the dreade aluminum outboard bracket-again!!!

[jawz12]

ok...here's the deal...the aluminum outboard brackets should NEVER be painted with a copper based antifouling bottom paint-IT WILL CREATE A BATTERY!!!!!
i see these painted constantly-you guys are asking for trouble!!!! they should only be painted with trilux or another antifoulant paint specifically formulated for aluminum hulls !!!
this boat is a '90 28 proline,as you can clearly see in the pictures,the bracket was completley filled with water....think about the weight factor !!!..why was it filled with water??? it was painted(by a dealer too !!!) with copper based antifouling paint for quite some time.what this does is cause galvanic corrosion-NOT ELECTROLISYS-that's hair removal !!!
what happens is this,the aluminum will sacrifice itself to save the copper in the bottom paint-copper is more nobel than aluminum...here's where it gets tricky....the powder coat will begin to peel,exposing the bare aluminum,the salt will get in between the bracket and the transom of the boat and it will actually begin to pry the bracket off the back of the boat...hard to believe huh??? IT"S TRUE...salt will wick moisture...the water will enter the bracket via the edge-not good huh???
this boat in the pictures,has BIG problems...the transom core is dry rotted due to water migration from the bracket into the studs holding the bracket onto the boat-the holes were drilled way too big from whoever installed the bracket...the transom will need to be recored,as well as the bracket sand blasted and checked for being pourous...there's also signs of stringer rot in the area of the transom...not too good huh????
do me a favor guys,if you've got a bracket equipped boat,remove the drain plugs at the end of the season and drain the water from it-if it's more than a cup full...you've got a problem !!! this problem will get progressivley worse!!!
check out the pics.....

[Shutterbug]

Jawz, unbelievable. Again I appreciate you keeping me on my toes.

[flatbottom]

Nice information jaws12. I hope in between projects you get out and catch some fish this season...... The pics don't lie and I never knew about the copper paint on aluminum. Where aluminum gave it up first to the copper. Good info man.

[jawz12]

ok...i've been deciding wether or not to post these pictures-well i made my decision....get ready for this....now,i may offend a few people-if i do,please don't call me names and bash the hell outta me...

this rig is a proline 28,now i never really liked the prolines-they're built really poorly and they ride as bad as they look...the construction procedures on these boats-well they should be ashamed of themselves for building such a hunk of shit-i can't sugar coat this guys,sorry
the bracket as you seen in the previous pictures,was filled with water-not a good thing...the transom was tested and found to be dry rotted.so remove it i did....
the outer skin was cut off and the core was revelaed-the core wasn't a marine grade of plywood-that's one problem...also the transom core was constructed of 4 layers of 1/2" plywood-NONE of these core sections were one piece-they were seemed-terrible !!!! the reason for this is simple-the boat has a beam in excess of 9' the height of the transom core also is in excess of 4'....this would mean the core would need to be made from a 5'x10' section of plywood,not the standard 4'x8'...the 5'x10' costs much more...i'm sure there's an engineer somewhere that says that this method is ok...i don't like it....
this is a reason these boats are so cheap-cutting cost,more profits....
here's the pictures to prove my point...take note of the steel staples holding the core together,the core had no signs of a lamintion-it was secured together using the staples only...check the "nasty job" thread-this shows how i recore a transom-it shows the lamination process....this is probably one of the worst built boats i've ever seen-poop on a stick.....

[jawz12]

as you can see by these pictures...using a polyester based resin on wood really isn't the best approach-it doesn't have the absorbtion factor as the epoxy based resins...the epoxy based products are the best when it comes to repairing as well as laminating...unfortunatley,most manufactures use the cheap polyester based products...
check out these pictures,you will see the entire section of core actually removed-this is because the skin was layed up in a cheap resin....now also note...the sections of the core were not laminated-only stapled...amazing again,if any of you guys own a proline like this,this is how your boat will look ....not too good huh???

[flatbottom]

this is a great post Jim. Pics tell a thousand words in a hundred ways. Stapled cloth? Is this normal in the industry for that year boat?

[jawz12]

this is a great post Jim. Pics tell a thousand words in a hundred ways. Stapled cloth? Is this normal in the industry for that year boat?

there's no cloth between the layers of the plywood,there's also no other means of ataching the layers together except for the steel staples-note the rust on them.....

[Deep C]

Come on Jimmy... Fess up... You drop a few pennies in each aluminum bracket you do... Don't ya? Keeps em comming back!

Good point about the paint... Even on outboard lower units its best to use sppecial stuff. If you've sanded through the finsish with a couple trips over too shallow stuff it [rpvides that battery contact point to begin...

[jawz12]

hey paul !! i didn't think anyone seen me do that. damn hidden cameras... oh well gotta make sure i can feed my dog

good point about the engines,i had a guy that painted the lower unit on his yamaha with regular antifouling paint-the tilt hydraulics galvanically corroded away to nothing-i had to replace the entire hydraulic system-this happened in only 1 season too

[jawz12]

here's a little up date on this rig as well...

the stringers were replaced-i found good wood approx 14" up on each of them,i cut them out and replaced them with 1/2" marine grade ply,laminated together with west system epoxy,i also doubled them up-kinda like "sistering" them with 3/4" marine grade laminated together with west system,the sisters extended beyond the seams...the stringer ends are now 2 1/2" thick...i also laminated 5/4 mahogany against the stringer ends,this extends upwards on the inner skin-this will provide additional support to the transom...
the inner skin was completley rebuilt,using alternating layers of 24oz woven matt and 1.5oz matt..the inner skin has been tabbed into the hull sides as well as the hull bottom....
the core has been cut-i used 2 layers of 3/4 marine grade and 1 layer of 1/2...
the first layer of core has been laminated to the inner skin as well as the stringers and the manogany supports-it is mechanically fastened as well as laminated using west system epoxy...the gaps on the sides have been filled in epoxy and matted into place-what we have here is a very strong reliable bond....notice in the pictures,the core is all one piece....this was done by using 5'x10' sheets of marine grade ply-it's not cheap
we're on drying time now...the first layer has been laminated,and tabbed into place...we should be wrapping this job up in short order....

here's a few picstures....