'92 Alumacraft crappie deluxe transom replacement

I'll start by saying I'm new here and this is my first post, my name's Sam, im 17, and I've been bass fishing competitively all my life. I've received this boat from my dad on sort of an "if you can fix her you can have her" type deal. I'm experienced with most any tool you can think of and also aluminum welding. However, never replaced a boat transom, only engine work.With that being said here's what I'm working with: wood in transom is completely rotten and transom is beginning to bow inward, rivets on the bottom are leaking pretty bad also. If anyone has any experience with this particular boat or one built similarly you have no idea how much I'd appreciate some input, I'll upload some pics once I figure out the site. Thanks in advance!

17, and I've been bass fishing competitively all my life

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hmmmm how old were you when you entered your first competition ?

Probably a good idea to post the photos as you ask the questions.
In general, it sounds like just about every boat here at one time or another.
browse through the archives, lots of very good builds and rebuilds there.
TONS of free information
stay awake, take notes, and you will pass.

:WELCOME: To the Big Lake





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Haha, well since a reasonable age to be fishing a 2 man tournament with my dad, but thanks I'll check out the archives. And I'm having trouble uploading pictures, using an iPhone 5.

You can weld aluminum but you can't cut some rivets off a soggy transom to replace some plywood?

I'm having a hard time understanding how your daddy can teach you all this stuff including how to weld aluminum, but is giving you a boat that just needs a transom...

I know that much, and I'm sorta being left alone on this one as he doesn't have time to mess with it. I know the basics of the operation, I've just never done it before and want to make sure it's done right

Make it an all aluminum transom.

is this similar to your boat ??


I guess the first order of business is to strip it down to bare bones on the inside.
So you can actually see every rivet and seam.
level it on the trailer, put some blocks under the trailer frame, fill the boat with water
to where you think the water line is . . . . . . .
mark all the leakers - drain water out.
It takes two people to reset the leaking rivets with the bucking bar system.
I could not remove the floor in my boat, so my only option was to
put a dab of sealant on each rivet being sure to encapsulate the edges.
So far, so good. Very little water in the bilge at the end of the day.

My boat is similar, but the previous owner coated the bottom with what appears to be SteelFlex.
But, a lot of rivets still leak. So that is how I addressed that issue.



I am not saying this technique is right, wrong, or indifferent.
I am just describing what I did with MY boat. You may decide to take
a totally different route. It is your boat, do it your way and have fun.


The transom is another tutorial in itself. Tackle ONE area at a time so you don't get overwhelmed in it.
In my world, I would address all the leaks first, get that under control, then move on to the transom.





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Yes, exactly like that except flooring is plywood and everything has been carpeted. Old flooring looks like it's gonna be a real pain to get out. Think I'm gonna re-Rivet the bottom and replace the transom rivets with bolts/nuts and figure out a way to seal them.
I'll update the thread with pics as I go along just in-case I'm making any major mistakes that yall can see. Thank you so much for the advice instead of just sarcasm like others.

I agree with the earlier suggestion of making it an all aluminum transom. If I could weld aluminum and had access to a welder, there wouldn't be any wood in my transom any more.

What would a piece of aluminum like that (I'm gonna say 1 1/2" thick) run me? I can see the advantage there. But hey, the wood in there lasted roughly 20 years, so may just stick with wood. Any suggestions on a certain type of wood?

Update: floors and all carpet are up panels on the inside filled with foam are out. Ground all the heads off the rivets and knocked them out with a punch

just a little help turning your photo around for better viewing.



yep, just continue doing what you are doing. Slow and steady will make for a quicker job.

In other words, if you mess something up, you will double your time in it.





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TCbassbuster said:

What would a piece of aluminum like that (I'm gonna say 1 1/2" thick) run me? I can see the advantage there. But hey, the wood in there lasted roughly 20 years, so may just stick with wood. Any suggestions on a certain type of wood?

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You build it from 1-1/4" or 1-1/2" aluminum tube with 1/4" or 1/8" thick sheet over it.

Thanks for rotating the pic. And I looked up pics for the all aluminum transom. I plan to have wood in by tomorrow evening. Thanks yall. I'll post more pics