*** In the video I refer to the West System GFlex Epoxy as "605". I miss Spoke, it is 650 ***

Transom Replacement

The next step in my Jet Boat Rebuild, is to get the new wood for my transom installed. I cover the process that I used to epoxy in the new ¾ marine grade ply wood. If you are doing this repair yourself I would highly recommend that you use marine plywood. It is laminated with better adhesives that will be less likely to delaminate if moisture is present in the wood. Also the wood is made with more veneer layers, which are also selected to have less knotting in them. The wood is a much better choice to use, but it is more expensive than standard wood.

I cover the techniques that I used to get a quality template for the new transom wood, and how I was able to cut that out on the wood. I also go into some detail on how I went about fitting and fine tuning the transom wood to the boat, ensuring a snug and tight fit.

When it came time to bond the wood to the parent fiberglass of the boat I chose to use an epoxy. I used the GFlex 650 made by west systems. I also used the “403” additive to thicken the epoxy up, so I would not have as much sagging and run out.

Once cured I tabbed the new transom wood in with one large piece of 1708 biaxial cloth with vinyl ester resin. I also applied one more layer of 8’ wide 1708 around the perimeter of the transom.

At this point I will be leaving the transom as is. I will continue with the installation of the rest of the wood in the boat. Once I have all the new wood and stringers installed and tabbed in, I plan to go back and address the cosmetics of the glass work.



The products that I used in this video are listed below:

Fiberlay Vinyl Ester Fiberglass Resin (Used to glass in the 1708): https://fiberlay.com/pub/media/sparsh...

Fiberlay Fiberfiller Structural Putty (Used to fill voids behind the transom wood, and to fillet the corners): https://fiberlay.com/pub/media/sparsh...

West System 403 Microfibers Adhesive Filler (Used to thicken up the GFlex Epoxy): https://www.westmarine.com/westsyste...

West System GFlex 650 Epoxy (Used to bond the wood to the fiberglass): https://www.westmarine.com/westsyste...


My goal is to try to keep the detail high in these videos, while also trying to keep them from getting to long and drawn out. So I will try to break these videos down into smaller segments. So if you haven’t, I encourage you to subscribe to the channel so you can be notified of the new videos coming out. I hope that you find this series of videos to be helpful for your project. If you have comments, suggests or tips that you would like to share please leave them in the comments section!


Thank you for watching!!!


If you enjoyed this video take a look at my other videos on this 79 Centurion Jet Boat.

Cutting and Fitting the Stringers:    • How to Cut and Fit New Stringers to a...  
Transom Replacement:    • Transom Replacement on a 79' Centurio...  
Hull preparation & Repairs:    • Repairing the Hull of a Fiberglass Je...  
Transom Wood Removal:    • Cutting Out & Removing the Rotted Tra...  
Cutting Out the Stringers in my 79 Centurion Jet Boat:    • Cutting out the Stringers in a 79 Cen...  
Replacing the Stringers in a 1979 Centurion Jet Boat:    • Replacing the Stringers on a 1979 Cen...  
Comparing the Berkeley & Dominator Jet Drives:    • Comparing The Differences of a Berkel...  
Restoring Berkeley Jet Pump:    • Restoring a Berkeley 12JG Jet Boat Pu...  
Assembling Berkeley 12JG Jet Drive:    • How to Assemble a Berkeley 12JG Jet B...  
Berkeley Stuffer Installation:    • Installing a Bowl Stuffer into a Berk...  
Installing an inducer into a Berkeley Jet Pump:    • Installing an Inducer into a Berkeley...  
Restoring and polishing out the transom:    • Polishing out the Gel Coat on the Tra...  
Restoring the Gel Coat on a 1979 Centurion Jet Boat:    • Resurrecting the Gel Coat on my 1979 ...  




Follow me on Instagram:   / _autotechnick_  


#AutoTechNick #jetboat #powerboat #jetboatperformance #hotboats #socaljetboats #hotboat #berkeleyjet #dominatorjet #centurion #riverboat #speedboat #cpperformance #speedboating #flatbottomboat