Avon S400 transom replacement

[entropy]

I've been refurbishing an old Avon S400. Today I was working with a heat gun and peeling off the strip of fabric between the floor and the transom on the inside of the boat in order to replace it, and noticed a small amount of dry rot at the base of the plywood transom.

I'm thinking it might be worthwhile to replace the transom while I'm at it. Has anyone here ever tried this on an S400 or similar hypalon boat?

Any insights would be greatly appreciated, I'm trying to revive this old girl. It holds air great and has very few patches.

Thanks!

[Philcdf029]

i had to replace my transom for an Avon S400
My advice is get professional help.
My mate used to work at the Avon factory in Llanelli and had been trained to do this. He used a heat gun to remove the transom. Another ex Avon worker made a new transom from the pattern from the old And reinstalled
I think it cost £290 for everything.
It looked great, like new.

But the sad thing is two years later i have found the transom is rotting again.
Caused my standing rain water, the boat has been outside but the covers were leaking. I Live around 60 miles away from the boat and in hindsight should have deflated and stored away, but the engine is so heavy left the boat on the trailer. Buy a decent boat cover and make sure no water is left standing in it.

Or store away in the bag.

I was wondering could the transom be made out of something other than wood.

On a separate note the engine is ex RNLI Mariner 40hp
And I have just learned that it is not a short shaft but 17.5 inches
Leaving the cavitation plate too low

So just think about this I got a new transom build the wrong size for the engine

I now have to make the decision what to do next.
The boat is imaculate no patches used only about 4 times since new, but can I stomach forking out on a new transom number 3

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by Philcdf029

I was wondering could the transom be made out of something other than wood.

I noticed that the new Achilles sport boats have fiberglass transoms. Might be glass over a wood core (no idea on internals), but having resin encapsulating everything (assuming good sealing practices for any holes bored in) should go a long way in preventing rot.

jky