replacing the plywood on my 1960's era 14' Starcraft.

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rootbeer

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So my question is how thick should I make the plywood? We have a 4 stroke 9.9 merc. Plywood that is on there now is two pieces of 3/4 laminated together on the inside and a small piece of plywood on the back that gives a final thickness of 2". Do I have to be this thick? I have no idea how thick the original transom was. Would it be o.k. to use two pieces of 1/2" laminated?
 

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I'd match the original, or, if you think the original isn't what came on the boat, then measure a few other transoms for their size.

Sorry, my boat isn't near-by otherwise I would measure it for you. My best guess though, is it is near 2 inches. Of course, mine holds a 50 hp Johnson 2 cycle.

richg99
 
1-1/2" is plenty and you can add a piece of 1/2 on the outside. As long as your motor will fit over the transom. Don't use pressure treaded plywood.
 
One of the things that is (and as far as I know has always been) missing is a transom cap. I was planning to use a spar urethane or exterior paint for the plywood. Will this be good enough to seal the top edge of the plywood? I will be using exterior grade plywood (untreated).
 
Straight Spar or paint will seal the wood or you can use a mix of one part Boiled Linseed oil, one part Spar urethane or Spar varnish and two parts Mineral spirts.
You can make your own transom cap from aluminum stock.
 
If you plan on keeping the boat for more than a season or two, or even selling it at some time, I'd make up some sort of a transom cap.

The motor's vibrations would probably wear through any paint/varnish/epoxy/etc. that you might add.

richg99
 
So from looking around online it seems that there used to be an aluminum piece across the top of the transom. I assume I could use some piece of aluminum C-Channel, providing I could find some to fit. I have zero metalworking skills. How would this be attached? There does not seem to be any holes in the transom other than larger holes that attached the transom wood to the stern.
 
Your boat looks alot like mine. I found an aluminum company that sells channel named Orange Aluminum in California. Just don't order or make a cap until you've fabricated your transom and install it. The final measurement will be greater than just the wood.
Once you remove the old transom you might find some corrosion under the old wood. Great project, keep us updated with pictures



Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
 
The transom cap doesn't have to be fancy - someone on here made one from some aluminum chimney flashing that they cut to shape with a pair of tin snips & mallet hammered into shape - came out beautiful, but I didn't bookmark the thread so I can't refer you to it.
 
onthewater102 said:
The transom cap doesn't have to be fancy - someone on here made one from some aluminum chimney flashing that they cut to shape with a pair of tin snips & mallet hammered into shape - came out beautiful, but I didn't bookmark the thread so I can't refer you to it.
Here's one, middle of Page 5, but it sounds like they bought the trim piece from the boat maker and formed it themselves.

You can just buy thin-wall U-channel and bend it yourself, just be sure to ANNEAL it before bending too far, or the aluminum will crack. Typically the annealing temperature of a work-hardened tin is ~60% of the melting point.

https://forum.tinboats.net/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=29555
 
Does the small piece of plywood that is on the external side of the stern sit below the transom cap? My guess and from trying to peer at pictures is that the external piece of plywood sits below the transom cap.
 

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