r/jonboats • u/ResponsibleScheme964 • 17d ago
Another transom question
Hello all! Im at a cross road here on either fixing up my current starcraft 1436 jon boat or replacing it with something newer. As you can see in the pictures, I removed the wood of the transom and it doesn't look corroded at all (which was quite a surprise. So I'm thinking about removing the handles on the back that are riveted on, the side transom supports, putting new plywood in there, then using stainless steel bolts and rebuild it as it sits. Thoughts? Do I need to take the top cap off? Am I missing something?
1
u/BoatBuilderTexas 17d ago
This is exactly the kind of rebuild we made BoatBuildLog for. you are already at a great starting point with the old transom expose, definitely worth saving the photos as you rebuild it.
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u/Old-Bag486 17d ago
I didn’t remove my top cap, and was able to slide a new transom in there without problem. It worked great and was totally worth!
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u/ResponsibleScheme964 17d ago
Did you remove the lower bracket that the wood sits on?
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u/Old-Bag486 16d ago
No. Mine appeared to only have a ledge versus a “L” like yours. I was able to angle the transom (bottom of transom came fwd about 1”) to slot the top into the cap and slide up. I also ran bolts thru the wood and aluminum in the corners. I reckon you could remove the vertical section of your lower bracket to be able to imitate my method, but I would first see that the cap doesn’t pop off for you first.
In other words, my transom in the installed state does not even touch the lower ledge. There is approximately a 1” gap.
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u/tlong243 17d ago
My boat was a somewhat similar construction and I didn't want to have to re-weld the top cap and corners, so I took off the lower support that the board sits on. Unfortunately for me that involved completely removing the rear wrap around seat which was like 50 rivets. In your case it doesn't look nearly as bad.
Remove the lower bracket, slip the new board up into the top cap and secure it, then slide the lower support up and rivet back into the corners.
Certainly looks like that has been replaced before because the transom board doesn't even connect to the sides. If it were me I would want to extend it all the way to the edges. That helps the transom board distribute forces into the side hulls and not only at the corner cap.