Alpha one gen II leaking water near hydraulic hoses

[Scott06]

Got the chance to cut a bit into the transom from the inside this evening and confirmed the worst. Anything that was once wooden in here has completely turned into dust. Very glad that we had enough other things preoccupying us to fix during the season that we didn't get the chance to try and take it out before we caught this problem.

I might try and look into pricing out all the materials for a full fiberglass rebuild but I still think it's going to be cost prohibitive, at least for now. I've watched a bunch of people doing rebuilds online but most are for outbound motors where the back of the boat is completely flat. Does having the more "cutout" for the I/O make the job any more difficult?

I would also drill into the stringers in the engine bay and ski locker or by gas tank if you can take the floor out to access. Biggest thing to do at this point is get a handle on the extend of the rebuild and then guys here who have done it can help you SWAG the cost and make a intelligent decision on if you want to take it on.

What does the interior look like? That would be a prime determinant for me. The cost of having seats recovered etc on top of doing a gut and rebuild is prohibitive - basically by the time you pay for the gut and rebuild materials plus upholstery you can probably find a better boat to start with.

Ideally if you can find a boat that some one cracked the block and swap your drive train. I did that back on 2015/16. Bought a 11 yr old boat that PO didn't winterize and repowered. Worked out great but other than the engine, trailer tires and breaks everything else on the boat was in great shape.

 

[mkane8301]

I would also drill into the stringers in the engine bay and ski locker or by gas tank if you can take the floor out to access. Biggest thing to do at this point is get a handle on the extend of the rebuild and then guys here who have done it can help you SWAG the cost and make a intelligent decision on if you want to take it on.

What does the interior look like? That would be a prime determinant for me. The cost of having seats recovered etc on top of doing a gut and rebuild is prohibitive - basically by the time you pay for the gut and rebuild materials plus upholstery you can probably find a better boat to start with.

Ideally if you can find a boat that some one cracked the block and swap your drive train. I did that back on 2015/16. Bought a 11 yr old boat that PO didn't winterize and repowered. Worked out great but other than the engine, trailer tires and breaks everything else on the boat was in great shape.

I think that's the route we're going to have to go. I pulled up the floor in the rear to check out the stringers and was able to easily access the furthest ones towards the outside of the hull. I found that they weren't even glassed in (thought they usually were) and had water exposure in patches and were starting to rot as well, although nowhere near as bad as the transom. Drivetrains in good shape, though, so looks like we'll be searching for an empty hull to do a swap into or parting out the boat to try and make back as much as we can to start another project that won't cost an arm and a leg.