Has Anyone Ever Had a Part Made That They Couldn't Find?

[Wake_Dude]

Unfortunately, no. The boat is still at the boat shop which is 2 hours away from me. I just know that the guy said that metal had worn away on the transom and the gaps are now too big to seal with silicone or whatever else. He has a better explanation but those are my words. He did warn me that it could happen before and when he pulled off the pump the last time last summer, he said the gaps were now too big to fill. My boat has been sitting there since Aug of last year and now the part is saying mid-August this year.

Ok, I understand. Just gonna throw this out there, because I know how bad it will suck for you not to be on the water this summer. I own a machine shop and could easily reverse engineer and machine that piece for you. I can cut you a break and quote the price somewhere close to what you would pay retail for that part. In order to do this, I would need the old plate and ALL mating parts in addition to any critical tolerances (you should be able to pull specs from a service manual), if applicable. If this is something you might be interested in, please shoot me a PM. BTW, how thick is that plate if you had to estimate?

 

[itsdgm]

@djtech2k man, what a bummer. I’ve personally never hear of a transom plate wearing out. i wonder if your sacrificial anodes are missing On that side? How’s the corrosion looking on the other side too? If you do find a donor boat, it might be worth buying both plates and replacing them both. Surely the other side would be in similar condition, right?

 

[Beachbummer]

What's behind this piece? Could the pump liner not be through bolted to the plate, or the threads on the plate not be tapped one size greater? I'm struggling to understand the damage that is causing this. Perhaps a more creative fix is needed to get the boat operational. (If not at peak performance, 95% of the time you are not WOT)

You may well need it, but not many have been around here that have needed one, so we are all quite suspicious.

 

[djtech2k]

@Wake_Dude Thanks I am interested. I am trying to figure out how I can get you one to use as a model.

I understand that this part is not normally one that needs replaced. The boat guy has explained to me that he discovered that the metal was eaten away or had electrolysis (maybe the right word?). I am not the original owner so I don’t know all the history but the engines and engine bay look great. I had cavitation when I took it to him and when he took the pump off, he said the metal was getting bad. He replaced the prop and wear ring and put it together with some kind of marine silicone. I used the boat a couple times and at some point, the cavatation came back worse on that engine. I took it back to him and he said the metal has tons of holes/gaps in it so it could not make a seal, hence the cavitation. So replacing the transom plate was what he said needs done.

I have been waiting to find it since August. It really sucks. The boat is in good shape and engines seem fantastic. This seems to be the only issue that I know if. The anodes are eaten up and I did just get them in a few weeks ago. I ordered them last March. The boat is at the boat mechanic since August, which is about 2 hours from me.

 

[Beachbummer]

I really struggle with why an alternative method of repair with say, epoxy, could not be attempted until the part becomes available. Keeping the boat out of service seems extreme. That's just me though.

 

[Wake_Dude]

@Wake_Dude Thanks I am interested. I am trying to figure out how I can get you one to use as a model.

Sounds good. Just holler at me if/when you are ready to do this. I have a CMM (coordinate measuring machine) to where I can literally digitize the whole part and interpolate the damaged areas.

Out of curiosity, where in WV are you located?

Beachbummer's idea is a good one also. If the pits/voids can be filled and then carefully sanded flush/to contour, you may get by this season. Can the mechanic where your boat is located take some pics of the damage for you? Or is everything still assembled?

 

[djtech2k]

The mechanic actually did offer an option to epoxy (something like 504 or some other number) the connection. He said this it would fill all the gaps but that it will be very difficult to get off after its done. He said that would be more of a temporary permanent fix if that makes sense. He said the only way to get it back off would be to heat it up enough to remove the epoxy but he said that would likely ruin all the seals so they would need replaced then.

Obviously that scared me so I said I would wait for the transom. So he did offer that to get us out on the water right away. I was just worried that if it did not work or even if it did, the boat would be in worse shape at some point because of that.

 

[2kwik4u]

@djtech2k You might reach out to @Robb235 he just replaced two engines in a project boat with two setups from JetSki's. I'm not sure if he used the transom plate there or not, but he might have a piece/part laying around that you could send to @Wake_Dude for machine work.

In a past life I was involved with a project where we were swapping Vortec heads from late model S10 trucks onto GMC Syclones from the '90's. THe ports on the Vortec heads were MUCH larger and the heads in general flowed a lot more air, making them a very desirable upgrade. TO accomplish that, we welded a piece of aluminum stock to the factory cast intake manifold of the Syclone, then machined it back down to the proper surface. From there the new welded pieces was ported out to match the Vortec heads. It wasn't a terribly difficult process once we worked out the details........I'm curious if you could find a local machine shop to do similar repair work on the piece you have in hand. If there is material missing, a good welder should be able to fill it back in, then machine it back to spec. It would be a long shot, but might be a worthwhile effort considering the time delays on the new part.

Good luck!

 

[Robb235]

@djtech2k You might reach out to @Robb235 he just replaced two engines in a project boat with two setups from JetSki's. I'm not sure if he used the transom plate there or not, but he might have a piece/part laying around that you could send to @Wake_Dude for machine work.

No, sorry, I don't have that.

 

[djtech2k]

Just wanted to post back that my transom plate finally came in and the mechanic just told me the boat is done. So I need to plan a trip to pick it up. Hopefully everything is good to go now and I can get back on the water soon.