1974 20' sceptre -buy it?

[wallymotor]

Hey all

I found a 1974 20' Scepter that appears to be mostly original... including the engine, a 70's era 150 Johnson "gt". I have been reading everything I can on seacrafts to educate myself so I know what I'm getting into. This will not be my first restoration - I'm just trying to get an idea of what the seacrafts in particular tend to need as they age.

I just got back from a preliminary look at the boat. The Hull#'s are right. I took a moisture meter and the transom and foredeck both had low readings 15-20%. I see so many transom rebuilds on the older seacrafts I expected it to be soaked. Could the original transom on a 1974 still be sound enough to run as is for a few summers? Anybody else know of a boat from the mid 70's with the original transom?

Going back this weekend for a more in depth look at the hull. I plan to crawl around under the boat with a small mallet and sound the hull for delamination or soft spots. Any tips or particular things I should look for?

My understanding is there is no wood in the hull stringers to rot ...they are hollow box section fiberglass. Also don't kow if it 's possible to get a look in there as the liner is glassed to the hull right? The cockpit sole felt solid and firm, but I forgot to put the moisture meter on it.

Any advice would be appreciated to help me evaluate the structural integrity of the boat as I'm trying to avoid major fiberglass work on this project.