Rotten transom in my new (to me)Grady!!

S

Scoopy

Member
Hi all.

I was pretty happy with the Grady White I bought used a few months ago. Before purchase I hammer tested the transom and it sounded totally solid. On Sunday, i backed an old screw out of the outside of the lower part of the transom and a foul smelling brown liquid poured out. For 2 days. Looks like a new transom is in order!! Now it is Tuesday and I have removed the back part of the deck and sole and most of the rotten plywood transom core. This is one heck of a crappy job! was thinking of posted pics of the progress, just incase anyone else has this problem.
 
Sorry to hear, not the end of the world tho. What year and model Grady is it? Is it the cut out transom model or bracket?
 
So, are you going to sue the guy that did your boat survey before you bought it?
 
I would be suing myself. If I had known how bad the rot was I would have paid less for the boat to offset the repair work. Live and learn.
 
I know I may get flamed for this but what is the best way to post pics? I can show the progress stages of the transom repair.
 
Ok, here is what the transom looked like Tuesday night. At this point I had removed the outboard with a cherry picker and set aside. Then I stripped all of the aluminun trim off. After that it was a matter of backing out the screws that hold the transducer and any other old crap that was screwed into the transom.



It tool me about 2 hours to get to this point. From here I will layout the cut lines on the deck and get cutting!
 
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Next I used a framing square, tape measure, sharpie and painters tape to lay out the cut lines. The square helps to keep your lines straight up and down and carry the line over the open battery box. The painters tape helps keep scraches from your cutting tool to a minimum (not really necessary though, as I will be grinding down the area for fairing and filling.



I used a recip saw, an angle grinder with zip disk, a Fein Multimaster to make the cut.
 
After the cut is made you have to remove the deck and engine well portion. I should have taken a pic of the process but here is a shot of the transom after deck removal. Getting the deck and well out was brutal. Grind, chisel, chip, cut, swear, bleed, twist, push and pull. I managed to get it out intact, just had to cut it in half to accomodate the removal. This is probably the hardest part of the process. All of the old glass has to be severed from the inside transom skin, which is were most of the bleeding and swearing happens.



I also will cut out about 12" of the stringer to accommodate the new transom core. Up to this point I am 5 hours into the redo.
 
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Wow good call on the rot, thanks for the pics I look forward to viewing your progress. If you wanted to close up the transom and pod it be prime time to do so.
 
Whoa, BIG job! However good thing you are getting to this now instead of seeing something serious happen out on the water! Good luck with the rest.
 
Scoopy said:
It is an 84 22' Tournament with theopen transom.
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Scoopy, Good catch!

You actually do have the makings of a really nice boat there. I would actually pick Boston Whaler and/or Grady over most other boats manufactured during that timeframe!

I have found ALL boats have their own issues, including Grady… With Grady it is from the 80’s up to around 1992, and yes they are well known for rotting transoms. Adding to that, it is NOT just Grady, as do many other manufactures. You really do need to check your bulkheads anddecks for rot also, as they do usually come hand in hand.

You also have other issues to look at with Grady’s manufactured in that timeframe. The fuel tanks and systems are also very well known for failure.That is due to bilgewater allowed to run underneath the tanks, which were set on neoprene strips and NOT sealed. This allows sea water to seep into the strips causing the tanks to corrode.

You also need to check for factory (or owner) installed nylon thru hull fittings. With the older nylon thru hull fittings UV rays will cause them to become brittle, resulting in failure. If those “old”nylon thru hull fitting haven’t been changed out yet THEY WILL FAIL! So, I would also recommend replacing them, as that would NOT be a good thing.

When you get her done - You will end up with one very nice boat! :)
 
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uclueletcharters said:
Wow good call on the rot, thanks for the pics I look forward to viewing your progress. If you wanted to close up the transom and pod it be prime time to do so.
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing when I first bought her, but after going out (2 times) I realized I actually kind of like the open back! Not really sure why.
 
Charlie said:

Scoopy, Good catch!

You actually do have the makings of a really nice boat there. I would actually pick Boston Whaler and/or Grady over most other boats manufactured during that timeframe!


I have found ALL boats have their own issues, including Grady… With Grady it is from the 80’s up to around 1992, and yes they are well known for rotting transoms. Adding to that, it is NOT just Grady, as do many other manufactures. You really do need to check your bulkheads anddecks for rot also, as they do usually come hand in hand.

You also have other issues to look at with Grady’s manufactured in that timeframe. The fuel tanks and systems are also very well known for failure.That is due to bilgewater allowed to run underneath the tanks, which were set on neoprene strips and NOT sealed. This allows sea water to seep into the strips causing the tanks to corrode.

You also need to check for factory (or owner) installed nylon thru hull fittings. With the older nylon thru hull fittings UV rays will cause them to become brittle, resulting in failure. If those “old”nylon thru hull fitting haven’t been changed out yet THEY WILL FAIL! So, I would also recommend replacing them, as that would NOT be a good thing.

When you get her done - You will end up with one very nice boat! :)
Click to expand...

I definitely have old through hulls and will be replacing them. Thanks for the heads up!
 
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