michael barnes
Active member
i finally got around to taking the rotten wood out of the transom of the old starcraft i i bought, and found a not so pleasant surprise. the wood in the transom had been replaced at one time or another, grab handles added to each side of the outside stern, and trim tabs installed.....ALL WITH STEEL BOLTS AND WASHERS!!. a total of 12 or more bolts, all corroded so bad they wrang off, have been eating away at the transom for who knows how long. an area about 8" wide, streching from one end of the transom to the other, is well over haveway eaten through. also, one of the triangular braces at the bottom of the stern had the aluminum bolts replaces with steel ones, and they too have eaten about halfway through the aluminum. then finally, the the starboard corner rivets had been replaced with steel nuts and bolts, also eating halfway through the corner. this was my first boat i had ever bought, and really had no clue what to look for, and i really didnt lose much money, a bit over 200$, but that did include a trailer that is not in too bad a shape. i guess i could have a welder replace the transom....or not. maybe just scrap it for what money i can get, and find another boat. im not upset about it, learned something about buying a boat, and get to start looking all over again for another boat, which that and fixin' an old boat up, well, that half the fun for me. what would you suggest i do?