Trent's FS14 LS Build

[TomW1]

You really need some protection on top of the transom for the motor. A layer of two of fiberglass is fine. It won't show as it will be be painted to match the boat.

Tom

[bamaguy0]

You really need some protection on top of the transom for the motor. A layer of two of fiberglass is fine. It won't show as it will be be painted to match the boat.

Tom

This is a good point. Especially if you plan on removing the motor occasionally.

Tom, maybe you can help me understand. Typically you want to overlap existing glass. If I did that the transom edges would have to be smoothed out to lay the glass around the corner. Would you ignore that and just do strips on top or am I missing something?

[VT_Jeff]

Hmm. Fiberglass cap is starting to sound like a good idea. My transom paint has been brutalized in the year since I painted it. I'll have some cleanup work for sure. Drips, dings, etc.

[Mojosmantra]

I guess I could tape it now - upside down - wondering how that would work out

[VT_Jeff]

I guess I could tape it now - upside down - wondering how that would work out

I'm just going to run a strip. If you're going to wrap around it you should really radius it, but not sure all that's necessary just for abrasion resistance.

Keep in mind that my advice has a track record of being horrible.

[Fuzz]

That boat is small enough that flipping it should be a piece of cake. If so I would get it ready for primer and flip it. After the inside is done you can flip it for painting. If doing it that way you can round over the transom and lay a little glass on it. tom is correct in that you need to cover the edge with some glass if for no other reason than to make sure the edge is well sealed.

[Mojosmantra]

I think you’ve convinced me Fuzz. That seems like the most logical approach. Any particular reason that you would “get it ready” for primer rather than going ahead with the primer and perhaps just leaving the transom for later. Just curious as that would give me some flexibility- because, even though it’s a light boat, I will need a hand and that type of help isn’t always readily available for me.

Hypothetically, I was going through the “what if” process of taping upside down. Rounding the edges would be no problem - less convenient- but not really a problem. For the glass, I assume you would wet it out and let it tack up, stick the glass and then wet the glass? Not sure if gravity would win out in that case (sags, drips, air bubbles) and just create a mess and more work than its worth. I don’t have enough glass experience to know if that’s a terrible idea or not.

[Fuzz]

If you are going to do several flips it does not matter when you prime it. Might be better to wait or not I could see advantages for both. I have done a bunch of overhead glass using poly but not too much with epoxy. You have the right idea on how to do it but it is no fun and I avoid doing it if I can.

[VT_Jeff]

I think you’ve convinced me Fuzz. That seems like the most logical approach. Any particular reason that you would “get it ready” for primer rather than going ahead with the primer and perhaps just leaving the transom for later. Just curious as that would give me some flexibility- because, even though it’s a light boat, I will need a hand and that type of help isn’t always readily available for me.

Hypothetically, I was going through the “what if” process of taping upside down. Rounding the edges would be no problem - less convenient- but not really a problem. For the glass, I assume you would wet it out and let it tack up, stick the glass and then wet the glass? Not sure if gravity would win out in that case (sags, drips, air bubbles) and just create a mess and more work than its worth. I don’t have enough glass experience to know if that’s a terrible idea or not.

For me, trying to do that cap upside down while also glassing the transom itself and the joints would be too stressful. I've tried to picture doing it a few ways and none of them leave me confident. You could wrap it and clamp it with some clamping boards covered with packing tape, but trying to get that biax cloth to lie flat on that edge upside down, get it clamped etc would be more than I would sign up for.

Structural cloth needs to overlap but this is just abrasion resistance, so laying a strip of 6 oz cloth over the top after it's flipped should be fine. I'm not sure it's worth waiting on the paint for. You can mask off the transom to catch any drips while you lay the glass, you'll be doing a fair amount of that anyway when you go to glass the deck etc. This also means you don't need to round it and then either re-square it or else live with a rounded over transom top. I'm not sure how easy it will be to accurately/decoratively round over those edges while it's upside down on the jig, I know I wouldn't do a great job of it.

All just food for thought.

[Mojosmantra]

Appreciate all of the input.

On another note, wondering how I’m doing on “newbie” epoxy usage. I’ve finished glassing the outside of the hull per the plans schedule (will post some pics soon). To finish that, I had to open the second gallon of Part A for the final batch of 10 oz. In other words, I’m 10 oz into the second gallon. Do you all have any sense of that? Based on the hardened epoxy that I cleaned out of the bottom of my pots, I’ve probably wasted 16 to 20 ounces overall.