exhaust sealant?

[Salty87]

i'm putting my exhaust pipes back together, supertraps on the transom. which sealant would be best? non-permanent....i'm thinking of using 3m 4200.

you can see the inside of the transom here:

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a10/salty87/IMG_0289.jpg


thx

[OUI]

One suggestion would be Sikoflex. Check with Sealantsandcoatings.com They're pretty knowledgable.

[DKJBama92Mariah]

For anything below the waterline, 3M 5200 is probably your best and safest bet. Thats what just about any service facility would use. It's not as permanent as you might think, and I think the extra measure of protection it provides over 4200 is well worth the small amount of extra effort required to disassemble. Even more so given the 3.5" size of the exhaust thruhulls and the amount of water that could potentially come in from a leak.

Honestly if you want a more educated opinion, you might try posting the question on the http://www.BoaterEd.com forum. They have some VERY knowledgeable, helpful, and courteous folks there. The forums are tightly moderated so you won't see the type of stupid, immature crap you might see on fanboy dominated forums like wakeworld. It's very much like this forum, but with much more activity and readership. A lot of the info I share on this board I've picked up from browsing the forums there. Many members there have larger boats than us, but the same general principles apply regardless of size. My forum name over there is dkjbama; give me a shout by PM if you end up joining.

BTW, while you've got her apart, it would be a great time to put a fresh coat of paint down in the visible parts of the bilge. Nothing says love for a boat more than a clean engine room.

DKJ

[Salty87]

hey dkj

i've posted on boatered under the name onthecreek. they suggested i replace the straight pipes with fiberglass mufflers so i got the hell outta there. they know a bunch but mostly about saltwater it seems.

i spoke with starbrite by phone and they suggested one of their products. it's good for under waterline and will tolerate any heat that might get generated while on plane with the pipes out of the water. i'm still a little undecided though.

i'm going to paint the bilge. i'm also beefing up the transom around the exhaust ports, i had leaks before from thin fiberglass where the gel coat had chipped.

thanks

[Txsalty]

I have been reading this forum since the summer when I purchase my 86 Saltare for my son.

We are in the process of replacing the floor. Is there any clues or tell tell signs that there are leaks around the Transom exhaust?

If there is a problem, this would be the time to address it, but if it's not broke....well you know the rest.

[Salty87]

hi txsalty

that's a lucky son getting a fine old ski'ing cruiser! got pics?

my bilge pump would run every 5 mins. i knew i had a leak, just didn't know where from. i thought the exhaust pipes had developed holes. i could see looking in the bilge that the rear port side stringer was mush. the fiberglass was just falling off the stringer.

my swim platform could have been more secure too but i didn't find and rust like i thought i would.

it didn't look like my exhaust pipes were sealed on the inside of the transom. i've also added backing plates for the supertraps to screw into. some more sealant when installing the supertrap.

check the gel coat where the supertraps screw in, it was all chipped up around the screw holes on mine.

you have straight pipes?

[Txsalty]

Salty87, Thanks ....

I just noticed that we are only 30 minutes away...

I bought this boat locally. It was in need of real good cleaning. Bought the boat from the original owner and even found some of the original items when the boat was purchased new in some of the storage areas.

Mechanically very sound! Floor and carpet was gone, but my fear was the stringers in these older Supra. To my shock, the stringers are really sound for the most part. The only soft spot were around the areas where the cross supports were layed in the floor originally.

We bought the boat without a trailer, so we built a trailer. We cleaned her up and redid all the teak and the boat really turned out nice.

The boat has straight pipes. I'm thinking I might seal around the pipes while I have the floor out.

Here are some shots when we picked the boat up.. then a couple after it was cleaned up.

We have since added a Tower, Tower speakers and Bimini top. Not seen in the pictures.

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/6288/86supratrailer008ny2.th.jpg (http://img502.imageshack.us/my.php?image=86supratrailer008ny2.jpg)
http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/6246/86supratrailer061co7.th.jpg (http://img86.imageshack.us/my.php?image=86supratrailer061co7.jpg)
http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/4462/86supratrailer079vb9.th.jpg (http://img86.imageshack.us/my.php?image=86supratrailer079vb9.jpg)

[Salty87]

boat looks real nice. i got mine locally without a trailer too.

yours has alot more teak than mine. i'm going to get rid of some of mine. its a pain. i want to add pockets along the gunwhales for storage and to get rid of the teak there.

i also took the stripes off mine, that helps get it out of the 80's a little bit.

love the garage!

[Txsalty]

Thanks... My son and I were talking about doing the same thing with the gunwhales. I wanted more storage... he wanted to put more speakers and LED's.... He is still dropping hints about a creative location or install of 15" sub....

I have removed the striping as well... Was considering updating the paint scheme... but I have my hands full with the projects already on my list.

We were considering removing some of the teak. If I do tackle the paint job, then I will remove the Topside Teak. Right wrong of different, I cleaned it really good, then put a coat of Clear Deck Stain on it. I know many disagree, but this has worked for every boat I have owned. Really takes maint down to 1 a year or every other year.

Here is a Before and After picture of the swim platform.


[img]http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/3203/86supra003qw6.th.jpg (http://img520.imageshack.us/my.php?image=86supra003qw6.jpg)
http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/6092/86supratrailer039ha7.th.jpg (http://img174.imageshack.us/my.php?image=86supratrailer039ha7.jpg)

[cowboy4]

On the exhaust subject.
By the end of last summer I had taken the suppertraps off as I think they look hideous. When i pulled the motor one of my pipes came loose from the transom. I want a deep sounding exhaust but not as loud as it was straight pipes. Also wanting to run a flapper for the exit and not the original super traps. Any opinions suggestions or help on this. Also where do I find marine mufflers? Not like I can go to a local exhaust shop for them.
Also does it just glue to the transom or did part of my exhaust break when it came off?

[Salty87]

skidim.com has some

the supertraps have a ring that screws into the transom, the pipe fits into a lip on the ring, the threaded rod sticking out the end of the pipe fits thru the ring and the traps tighten it all together with a nut on the threads. if you had already taken the traps off, the rest would have pulled apart pretty easily. otherwise, it should have stayed attached thru the transom.

i've never owned a boat with the flapper-style but have read that the traps work better.

[cowboy4]

Hmmm so I prob shouldn't have thrown away the discs for the st.
I just dislike the looks of them. Well maybe time to invest into some nice exhaust tips. I saw the ones on skidim so would i buy a through transom mount and then have a rubber boot mate it to my exhaust?

[Salty87]

if you check out paul's post called boat rot, he has pics of his exhaust with some sort of muffler. the pic is closer to the end, 'new floor' section maybe...going from memory

[wotan2525]

Thanks... My son and I were talking about doing the same thing with the gunwhales. I wanted more storage... he wanted to put more speakers and LED's.... He is still dropping hints about a creative location or install of 15" sub....


I like what you did with the teak topside... but I would never, ever, ever, ever stain the swim deck. A friend of mine did this and it's now slippery as HELL. It SUCKS!

As far as speakers.... I built a custom plexi box that basically serves as a bench for the rear seats. 4x12" with neon.... and in the ski locker are 3 amps powering those and the rest of the boat speakers. Yes. It is very loud.