1986 larson senza 195 motor mount floor rot

[kiyacky]

ok,i had to pull the motor out (350 cid 260 hp) cause the coupler striped out. i figured how bad can be? well it actually came pretty easy. i wanted to find the reason why after all these years the coupling went bad, it was because the box or stand or what ever its called that the motor mount is bolted to was rotted and made the engine lean a little.i cut the top of this box off and found nothing but wet mush, so i cleaned out all the old wood but left the outer fiberglass shell. my question is can i just fill the whole damn thing up with fiberglass or do i have to replace the wood first? the box is about 8in wide by 11in long and10in deep. thanks

 

[jbcurt00]

You are likely to find similar damage inside other fiberglass structures below decks. It is unlikely an isolated problem.

 

[Rickmerrill]

Sorry to hear about this issue. Can you show us some pictures of the boat and the problem area? If by fill the whole thing with fiberglass you mean pour in some resin, no. Hardened resin by itself has little strength without fibers and is very brittle. This can be fixed relatively easily but like jb said above what is the condition of the rest of the wood in the boat? With the engine out you should at least have good access to drill some test holes in the lower transom area, the bulkhead fwd of the engine and the aft stringers.