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 »

3/8" hole

Drill 1/2" in

Feel the shavings for moisture

Push the awl into the hole in 3/4 directions. Any penetration is fail. Not like 1/8", I mean real rot.

Repair immediately with epoxy putty.

Epoxy putty I use is 2.1-1 fumed silica to epoxy

Or your own with wood flour, I don't know that ratio.
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Fuzz
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Fuzz »

I you have a small set of hole saws I like to use that to check the wood. The plug from the hole saw lets you get a real good look at what you have. I use wood flour/epoxy to fill the hole. You can butter up the plug good and put it back in the hole.

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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by fallguy1000 »

Fuzz wrote: Sun Aug 21, 2022 11:06 pm I you have a small set of hole saws I like to use that to check the wood. The plug from the hole saw lets you get a real good look at what you have. I use wood flour/epoxy to fill the hole. You can butter up the plug good and put it back in the hole.
I like it as long as you don't do it on the transom!
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Barry_CF
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Barry_CF »

Fuzz wrote: Sun Aug 21, 2022 11:06 pm I you have a small set of hole saws I like to use that to check the wood. The plug from the hole saw lets you get a real good look at what you have. I use wood flour/epoxy to fill the hole. You can butter up the plug good and put it back in the hole.
So, for the stinger go all the way through? I'm not sure how wide the stringers are at this point. Everything is covered with a deck that exists under the sole. At least, I'm calling it a deck. It's pretty flat except where the gas tank sits. On top of that are the 1/2 sole supports that run alongside the gas tank, with the same running the boat width behind and in front of the tank.

I *think* Sea Ray built the hull and covered it with a deck*, then added the sole/liner supports. Then the liner went in that includes the sole, and finally the upper structure. That's how it appears to me anyway. Once I cut the existing sole out maybe I can see more, but it appears that there is a wide stringer on each side of the gas tank. Maybe there is something under the tank, or in front of the tank.

*I also am assuming there is foam under there since none is present under the sole.

Anyway, thinks greatly for taking the time to respond. Once I get the motor out and that area cleaned up I'll get some pictures and maybe that will help.
Fallguy, thanks for the guidance on the drill.

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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Fuzz »

I should have explained it a little better. Start the cut with the pilot bit inserted. If doing the transom or some other place you do not want to cut through then remove the bit. Drill half way or so through and use a chisel to knock the plug lose. This way you get a real good look at what you have. I like this better than using a drill since all you have to look at is shavings. But shavings works too and is a little quicker.

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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Barry_CF »

Fuzz, thanks for the clarification. I thought about that, but I have never tried to knock a partially drilled hole saw plug loose before. I have plenty of hole saws and that would seem to be better than the drill bit only.

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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by OrangeQuest »

Either method, if it's really rotten it would be like drilling into a pile of wet toilet paper. It will go deep faster than hard wood.
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fallguy1000
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by fallguy1000 »

:lol:

Yeah, typically, an awl will punch polyester with rotten wood, no drill required.

OrangeQuest wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 1:34 pm Either method, if it's really rotten it would be like drilling into a pile of wet toilet paper. It will go deep faster than hard wood.
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by Barry_CF »

Well, the transom is rotted. Some how my "testing" missed the area that is clearly an issue. As I got everything disconnected from the engine and did some cleanup to get stuff out of the way, I pushed on an area and discovered a clear issue. The first picture shows the area circled in red. It's pretty bad. As you get closer to the stern drive transom mounting it gets hard again, and the other side is fine.

Also noted is the yellow area. This transom is not completely flat. That yellow is an offset, bumps to the outside. I have a picture showing that bump on the outside as well. Also, notice that in the red area it gets thinner there, the transom is thicker by at least half an inch where the drive fastens.

So, the question is, does anyone know what that is? And how will I fabricate a new transom with that offset? For the transom area below the upper offset I'll clearly just make one thickness side to side, probably about 3 inches for a bracket and 300hp engine.

A 3rd pic shows the starboard side with two holes circled in green. There is one hole just like it on the port side. You can push into the hole and dig stuff out, rotted wood maybe, it wasn't real clear. I'll inspect further tomorrow. For now I'm guessing Sea Ray drilled those holes to fill the area with flotation foam. I bought the boat from the marina as a trade form the original owner, so I don't think they are any sort of inspection hole.

The port side seems to be the worst, which is the side the transom rot is real bad on. I don't know how I missed it earlier... The motor mounts lag into some blocks set to the inside. The port side lag bolts practically pulled out while the starboard side were firmly anchored.

So, we know the transom is toast, which I was originally expecting. Once I get the engine out I'll get the sole out and see what the stringers look like. As long as they are repairable within reason I'll fix it.

Image

Image

Image

fallguy1000
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Re: Sea Ray 245 Cuddy Fish (1983)

Post by fallguy1000 »

Do not cut into the transom from the outside.

Get the engine out and go from there.

Don't worry about the offset for now either.
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