O'day 23 Transom Rebuild

mwpaul

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Nov 25, 2018
3
O'Day O'day 23-2 Philadelphia
My wife and I bought our first boat last season, an O'day 23, unfortunately, the transom was rotten and wet all the way up into the motor mounts. After months of research and talking with Andy Miller from Boatworkstoday I was able to repair it. Here are a few pictures of the project and steps taken to complete it.

Step 1: removed fiberglass, rotten wood and epoxy down to the outer fiberglass shell
Step 2: smoothed out surfaces and seams between the bottom, transom, and sides
Step 3: layered 2 sheets of 1/4" marine ply and totalboat 5:1 epoxy, clamping with motor mount bolts, gudgeon bolts and bracing between cockpit and inside lazarette
Step 4: 3 layers of 1708 fiberglass with totalboat epoxy 5:1

I ended up making stainless backing plates for both gudgeon mounts and the motor, as a lot of the damage seemed to be from the washers pulling through the inner layer of glass.
 

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Likes: Boom Zine
Mar 2, 2019
433
Oday 25 Milwaukee
Looks like you covered most of your bases . Please be sure oversize the through holes and epoxying the holes to prevent leaking into the wood .
 
Mar 31, 2013
234
O'day 23 Pa
You just added 40 years to that boat! nice work, though I'm curious? how in god's name did you fit in there? child labor? :)
 
Sep 29, 2015
110
Oday 222 Lake N ockamixon, pa
On my 222, the motor is on the port side, behind the gas tank locker. I had to put an 8" port in the back of the locker to replace the motor bracket. I have no idea how to get in there if I had to do that work. I appreciate the pictures.