Hi everyone! My name is Mike and Im new to the forums. I have acquired a 1984 Advantage (anybody ever heard of them?) ski boat. It is a 16 ft, walk thru windshield with a Mercruiser 120 hp i/o that runs great and also has good upholstery. Now the bad, I had water coming in through engine compartment and gradualy getting worse. I did some investigating and have found ROTTEN TRANSOM, and rottten stringers. Everybody told me to sell and cut my losses, but I ain't "skeered". Let me tell everyone what I have done so far. I removed engine, outdrive, floor, old transom, and nearly all of stringers. I have removed all foam in the floor and started sanding where new stringers go. I also have started replacing transome and am proud to say the first piece of AC Fir plywood is in. I run out of cloth so I had to stop. I do have a question I would love for someone to answer. The old transom was 2 sheets of 3/4 plywood and the hull measures a 1/4". This of course adds up to 1 3/4". Everything I have read says mercruiser outdrives need to be between 2-2 1/8" Can anyone please help me with this? I will post pics as soon as I can of my adventure.