1993 four winns sundowner 195 transom rot discovered

[Tabletop45]

doing some investigating on where i was having water coming into my bilge, i decided to tap on the bilge starting at the engine stringers and working down toward the drain hole. about an inch and a half past the engine stringer, the sound goes from solid, to hollow. the same goes on the other side as well. so i have a square that spans from the bottom of the transom plate to the drain hole, and to about 1 1/2- 2 inches before each engine stringer where it sounds like theres nothing there. my lower transom plate bolts were also loose. port side was damn near finger tight, starboard side was tighter but still loose. my guess is these bolts have been loose for a while and that's what allowed the water into the transom. i got my stubby 16MM wrench on the bolts and turned them several times, but i think my efforts are in vain, because i don't think there's anything for those bolts to clamp to at this point.
My stomach is in knots and my heart is broken with this discovery... as i've only had the boat since 2019 and haven't had too much time to enjoy it. i MAY try and bandaid it as best as i can to get through the season.

is there anyone on the forum who has attempted a transom repair on a boat like this? im concerned at attempting to replace a transom on this boat due to the complex shape of the stern having the built in swim platform.

 

[matt167]

This is the reason I look at fiberglass boats as parts boats for my tin boats.

You could try to get by for the season with CPES or something and a Botch repair but with water entering the bilge as is, how safe would you feel

 

[Scott06]

doing some investigating on where i was having water coming into my bilge, i decided to tap on the bilge starting at the engine stringers and working down toward the drain hole. about an inch and a half past the engine stringer, the sound goes from solid, to hollow. the same goes on the other side as well. so i have a square that spans from the bottom of the transom plate to the drain hole, and to about 1 1/2- 2 inches before each engine stringer where it sounds like theres nothing there. my lower transom plate bolts were also loose. port side was damn near finger tight, starboard side was tighter but still loose. my guess is these bolts have been loose for a while and that's what allowed the water into the transom. i got my stubby 16MM wrench on the bolts and turned them several times, but i think my efforts are in vain, because i don't think there's anything for those bolts to clamp to at this point.
My stomach is in knots and my heart is broken with this discovery... as i've only had the boat since 2019 and haven't had too much time to enjoy it. i MAY try and bandaid it as best as i can to get through the season.

is there anyone on the forum who has attempted a transom repair on a boat like this? im concerned at attempting to replace a transom on this boat due to the complex shape of the stern having the built in swim platform.

Sorry to hear that.

You might post some pics in the restoration forum as a lot of guys have done transoms, stringers, and floors. Would think they can give you an idea of how much work it will be. unfortunately there are a lot of multi year threads on rebuilds. Hard to say if you can get through a year would do some drill tests in transom and stringers to see how much rot is there.

For me it would come down to :
Can you do this work and do you like doing projects like this?
and what is the interior like? Its one one thing if its just the transom and you can bang it out, its another thing to invest in the transom and the interior is shredded... if that is the case might be better parting it out and finding another.

 

[Tabletop45]

Sorry to hear that.

You might post some pics in the restoration forum as a lot of guys have done transoms, stringers, and floors. Would think they can give you an idea of how much work it will be. unfortunately there are a lot of multi year threads on rebuilds. Hard to say if you can get through a year would do some drill tests in transom and stringers to see how much rot is there.

For me it would come down to :
Can you do this work and do you like doing projects like this?
and what is the interior like? Its one one thing if its just the transom and you can bang it out, its another thing to invest in the transom and the interior is shredded... if that is the case might be better parting it out and finding another.

the interior is in good shape from what i can tell. the stringers that hold the engine mounts are nice and solid. at this point it looks like the rot is localized to the area just below the transom sheild to the drain plug. of course the wood could still have issues further up, but the transom shows no signs of flexing, no cracking, nothing... if it weren't for the leak leading me to checking the transom i would have never even known there was an issue with it.

 

[88 Capri (2022 SOTY)]

I'm sorry to hear about your discovery but I agree with Scott about posting it in the restoration forum.
Depending on how your boat is constructed the rot most likely migrated to other areas you are not aware of, it's like rust in a car it just keeps eating away over the years.
My biggest concern would be your safety, after what I found in my boat I'm glad I didn't risk it but without seeing yours I couldn't be certain.
Post some pictures in the other forum starting a new thread. We are here to help if we can