Another Gil Bracket Question

Sorry to keep asking about this, but. . .

OK, the marina is going to have a welder look at my engine bracket (92 Gulfstream 232) before they pull the engines, etc. The guy that looked at is was worried that maybe we couldn't salvage it. I've called around to a few places. Armstrong is over $4,000, which is nuts. A place here in Miami makes custom brackets and they are about $2,600 which is a bit more palatable. Problem with a new bracket is the existing holes in the stern for the original bracket need to be filled in and new ones made for the new bracket. I'm really not digging that, but maybe it's not as big of a deal as I think??

1) the marina tech said we may be able to just resurface the bracket with awl grip and paint, but that if the aluminum is compromised that it will always take on massive amounts of water. He said he's seen people put bilge pumps inside the brackets. Anyone every heard of this?

2) Seems to me there has to be some product I can use to cover the aluminum bracket to make it more water-tight?? How about a rubber treatment of some sort before it's painted? Anyone have any ideas about how to cover up any small pitting that may be letter water inside?

3) If it's not that big of a deal to fill in the OEM installation holes and drill new ones (for the marina, not me) it may be best to just throw in the towel and get a new one?

Several of you have been kind enough to give me great advice and pictures on this subject, but it appears that the previous owner left this bracket unfinished for enough time to start to compromise the aluminum. I can bounce up and down on the engines and the bracket doesn't move at all, it's sturdy. I just don't want to have a catastrophic failure 5 miles at sea with a broken bracket due to it rusting through or something.

Any ideas?

Thanks again,

John

May have dodged a bullet. Marina just called me. While he still wants a welder to look at the bracket, the thinks we'll be able to salvage it, at least for a couple seasons. He pulled the drain plug and very little water came out. Corrosion not as bad as he originally thought. Let's see.

Hello,

Yes, I had the original refinished. Fortunately the aluminum was salvageable. It was VERY expensive to do. Brought it down to bare aluminum, etched the raw aluminum, painted with AwlGrip, then bottom paint under the water line. Had to remove the engines, replaced the engine bolts, etc.

All in, parts and labor was about $3,500.

A local marina did it. I'm outside of Fort Lauderdale, place called Banyan Bay. Yes, I'm happy with it. I'm not happy that I had to spend almost $4K just so the bracket wouldn't rust out. I could have nearly re-powered the boat for that money.

BOAT - Break Out Another Thousand.