Can Aluminum be glued to wood with epoxy?

Bricklayer ted a here, I am new here to TinBoats. I just bought and stared a restoration of a 1972 18' Starcraft. Need to rebuild transom and strengthen the transom. My question is can I glue a piece of .125 aluminum to Meranti plywood with West system epoxy? Thanks in advance. Ed

Don't know about aluminum, but steel sure can. Ask anyone that full bedded a barrel with Brownells gun epoxy, and didn't use the release agent! :lol:
NO; it wasn't me!

I believe it will, but why would you want to? If you are replacing the transom, then that should be all the strength you will need. Plus if in the future you have an issue or even worse another rotten transom, you won't be able to get it out.

Hi brick. Epoxy on aluminum and wood is a no-go. To replace your transom you'll want to use 2 layers of non-pressure treated, exterior grade plywood which have been laminated together. You can use the spreadable, 2-part epoxy to seal/laminate the wood, if you like. If you choose to use the epoxy, you'll need to paint over it to provide UV protection. However, many folks also use Spar Urethane and/or exterior paint. You'll then need to mount it to the transom using stainless steel hardware dipped in a bit of 3M 5200 marine caulk. You can find everything you need, with the exception of the epoxy, from Lowes/HD. The method you choose is mostly a matter of time and money. Epoxy is best, but it's a litle pricey and hard to find. Also, try to buy as much of your stainless steel hardware in bulk as possible. It gets real pricey real quick. You may also want to check out iboats.com for ideas and inspiration. They have an entire section in their forum dedicated to Starcrafts. Good luck on your project!

I probably was a little misleading in describing my reason to glue a sheet of 5052 .125 aluminum to the inside of the marine plywood transom replacement. There is about 8" of exposed plywood in the inside of the splash well behind the outboard. If i were to laminate aluminum just to the plywood on the inside there would be no exposed wood. I definitely would not glue to any boat part just the transom board so I can drop it in and remove it also. I have seen aluminum laminated to rear doors on semi van trailers so I was trying to investigate how it is accomplished. Thanks again for any help.

Why don't you use SS screws and 5200/4200 to attach aluminum plate to the plywood?

Yes I used the g-flex stuff, works very well. Here is my transom rebuild.

https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=23064