The back of the silent thunder

Rott number 2

This was untouched and how I found it when it came off the boat. I am not sure if it is original. The rott is only the top half of the box. I believe that there is only plywood here for the upper mounting tow hooks,as to not crush the glass when mounted.

The other problem my silent thunder box had was at the tow hooks. Stress cracks developed I would imagin due to no support from the back. I have seen many Formulas with this problem. If you see this on yours I would bet you have rott.

Pic 2

pic 3

The removal of the platform was easy I did it myself with the help of a fork truck to support the weight. If you do not have a fork at your disposal I would recomend that you have a second person, three would be nice. All you need to do is remove all four tow hooks and the two L brackets under the middle. Do it in this order The small L brackets first, the lowwer tow hooks second, then remove the nuts from the upper tow hooks, get out of the boat and pull it off.

Starting to get naked back there. Bell housings and gimbals are coming off next. I need some input on what kind of medea to use for blasting the gimbals, Is sand to harsh?

Russ, I've read horror stories about the rot. I hope mine isn't like that. I do know that sometimes mine will leak exhaust around the outer edge seal if I'm standing on it. I pray it's just the tail pipe seals gone bad.
In your pic #2 it looks like there was exhaust leaking around the tow hook. Is that right?

Iggy,
Yes you are right. There was ehaust leaking there. Don't get me wrong it looks uggly but it is not that hard of a repair. Just because the silent thunder is rotting means nothing about the hull. The rest of my boat is mint, it's just the drives and silent thunder need to be looked after.