Should all Potter era transoms be replaced?

[Capt Terry]

I finished my transom repair exactly a year ago on my 76 Seafari. The boat had been in the water for several years behind our house and the water damage was worse in the area of the engine bolts. All of my exploratory holes revealed moisture but they were portions of the transom that obviously were quite solid because of the difficulty that I had removing the wood with the forward and aft sheet still installed for a Seacast pour. I also found a few locations where the original plywood sheets were nailed together- Not too kind to the chain saw blade!

[lelandtampa]

My 78 seemed solid trailering it home with a 115 Suzuki 4 stroke on it but after I took the aluminum trim off the top.. the mulch and ants that were visible told me all I needed to know.