Motor Mount Issues - Loose Lags
 

I have a 1993 Mariah and the Starboard side motor mount lag's are loose.
The lag's will not get tight, just spin.
I plan on removing them and inspecting how much rot is involved.
I do not want to pull the motor, it runs great, outdrive was just serviced.
Hoping it's just localized to this mount, the Port side is still snug.

Has anyone ever used this rot doctor stuff- CPES & Layup & Laminating Resin™.

Does anyone know what type wood and what dimension was originally glassed in from the factory for these mounts?

I would appreciate any advise you guy's can provide.

Thanks, Eric

Re: Motor Mount Issues - Loose Lags
 

Update to my earlier post, Port side is just as bad as Starboard, rot on both sides.
Going to drill test holes in each to inspect the rot and determine what I can do to fix.
Guessing the gimbal plate on the transom has been carring the torque load, as these front mount have nothing for the lag bolts to grab.

Guess I get to learn how to use epoxy and fiberglass, does not look like it's gonna be a fun two weeks.

I plan to take photo's and post up here to help anyone else that might have to do this in the future.

Re: Motor Mount Issues - Loose Lags
 

So the saga continues, I drilled a 1" hole the in face of each motor mount to try and inspect the amount of rot inside each motor mount. Based on what I have found , looks like I'm going to have to cut the face of each motor mount (area that faces the bow of boat) out so I can clean all the rot out. The stuff I'm fishing out on the Port side is wet mulch basically, the stuff on Starboard side is dryer but still mulch (see photo with black goo). I hope to be able to cut a piece of treated wood that will fit into the top of the motor mount that I can epoxy in and will stay in place for me to get the lag bolts to bite.

As of this AM, plan is this...
I will cut face , clean out mulch , let this air dry for 3-4 days (while my epoxy and other items are shipping to the house).
Evaluate the size of area affected, has this gotten into the stringers ?
I will either stuff this area with fiberglass and epoxy or use this seacast stuff that that replace transoms with ?

[COLOR="Red"]Question for the group, has anyone used this Seacast stuff to replace a transom in a boat ?
Will / Would Seacast, if I drill a pilot hole, hold the thread of the lag bolts ?[/COLOR]

This plan might change again once i get the face of the mounting cut out.

If anyone out there has done anything like this , please send me some do's or dont's, I like to do things one time and be done, I don't want to have to re-do or make a wasted effort if I can learn from someone else. Thanks, Eric

Re: Motor Mount Issues - Loose Lags
 

Well, I worked last night until I could not hold the mallet safely in my hand last night. I got most of the pulp out, filled up a 5 gallon bucket with what I removed. I used the long pry bar as a chisel and drove it thru the block of wood (like splitting firewood). Seemed to be the most productive way to get this junk out. The wood that was still there, was not only epoxied , it also had large staples driven into in in different places, made for a PITA to get this stuff out.

I ordered 5 gallons of Seacast from transomrepair.net (ECO-WOLF, inc).
I ordered two quarts of epoxy resin from Jamestown Distributors.
I ordered some marinetex to fix a few chips in the keel while it's down for the motor mount repair work.

I hope to have this project done by end of next week.

Plan is to fiberglass the holes in the face closed.
mix and pour the seacast from the top holes to fill up this cavity.
drill pilot hole and re-install the lag bolts and see how well this stuff holds.

Enjoy, have to get back to work to pay for all this stuff I just ordered...

Re: Motor Mount Issues - Loose Lags
 

Well, I have most of the wood out, have a few small pieces that will have to be picked out. will have to clean and dry this out.
My epoxy resin and seacast will be arriving tomorrow. I will have to glass in the face of each box and let it dry for 1-2 days to make sure it's sold with no leak paths. the pouring and filling these cavities with seacast. Hope this stuff works as noted.

Re: Motor Mount Issues - Loose Lags
 

All wood is now out. Tonight is prep work for the glass, hope to put glass in tomorrow night and then pour the seacast on Friday night.

Re: Motor Mount Issues - Loose Lags
 

Well, glass on face is done, poured seacast in 90 deg heat , had to work fast , the stuff started to set up just as I was finishing. When it went into it's Heat actually started to smoke , got so hot you could not keep your finger on it. I drilled out pilot hole for the lag bolts the next day, used a 1/2" drive to thread them in. Now just have to glass the top's and coat them with marinetex or gelcoat and hopefully I'm done.

Anyone that is thinking of doing this, drop me a PM, I'll give you some pointers that I have learned on this fix.
Photo's to follow later.