Transom Question
 

Ok so I was getting ready to replace my exahaust manifolds when I notive that the paint looked like it was lift on the p-side of transom at the bottom right beside the outdrive mount. As I inspected more it feels like a soft spot about 12"x12". Now to feel the soft spot you have to put a good amount of pressure on the transom to feel it...After more inspecting it looks like there has been transom work done before as the paint is a different color white. This different color white extends about two foot past each side of the outdrive.. My question is if I let the boat air out for a couple of months and let the wood dry could I not lay a couple of layers of glass on the soft spot to strengthen it..If not does any one have any idea of pricing to replace transom?

I think you first need to find out where the water is leaking that caused the plywood to rot. Probably leaking around the outdrive seal. The leak will only get worse as time goes on and cause more of the plywood to rot. That plywood is what gives the transom its strength. The correct way to do it is replace the transom. There are a couple of good threads on here that will show you whats involved in doing it yourself. Not to sure what the going rate is for replacement.

The only water leak is the exhaust manifolds..Bought the boat two months ago..Fixing the manifolds this week.. The outside of the transom is very solid...Not that I am trying to make excuses for not replacing the transom..I am just wondering if I let it dry for a couple of months than seal would this work.. The paint has pealed up by the bottom of the transom i the engine compartment..when I looked a little more it appears that they did deal the top side of the drain plug whole..was thinking about taking a piece of mat and resin and seal it after the wood dries..When you press on the transom on the inside of the engine compartment by the outdrive it has a little give on the passenger side..the part that gives is about 12x12 inches.. Just asking if anyone has ever done what I am thinng or am I just waisting time and money

What caused the plywood to go soft? That area must be wet if you say you need to let it dry out. If it is wet, water is getting in somewhere. In my opinion just adding glass isn't going to work. Can you post some pics?

Take small coring with a drill bit in that area. If the chips come out dry you are good and you might have small delaminated area that can be repaired. If the chips come out wet or black, you've got a problem.

Right where the drain plug is.If you pull the whole plug assembly out you see where the is exposed wood on the top side.. It was never sealed...Also on the lower side of the transom by the bottom it looks either the paint or glass has pulled up on one side where the soft spot is..I will take some pics today

Ok here is where the water has been entering,,Obviously some did a crappy job seal job.

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/n...1/IMG_1563.jpg

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/n...1/IMG_5201.jpg

So is the transom wet? and how far up 12" ? If it is wet I would pull it apart and replace. When they tried to repair this before they probably just added glass over the crack which is what will happen if you try and do the same thing, even if you let the area dry out. So when the boat is in the water you can't see any water coming in anywhere? or just where the drain plug is because it wasn't sealed? Can you reseal the drain plug,put the boat back in the water to make sure you don't have any other leaks? If you don't repair the plywood eventually the gel on the outside of the boat will start to crack. Sounds like a good winter project!

ok, listen here lol. I have plenty of experience with this, as I am into my second restoration, this one being on an 86 scarab 400. The wet wood will never dry. It cant. The fiberglass prevents the water from getting out. The plywood is like a spunge and sucks that water up and eventually the entire transom gets moist. The rot spreads like cancer. If you have a 12x12 spot thats soft, I recommend you do the transom or you will be wishing you did at the least opportune time. I used penske board in this restoration on my transom, it was 300.00 a sheet. My transom was bad, along with all the stringers in the engine compartment. I just finished gelcoating the engine compartment sunday. removing the transom is not hard, its just time consuming. With redoing my entire home at the same time, my project has taken more time then I had liked but now the house is done and it has my full attention.

I appreciate the coments. I have been leaning towards getting it done this winter..I have never replace a transom myself so I am not that familiar on what I should pay to have ot done.

Also, Eightsecmopar it looks like they cut center out of the transom probably 3 foot wide and replaced..Now this is strickly speculation base on the different shade of paint.. No matter what they did I think I would fill alot better just getting the thing replaced.

Not to scare you, but I just got my 1993 Twin Engine 38' Scarab back from having the transom replaced due to the transom rotting, and it wasn't cheap, however, if you want piece of mind and no water issues, it is a must do.

I boat at the Lake of the Ozarks in mid-Missouri and I was lucky enough to have a great mechanic shop to help me with getting the transom replaced. Performance Boat Brokerage isolated my leak to the starboard lower drive bolt, which required pulling the motor and outdrive. Determining that the transom was rotting, they called in a fiberglass specialist, Terry's Marine. Terry does approx. 4 transoms a year, so I knew he had some experience at it. He suggested to do the job properly the whole transom would need to be replaced or we were just asking for problems a few more years down the road. So the other engine and outdrive had to be removed and all the hardware had to be removed from the engine compartment. We started this project the middle of July...during the peak of boating season...and the entire project was completed in less than 5 weeks. 2 weeks to find the problem, determine the fix and de-rig the boat. The fiberglass shop had the boat for a week and a half, then back to the mechanic to re-rig the boat, which took 1 week. I have to say that our boat was fixed exceptional fast for such a major repair. Now for the bad news, the de-rigging and re-rigging bill was $6,000 and the transom repair was $4,000. A lot of money, but I figure the money was well worth the piece of mind.

Good luck on your project, hopefully you can find a mechanic and fiberglass shop as skilled and professional as I did.

Do a lot of research on whatever shop you decide to go with. This is one item you don't want to bargain shop for. Definitely get some referrals and talk to previous customers. If you can check out some boats that the shop did. I know that it's going to be expensive, you can save yourself a lot of money if you take everything apart and rerig it yourself.

I have done some checking on this..Went back to a boat mechanic that I had used in the past and has alor of experience with power boats..He is hooking me up with a guy that comes highly recomended for transom and glass/gelcoat..I am waiting for the price but speculation through talking is around 3000 including rigging down and back up.

That actually doesn't sound too bad if that includes the rigging.

Good luck with your project.

I hate to say it but i would be very skeptical of that number. On average its a 4K job not including rigging. Personally i have had to pick up the pieces way to often on jobs that were not quoted properly. To put it simply it just is not a 3k job start to finish so be careful. If you are comfortable with his references and can verify then proceed, but again be careful. Not trying to rain on the parade but my twenty years of experience is telling me something here. On another note if you are mechanically inclined pop on over to the fiberglass and paint section of the board. I have talked many do it yourselfers through a transom job, its mostly a bunch of grunt work (which is why its so costly lol) :cool:

I have recently bought a Wellcraft Nova into New Zealand. From the photos prior to purchase I suspected that the transom would need looking at though I was assured that the boat had had $15K spent on it including an engine replacement. On arrival and inspection the transom, floor and engine bay had had a makeover.

And it is all rubbish. I am now replacing the transom completely due to poor repairs/cover up. The engine bearers are full of water and have just been removed. The same idiots covered the whole engine bay including the hull deck join with heavy Woven Rovings which suffer from poor preparation and poor wet out of the cloth resulting in a poor lamination.

The point I wish to make is that to the untrained eye the work looked good and probably cost some previous owner of my boat a fortune. To remove all this wasted glass is a night mare.

So do the research and do it once and do it right. It is not too difficult for the untrained, it just takes time and effort.

I am a boat builder by trade so no biggy for me, but to have got one which was un molested would have halved my time input and effort.

Good luck with your project.

I appreciate all the feedback..I have used this mechanic in the past when I broke out the engine towers on a smaller boat..They rebuilt and reglassed the towers and did a first class job..I know the workmanship is there..Was not sure about the price..From what I am gathering here, I am getting a very good. price..Will post pics this spring hwen jon is done.

I Have a 79 scarab 300 30 ft Had the complete Transom replaced new 2 1/2 thick, Center Stringer all the way to the bulkhead, both side stringers half way to bulkhead and both holes left from sea strainers everything was glassed. Work done by Fritz, One of the best in South Jersey. Also two new Engine Hatches 1 thick and glassed. 9,000

hey i have some pic. posted on here of my 30 panther project doing a transom. the thread is called 30 panther here we go. i have done six of them so far its not that hard. im Keith (aka donnawanna) feel to ask if you need any help. good luck