Tom,

re your comment on over torquing, the nuts are pretty small (3/8) and I
could easily see that happening but Jim has me thinking more of rot (wet or
dry) than I care to now. The transom is about 12' X 3.5' and the plywood
core is at least 2" thick. Yikes! $$$$


"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 12 Dec 2004 13:46:12 -0500, "sel1"
wrote:

One would suspect rot, but I just had the boat surveyed and the only spot
in
question was where the steering arms came through the transom - some
delamination. Once I took out the steering arms, sure enough the wood is
a
bit pulpy. Previous owner left pratically desintegrated boots as they
were,
for obviously a very long time. Albeit above the water line, it was
pretty
wet in there. Might have to replace wood in that area. In the spot where
the
bolts appeared to be sunk in was around the exhaust ports, which I have
removed and the wood looks pretty good actually, but I'm just a beginner
).

I guess I'll have the other areas checked out again in the spring.

What sometimes happens is that the bolts get over torqued compressing
the wood and, essentially, destroying any adhesive properties of the
glue used on the veneer layers of the plywood. Once the glue bond is
broken and the wood cells compressed (destroying them), the whole
thing becomes suspect.

You can sometimes salvage the wood with epoxy, but that's not common
in large scale dry or wet rot. You can guarantee that if the holes
are a "little" pulpy, the whole thing is compromised. Repairs can be
made by cutting out the rot and replacing with a epoxy, a plug and
fiberglass if the area isn't too large. If the rot is extensive, then
it's time to replace it all.

Go to a local dollar store and buy a small rubber hammer for a buck
and thump the entire transom. Any "dead' sounding thumps (and you
will know the difference once you do it) is where the wood is shot.

On my Ranger, as well as the Contender, I use Starboard if I'm
installing something that requires a backing plate. With a little
patience, you can make Starboard do just about what you want to do
and if you have any engineering experience, it's perfect for
customizing.

Good luck.

Later,

Tom