Boat Builder Central - Builder Forums

I pulled the B-W marine transmission on my SeaVee yesterday. The motor, a small block Chevy, is mounted amidships, under the center console.
Anyway, we had to remove the transmission mounts to get the thing out. The mounts were held in place with 1/2" lag bolts into the stringers. The stringers on this thing are huge.
The lag bolts were in poor shape and will be replaced with stainless steel units. The hole in stringers had a bunch of powdered rust in them, but the surrounding wood appears to be solid.
Down here in the Keys, folks usually soak an oak dowel in epoxy, drive it down in the bolt hole, let it cure, and then re-drill the hole.
I will likely replace the ancient mounts the boat had in place with modern ones, so the new mounting holes may or may not be in the same place.
My question: Is there a better way to do this?

Now, the bad part- When removing the transmission, the crane bumped the exhaust system, which promptly dumped water down one of the bolt holes. I vacuumed out the water, but i still have a mess of damp, rust dust goo down that hole. I have tried using a hair dryer to dry it out, but the hole is a good 5 inches deep, so it is still damp in there. I don't want to drive a dowel in there while it is still wet.
Ideas?

You could rig up a small nozzle on a vacuum and let it run for a while. How about filling the hole with some epoxy thickened with milled fibers? That should hold a lag pretty darn good. After the vacuum I'd put a lamp on it to help dry it out.

Just my humble opinion.....

What he said above ^^ is what I'd say too.

I thought about thickened epoxy, but wonder if I can get it all the way to the bottom of the hole, without leaving a void.
I suppose "slightly" thickened epoxy might work?

it doesn't have to be too thin. Use a thin stick to work it down in the hole and the air bubbles will work their way out. get it to where it will just pour and oiit will follow in fine. You want it wet enough to bind well and I would also work some resin in the hole first with a small paint brush to prime the wood for the bond. That will work like a champ!
POst some pix if you can.
TG

Are those holes on top of the stringer or on the side?

The top.

milled glass with some chopped glass mixed in is thin enough that air bubbles will work their way out. Make the pour in several stages (dont want to start a fire)

To what consistency should I mix this?

pretty thick or else the milled fibers will settle out.