Re: transom problem
Feel or prob inside the holes. If its totally hollow, and no water dribbeled out, the boat was made that way.<br /><br />The outboard edges of the transom for a I/O don't really do much 'work' holding the hull together like a transom for a outboard.<br /><br />The stresses are born by the transom under the outdrive, and by the engine mounts and transmitted to the bottom of the hull.<br /><br />I've seen a transom for a Mercruiser 235hp V-8 I/O that only had wood going out about a foot from the sides of the outdrive. The plywood part of the transom only came out far enough to tie in with the rear ends of the engine mounts. The outboard sides of of the transom were cardboard--- the brown paper type cardboard like a cardboard box is made with. The cardboard was glassed over along with the wooden center section just to give it shape so it would 'look right' to most non-structural engineers. The area of the transom outboard of your engine mounts may have been left as a void also to save a little weight and doing so wouldn't give up enough strength with that small of an engine to matter.<br /><br /><br />But, then again--- if you get mushy, wet sawdust and chips out from your holes,,, its rotted, and probably for a few inches up from all along the bottom edge of the transom board too. If so, that gets pretty serious.
