we will see waiting on the meeting of the minds between Adam and Kevin to see if it can be " patched " to get me through the summer if the builders at Baja would have just took their time cutting the transom i wouldnt have this problem they cut the damn hole to big and that let water seep in and rot some wood

They needed to seal up that wood with resin instead of cheap white paint.

well at least i know when i do have it replaced it will be done right

Thanks for the advice guys (and the well-wishes). I'll be in over $20k in repairs (OK and a couple of upgrades, but nothing serious) this off-season if that $3-5k quote holds. And I haven't even touched my (almost 500 hour) black top Mercury motors yet... :/

I need a drink.

By the way, since I'm f'ing with all of this change in the transom, anybody with a 302 ever move up their X dimension by glassing closed the transom and moving up the drives / engines? Irish, I know you did it with boxes / shorties with good results IIRC. Figured if I was f'ing with it already, may as well move everything up a few inches. I talked to a guy at Mercury with the same boat. He said he did this to his same year 302, up 4" from factory. Said it (plus 28p bravo 1 prop) fixed the porpoise at cruising speed (which I HATE) and picked up a bunch up top. Just curious if anyone else out in cyberspace has done this to a 302 and what results they got.

Thanx!
Mike

Ouch what other repairs have you had that cost 15K?

I am starting to feel better.

I'd say 3" on a 2000 Baja would be a good place. Most that I could find did what I did. Only thing I'd do different and this is only if my stringers rot is make it a offshore mount setup.

Hmm, well, let's see. Where to start. I've blown up both of my bravo 1's in the last two years. I'm replacing them with XR's this year. My Bennett sport tabs have never worked. Leaked hydraulic fluid everywhere. So new K planes this year. I found a reasonable deal on a set of add-on Imco hydraulic steering, so putting that on for good measure. My stock exhaust manifolds had rusted thru and were leaking water everywhere (because the idiot that owned this boat before me ran it in salt water with an open cooling system!!!). So I got a set of Stainless Marine manifolds, risers and a Corsa selectable exhaust with Corsa tips to go thru-hull. Had to have both engines pulled, new motor mounts and couplers (because the mounts didn't move anymore from salt exposure, presumably). I'll have spent well over $30k in the last three years. Between upholstery / carpet / repairing the cockpit cover / new HP bottom paint (don't make fun, it sits in the water all season) / new starters / new batteries / new distributors... Geezis, it's depressing to think about all that. Now I really need a drink. $hit, make it a double.

Oh, and Irish I'm definitely going with the offshore mounts when I change my X. I don't think you can use the adjustables any more if you move up that much, unless you build up the stringer underneath. And I don't even know if that would work. I've been warned however that the rear mount will possibly sag from weakness in the balsa stringer. I'm starting to think about some kind of a saddle mount for the rear to try to fix that. Thanks again for the advice.

The rear mount is the transom assembly. If it sags your in big trouble.