motor mounts (bolt holes)

[BAD HABIT Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BAD HABIT]

Every time I do anything with the boat, I find more than I expected. oh well.......

I took the motors off yesterday so I could do some fiberglass repair at the transom where there were some craftsmanship issues where the previous owner replaced the transom. When I took the motors off, I found to my dismay that the bolts that hold the motors on had actually wallowed out a hole to the tune of 1/4 or 3/8 " larger than the bolts themselves. The bolts wobble when you move them up and down with pressure. I have no clue how or if I can restrengthen these holes so there is no play in them. I would rebuild the transom, but I was replaced not too long ago and is in good shape.

The fiberglass cracks are at the transom....near the top. Should I grind most of the transom area out. or just repair the top? I just getting into doing fiberglass work, so I am still by far a rookie.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Duncan Hunter

[warthog5 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close warthog5]

Without pix's it's hard to say on the cracks.

On the bolt holes. you would want a small amount of slop so there is room for some 3M 4200. I would have some stainless tubing cut to size with a 5/8in ID and 1in to 1 1/4in OD. The holes in the transom would then be bored out to a 1/4in oversize of the OD of the tubing. The tubes would be glued in with epoxy/Cabisol. This will stop any water from getting to the wood core. http://bertram31.com/proj/tips/sleeving.htm

I used Gray PVC unstead of stainless tubing on my boat to mount the bracket. Just be sure to use something that is compadable with the stainless bolts.