I've started to repair the transoms on my 16 and replace the old style gudgeons with the newer ones. I had asked for advice on this forum and others and I appreciate everyone's advice on how to repair them. Long story short, my gudgeons failed while under sail during Ya Gotta Regatta down in Myrtle Beach. Some of the ss screws sheared off inside the starboard transom. I'm very inexperienced with fiberglass repair and was initially told to drill out the old ss screws, since they were likely seized into the aluminum plate (which they were). I didn't use the right tool for the job (a left-handed drill bit) and ended up having a really difficult time drilling out the steel. I buggered up a lot of the surrounding glass and aluminum. I also sheared off some of the screw heads on the other transom and basically doubled the work I am having to do. After looking into several options (install ports and thru-bolt, install helicoils, fill and drill, etc.) and talking with many folks about it I have decided to go the most drastic route and remove everything down to the aluminum plate and build it all back up. I just couldn't stand the thought of installing ports, especially when that area of the boat is often underwater when resting on the water and in between races. So far I have gotten the aluminum plate out of the port hull. I should be getting new aluminum plates in tomorrow. I figured I would post some pics of my progress for feedback from you guys as well as to show the anatomy of the 16 transom. I'll continue to post my progress. Wish me luck. I'm storing the photos here:
http://s1319.photobucket.com/user/jsautry/library/?sort=2&page=1Feel free to tell me what you think or offer any advice.
