OK this is a two part conversation so here goes..first off during this restoration project we have pulled said motors for a full rebuild...plot thinkens...we notice a 2" hole someone cut thru the main stringer that holds the two motor mounts in the center. hole is located about 8" away from the forward bulkhead and about 5" up from the bottom. Said hole was not glassed and therefor has rotted the stringer. Now for the question, can said rotted areas be cut out and glassed back in or does the whole stringer need need to come out? Or can it be spliced...so forth so on yada yada yada....? If replacement is necessary what materials do i use and how do i secure it back in?

It really just depends on how much of the stringer is affected (rotted). At some point its just easier to knock the whole thing out and put in a fresh stringer. Can you post pics? If its any bigger then say a sq ft or if it bisects the stringer from top to bottom get the sawzall out. I rarely (if ever) patch stringers and if the motors are out nows the time.

What if you centered a 4" hole saw over the existing 2" hole (provided there's no exstension of rot) cut it out and replace with a new 4" plug?......this would seem to be less work provided it wouldn't compromise strenght......what say you Dave?

yep, that works good to. Again its really just gonna come down to how much rot is there at the moment. If its isolated in the one spot then yea you could certainly do it that way.

It's rotted a good finger lenght in from the 2 " hole....so yeah a extra 8" in radius.....lol ok 3-4" in radius(wishful thinking lol) that i know of. I kinda waited till the last minute to post this just as i was leaving to go out of town so i'll try to get someone to swing by and get us a couple photo's of it. I was just worried about the structrual integridy and how much material i could remove before it started effecting it. And def Dave now would be the time to replace it....

keep cutting till you are back to good wood. then decide-ask again. though the answer may well be self-evident by then.

here is what i'm looking at.

i'll be back home later this week, and me and the sawzall will do work....if i do replace the whole thing what material do i use for it and how do i secure it to the engine bulk head and to the transome?

This will def need some cuttign an fiberglassing, supplies have already been ordered. We ordered the supplies from US Composites to ensure we got quality supplies.

Ordered the 435 marine grade layup resin along with 18oz E-Glass for this repair.

based on the current fiberglass pattern I assumed this is what was best/strongest to use.

But like stated above, if we need to cut this out and replace it, what should be done? I have done a lot of fiberglass work, just never replaced a stringer holding the power of two 454s.

Ok little hole..huge problem!!! We started cutting out around the home to find it kept going and all the tiny little white bugs in the there..yeap termites so cut all the string out to find they made it to the transome....this is where **** starts to suck!! So while I was drilling some test holes in the transome I got a little crazy with the drill and for two more string those little bastards had to make dinner out of....so now it comes down to is it even worth the work of the repairs.....????