transom repair

[andrew]

Hello all,
I have a 1989 17' Nissan fiberglass boat "V" hull with a 90 HP Nissan motor on the back. My transom is soft and i need to repair it. I have been talking to some mechanics and they said it cost about a thousand dollars to repair. I can do it myself for about 3 or 4 hundred dollars. I need some basic help on transoms: like the width of it, what sort of brackets could i use to bracket it to the supports that run the length of the boat. Should i use sheet metal or marine plywood. I also had a suggestion to put two 3/4" of marine board and 1 sheet of aluminum in the middle then fiberglass the whole thing. If anyone has any suggegstions or has done this to a boat before i would really appreciat the help.
thank you,
Andrew

[Dutch Peter]

Repair it as it was original. That way you don't have to rethink the whole structure and you'll be done with it for the next 15 years.

[rookie repair m]

I repaired my transom and replaced it only with plywood. try www.transomrepair.com thats some quick deal but search for the book "how to repair fiberglass boat transoms"

[D'ARTOIS]

Please have a look at: www.yachtsurvey.com/Fiberglass_boats.htm

[HWL]

I have replaced a few transoms like you have , and have had good success with using plywood layers totally encassed with fiberglass built to the original thickness and pattern