I am converting my Sea Ray to a Mercruiser Alpha from OMC stringer mount. I have read a lot of other transom projects on here along with some books so my plan is to use mat followed by 1708 and vinylester for the new transom.

My question involves the actual transom fill-in of the large cutout for the OMC drive. The outer hull is 1/4 inch thick. My plan is to bevel 3 inches on the inside only rather than bevel on both sides. Is this a mistake? My plan is to have a piece of aluminum plate on the outside to act as the mold and then vacuum bag that new 1/4 inch of fiberglass against the aluminum. Anyone see any issues with this plan?

Thanks.

Anyone?

three inches would give you a 12:1 scarf joint which for a small HP application should be ok but dont be afraid to take that out further if ya can. I would go twice that if possible. I remember the OMC's had a pretty large hole. Are you replacing the entire transom or are you going to try and plug it?

I'm replacing the whole transom. All of the plywood is out. A little less than a quarter was rotten. It was one sheet of 3/4 inch plywood so I am replacing that one sheet with either 3 sheets of 1/2" or 2 sheets of 3/4".

I won't have a problem with not bevelling the outside (only the inside)? That is my biggest worry.

Thank you for your help.
Eric

My worry about going from the inside like that would be a noticable line or something were the old cut out was that would be hard to get rid of when painting?