thunderbird transom and floor

I'm back again. I am making final plans to repair my 69-70 thunderbird seminole (17') outboard bowrider. The transom is rotten around the engine mounting bolts and the deck is rotten where the fiberglass has cracked at the plywood joints. The stringers are in good shape, they are completely encapsulated. i did test drilling to verify this. The only stringer problem is where two of the stringers attach to the transom. I plan to replace these damaged sections along with the transom. My original plan was to cut the cap near the transom on each side and only remove the back portion. Everyone advises me to remove the entire cap. The bow area deck is elevated above the main deck and is a part of the cap. Has anyone had experience with the removal of the cap on a thunderbird with the integral bow area. I am concerned with the lifting and handling of the cap with this bulk of the bow attached. See attached pics.

Re: thunderbird transom and floor

The cap should come off fairly straight forward although the front will obviously be the heavier part, my apache had the center area dropped as a walk through and needed extra support to avoid collapse. You have my curiosity, what is the through hull fitting in the front for?

Re: thunderbird transom and floor

rockyrude said:

The cap should come off fairly straight forward although the front will obviously be the heavier part, my apache had the center area dropped as a walk through and needed extra support to avoid collapse. You have my curiosity, what is the through hull fitting in the front for?

Click to expand...

I am not sure of the purpose of the opening unless it is for access to the bow cleat, light, and bow eye attachment hardware. There is no other way to access these with this hull design, unless you pull the cap.