Yet Another Transom Job in the Works - ?ions

[warthog5]

I know they are open Sat. morning. Not sure when they close on Sat.

[Fishjack]

Well at the point of no return - started digging into the transom today - this is what I found -







It appears that the area where the motor was mounted was in pretty good shape - the sides up high are in bad shape -





The boat originally had twins - the previous owner installed a single and cut the transom down about 5 inches. The sides were not well sealed and this allowed water to get into the sides.

The wood in the center is still in really good shape and is going to be a bear to remove. How much more should I cut out?? I am going to replace both drain plugs (maybe with garbord (SP?) plugs). Not sure how close is too close to the bottom - trying to stick with the 12:1 bevel..

FWIW - I plan on enclosing the entire transom and putting in some sort of transom door. Also doing away with the splash well and transom below deck livewell.

Any suggestions and advise would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Jack