Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Questions about boat repairs with our resins and fiberglass: hull patches, transoms and stringers, foam, rot etc.
fallguy1000
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by fallguy1000 »

Cut the least amount, but all the rot.

Epoxy is your friend. It'll usually allow you to lay in cleats under the existing sole to patch to...
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Barry_CF
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Barry_CF »

"Cut the least amount, but all the rot."

OK, gotcha. That was what I was hoping to hear. I'll do further inspection with the camera underneath and also further inspection of the stringers and transom. It all looks good and seems solid. I can't tell about the very bottom of the transom interior as the stern drive is in the way. Outside looks good. Since the gimbal ring is broken it's hard to use the drive to put stress on the transom, but what little I can do it seems solid. I have to pull the engine and drive anyway so it will get thoroughly inspected when I do that.

Thanks very much!

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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by fallguy1000 »

Once the gear is out, use an awl to probe around the transom and drain plugs out and such. Soft wood is rotten. Wet wood may be okay.
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Barry_CF
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Barry_CF »

Yea, I've used a pick and found no problem with what I can get to inside, and I'll do the same when I get the sterndrive out of the way. I'm going to have to build a temporary a frame to get the motor out, so it's going to be a while. I have material on hand at least.

I got some pics from under the sole with my camera on a stalk. Not the best pics or good focus but good enough I think.

First picture is under the sole. It is just glass, no plywood. I think the boat is constructed from 3 molded parts; the hull, common to all 245 based boats in the lineup, then the sole, specific to the boat, and then the upper structure. I'm guessing the lay the molded sole in on the glued up cleats and that's it.
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Barry_CF »

Since the soft spots are between the support along the tank (which feels solid) and the sides, and there is nothing between, I tried to take pics of the cleats along the hull. I have two, not the best as it's hard to hold the camera still on a stalk 2 foot out and manage the phone to take the pic at the same time. It looks to me as thought the cleat is the rotting part. In the pictures the hull is green area towards the bottom of the pic. See what you think:

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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Barry_CF »

OK, one more pic adding to my guess that the rot is on the top, under the sole. Between the engine bay and the gas tank bay there is a bulkhead. Not a very heavy bulkhead at maybe 1/2 inch, but it's there. At the stern end of the tank, port side there is a hole near the top which could only come from some crumbly/rotted wood. I don't see any black rot but the whole is visible. It is not soft under this spot however. Just looking at it, I think it could just be reinforced once the tank is out of the way, without pulling the sole up here. Or, I could just carefully cut the sole from here forward, check and repair the cleats and bulkhead, then put the original sole back in place. EDIT: I'm assuming I could cut the sole around the outside at the hull and get it off the good cleats without destroying it. That may not be a good assumption. Most of the cuts wouldn't even be seen. Opinions welcome.

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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by fallguy1000 »

Hard to tell until you get it apart some..
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Barry_CF »

OK, understood. I'm not going to do any cutting until I get the engine out and take out the gas tank. Maybe that will provide better answers.
I might even consider going back with the stern drive and just use the boat like it was originally designed. We'll just wait until I can see what I am working with. It looks a lot better that what I was expecting, so far anyway :)

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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Fuzz »

My experience has been opening up the boat is a lot like opening Pandora's box. You are not going to know what you are working with until you get her opened up. For me I feel getting rid of the I/O and going bracket/outboard is a huge upgrade but it is not going to be cheap.

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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Barry_CF »

"...but it is not going to be cheap."

This is true. But going used/rebuilt on the engine makes it reasonable IMO. The darn bracket cost seems rather high, until I price the aluminum and figure the time it would take me to tig weld it (I can, and I have a tig welder, but I'm slow). Even at $3.5k to 5k it's not really worth my time.

I have considered just fixing what I have. The outdrive is probably OK, just the gimbal ring is broke and I already have one I bought years ago. The engine has been sitting and has the original manifolds, etc. It has to be rebuilt, which I can do, but the time is another issue. I just have too much to do as I get older :) I've looked at the price of rebuilt and new long blocks, manifolds, etc., so it remains a possibility.

In any event, if the structure on the bottom is good, and for now it seems as if it is, and if the transom isn't rotted, then the cost of the mechanical parts and the other stuff I will need to restore the boat is far cheaper than the equivalent from what I can see. In any event, the boat has a lot of meaning for me which makes some of the economic consideration moot. At the same time, I'm not going to sink 25K in a boat worth maybe 5k if in decent running condition. Whatever I spend on an engine is recoverable to some degree, so I'm not going to count that too highly.

I'll do some more investigation. I need to rig up my camera so I can get a clearer picture and also "see" to the bottom better. I'm still learning how to manipulate that thing.

At the moment I'm just happy that it's not a total rotten boat. Maybe it is and I've yet to discover it, but so far it's been a pleasant surprise from what I expected.

Thanks for looking!

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