www.iFourWinns.com

Alright.. me and my Dad have decided to tackle the suspected rotten transom ourselves after numerous quotes of between 3 and 4000 dollars from local marine shops. We removed the sterndrive and to our best knowledge removed everything from the engine that is connect to the transom plate along with any electrical wires or hoses running anywhere else. Any advice on any of this? Any tips for actual engine removal? And/or reinstall? Any surprises to be aware of? Words of encouragement might help as well..

_________________
1990 Horizon 200
5.7L OMC Cobra 260HP

I think you'll find that most members here are driver/maintainer types and will get little feedback for your questions. BigBayBoater and LouC are two that do come to mind though that may have some input.

I have removed several engines from boats and the process is as you describe. First off you will need something fairly high and sturdy to lift from. My yard happens to have a nice tree that suits the purpose. On my Vista 245 with 5.8 I removed the outdrive, then went inside the engine compartment and removed the exhaust connections, the ground wire,wiring harness, the shift/throttle cables, water hose to the transom assembly, removed the two large nuts that hold the bell housing to the transom assembly and finally the two large bolts on the engine mounts. You then will be able to gently lift the engine out using a chainfall. Watch for anything that you may have missed as you lift. All said and done I had the motor out in less than two hours. Make sure you take lots of pictures for future reference.







As for you transom question... It is something I have no experience with. Frankly the process intimidates me. To cut out the back of your boat is plain old scary. I think I remember a ShipShape episode that dealt with this process. Do some research on Youtube and Google. Take lots of pictures and show them here so others can get a feel for the process and maybe attempt it too.

Good Luck.

_________________
Marc, Kathlin & Nathalie


'89 Chaparral Laser 32

'93 Vista 245, 5.8L w/ King Cobra

Former Boats
'01 H260, 7.4 VP Duoprop
'98 H200, 5.0 GL w/VP SX drive

There was a guy on ClubSeaRay that documented his transom replacement very well with a lot of pictures. It turned out great IIRC.

Here's a link..

http://clubsearay.com/forum/showthread. ... eplacement

_________________
2007 358 T-5.7GXi IB
Previous Boats
'08 H240, '08 V318, '04 268, '04 225

Try Boat Design Forums for all your rebuilding/structural questions. More knowledgable and technical information is
available there.
http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/powerb ... 23459.html

Or iBoats
http://forums.iboats.com/Boat-Building-Repair/Transom

_________________
One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

You can go over to the boat restoration forum at
http://www.iboats.com
there are many similar projects shown there, sometimes step by step, with a lot of people who really know their stuff.
I did a deck replacement on my 88 200 three years ago and it was a lot of work. I'd say pulling the engine is the easy part!
When I cut out the deck I found that the stringers were rotted too. I didn't fully trust my ability to repair them so I had the 'glass shop fix them for me. Then I installed the new foam and deck and again had the 'glass shop gelcoat it in non skid gelcoat. I hate carpets in boats, they cause rot on plywood cored decks.

A transom is a big project in that you have to carefully remove all the old wood and then get the new wood in so that the thickness is uniform so the transom plate will lay flat against it for proper engine alignment. You have to cut the new opening but since the opening is already in the 'glass that's not the hardest part. When you are in there see if the engine mount stringers need to be rebuilt as well.

The other thing you can do, if you feel the wood/glass work is too hard to do yourself, is to R+R the drive and engine yourself and then have the shop do the glasswork. This will lower the price some but still it's not cheap. I think doing a deck is easier than a transom since with the transom it has to be right on for the engine and drive to be able to be aligned correctly.

_________________
88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

A little update.. successfully removed the motor and outdrive today in under 5 hours. Which I was pretty impressed about. We found where the water was coming in at, as it was extremely rotten down near the drain plug. Anyways, this was good for a first day I think. Next is the hard part.. taking out the old transom. Wish us luck! Hope to have everything done in a couple weeks. I have no pictures, but Ill keep you all updated

_________________
1990 Horizon 200
5.7L OMC Cobra 260HP

Well, we have decided to take the boat to a fiberglass shop and have them finish the work. We got to a point where the shop said we couldn't save much more money (maybe 200 dollars) if we kept working on it for a few more days because there are just certain things they need to do. So, we ended up going from an estimate of 3500 dollars down to 1800. So, all in all I guess we saved 1700 which was a good thing for only about 20 hours of work between two guys. Looking forward to having it back (10-14 days).

_________________
1990 Horizon 200
5.7L OMC Cobra 260HP

If it's a good shop, I think it's the best decision you could make. There are some things that just need to be done by people who do it for a living, and you won't have to worry about whether something was done right, etc.

_________________


Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Yea, its a great shop. The majority of the drop in price was us removing the engine and drive, which took hardly a day. I think they will do a great job.

_________________
1990 Horizon 200
5.7L OMC Cobra 260HP

I think you're making the right decision.....the 2 reasons why I let the shop do parts of my resto were:
1) Safety...I did not want to take a chance that my wood/glass work was less than adequately strong, this boat goes in big water in and around Long Island Sound...
2) Safety again...working with 'glass and resin is potentially hazardous. The dust can be bad for your lungs and the resins are toxic to an extent. I will do smaller scale 'glass repairs that don't involve a lot of grinding but a deck is a big area to do, as is a transom....

Here's a tip, when you get the boat back...make sure that the opening for the outdrive is glassed in completely, all the wood sealed, and also the mounting holes, there should not be any raw wood anywhere. When you reinstall the engine mounts, the lag bolts should be bedded in with 3M 4200 to keep out the moisture. If you do the deck too...seal every single screw that goes into it with 4200. That's what I did on mine...and make sure when you reinstall the transom mount that you use a new seal and its in there the right way....I'd probably use 4200 around the bolt holes for sure and maybe even on the seal it self. The rot starts with water intrusion into raw wood...if you keep it out the boat can last forever...and fresh water rots wood much faster than salt. I had a rotted deck from rain water but my transom is still OK...(salt water...)

Lastly if you don't have one invest in a good cover, I had a bow and cockpit cover made back in 03 when I started redoing my interior and it has kept the inside like new since it was all done 3 years ago. When the boat's on the mooring all season the inside stays dry and the deck is never wet....in the off season I have a custom canvas cover that I made supports for to keep the snow from caving it in...again keep out the water....as much as you can...

BTW here is a link to some of the pix of my resto on iboats...the post is #7...


http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php ... light=deck

_________________
88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II