4200. So, that means outside to inside, wood - 3M - grommet - 3M - transom - 3M - grommet - wood:

tra14.jpg


Here's everthing bolted up, testing fit before the aluminum plate:

tra15.jpg


tra16.jpg


tra17.jpg



Next was the aluminum plate/motor riser. Here's a shot of my buddy folding the aluminum plate:

tra18.jpg


Here's a late-night shot of the finished product. Note the 3 x 1/2" aluminum bars under the plate. This is how we raised the motor. After the riser, the anti-vent plate of the motor is now 1/2" below the bottom of the boat, rather than > 2" as it was previously.

tra19.jpg


There is some extra folded plate which I will add for the electric trolling motor. I will post some day-time pictures of the finished product later.

Hope this helps some of you!
why were the pictures not displayed? have to replace my transom on my V1457
 
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