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I have a 1989 Outrage 18 and I am changing the transducer. I have to fill the old transducer mounting holes and I can see a couple of filled holes from a prior owner, which I may want to also repair. Any suggestions on the best procedure to fill these holes below the water line? I have used Marine Tex before and had decent luck. Looking for possible better suggestions.
I have done quite a few of those repairs as electronics quickly go out of date. I would not recommend Marine-Tex in this situation since it is epoxy based and cannot be gelcoated over (won't bond) and if sanded flush, will quickly turn yellow unprotected.
I do the following, trying to keep the construction the same as the way the boat was constructed. I drill out the old holes 3/8", about 1/2" into the plywood transom. If there is any dampness in the transom wood around the screw hole, this should get it. I then countersink the glass surface a little, to provide a sloping, tapered surface for resin bonding. Then glue a teak plug into the plywood, leaving about 1/4" depth. Then fill/skim over with Evercoat Formula 27 POLYESTER pre-thickened resin (made by the same people who make Marine-Tex). Sand flush. Then grind out a reveal over the patch and arlund the perimeter of the fill of about 1/32" depth to receive the finish gelcoat surfacing. Sand and buff out. If the color is properly matched, the transom will look like new again.
Hint: Before you do any of this work, thoroughly compound and buff out the transom fully, to a high gloss. You need to do this for proper gelcoat color matching.
Almost 20 holes were filled this way in the transom of my 1979 Montauk.
Awesome job on the Montauk. I'm going to be repairing several transom mounting holes on my 1996 Outrage in the very near future. Excellent information. Thanks.
