1988 21' Searay Seville Transom rot!!! HELP!!!

[cincinnatikid]

I have owned this boat for 5 years. The only reason I bought the boat is because it looks mint except for a few seat snags. Anyway, I was getting water in my engine compartment last summer and I took it to the marine to have them check my boots/bellows. I got a call on Friday saying that he put it in the water and when he put it in reverse the water was really "pouring" in. Then he said the transom is rotten and he gave me the low low price of

$4,100.OO TO FIX IT. (I WONDER WHAT THAT 100.00 IS FOR?)

Anyway. One look at this boat and you can tell it was never stored in water. Gelcoat is mint except for some barely visible stress cracks in the front that I noticed when waxing but nothing even close to worrying about. The transom gelcoat is mint.
So, I have a mint 88 searay seville with a 205hp 4.3liter open bow and a rotten transom. The guy pulled the outdrive off and told me the bellows were dryand to call him on Monday with my decision.
Note: I put a fishfinder on last year. Drilled above the water line and the wood there was perfect.

So, what is the best way to diagnose how much of the transom is gone?
Remove the engine and outdrive and scrape from the current cut out?
Drill Holes and see?
Sink It?
Tell the insurance company I backed into something and now its leaking?

Any input would be appreciated? And let me know the proper place on this forum to post questions?

Thank You!!!!!
CincinnatiKid

 

[Bondo]

Re: 1988 21' Searay Seville Transom rot!!! HELP!!!

Remove the engine and outdrive and scrape from the current cut out?

Ayuh,.... That'll work.....

Tell the insurance company I backed into something and now its leaking?

I believe that's called Fraud.......

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 1988 21' Searay Seville Transom rot!!! HELP!!!

cost me $2700 to have my Chris Craft done,

 

[erikgreen]

Re: 1988 21' Searay Seville Transom rot!!! HELP!!!

Well, most folks here will tell you to do it yourself.

If you want to verify how bad the transom is, look for threads here with info on "knock test" or consider using a drill to take small core samples from the inside of the transom to see how far it goes.

But, if the transom is actually rotted enough to leak, it doesn't matter if it's the whole thing or just one small section. It's the same fix either way, replace the transom core.

If you don't want to do it yourself, you have a choice.. either pay the fee asked (which seems a bit high, but not overly so) or sell the boat, noting that the transom needs replacement, and price accordingly.

Before you decide, you might want to have the deck and stringers also checked for any rot. Sea ray had a problem some years with the sealant they used hardening and leaking after a couple decades

If the transom is all that's bad, you can probably redo it yourself for about $1000 plus 100-150 hours of labor, and you'll learn a lot.

Erik

 

[cincinnatikid]

Re: 1988 21' Searay Seville Transom rot!!! HELP!!!

Thank you for everyone's input.

I'm going down to look at the boat today.
The back of the boat is the type with the ski platforms on either side of the outdrive. I saw a post that the transom may actually be three separate sections of transom. I know that it would better to cut out the whole thing but I was wondering if anyone had any input on if the transom was three sections or not.
What if the outdrive seal was leaking and there is no rot and the marina is trying to take me for a ride. I know that is probably not true because all boat service departments are perfectly honest. The boat is at a SeaRay dealership in Cincinnati and I'm going to look at it today. Any recommended questions you may have for the service dept I should definately ask??

Thank you for all your help and I fell lucky to have such a great forum to ask for questions!!!

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 1988 21' Searay Seville Transom rot!!! HELP!!!

if the seal was leaking it is probably rotten, that's where mine go in.

 

[cincinnatikid]

Re: 1988 21' Searay Seville Transom rot!!! HELP!!!

I know your right!!!
It's 1117am and on my way to pick it up and get the bad news.

 

[oops!]

Re: 1988 21' Searay Seville Transom rot!!! HELP!!!

post pics when you get it.......

if you want to do it your self......we can walk you right thru it....

cheers
oops

 

[cincinnatikid]

Re: 1988 21' Searay Seville Transom rot!!! HELP!!!

Went down to the SeaRay stealership and we opened the top hatch up and took the flat end of a pry bar gently pressed along the transom around the outdrive. The damn fiberglass was flexing like wet noodle. Looked like there was nothing even in there. So like I said before the said it would take 4100 to fix it. He had the outdrive off to show me that the bellows were good and that there was no water in it. So I had to pay him 75.00 for the inspection and hook it up and drove down the road to the glass shop. The guy already knew the boat because the SeaRay dealership called him to do the repair. So to make a long story short we did a lot of talking and decided that it would be worth doing because the rest of the boat and motor is in excellent condition and to replace the boat would cost much more than the cost of a repair.
I know it is not the decision the rest of this forum would make but with a house remodeling job in process. A two year old at home and a baby due in August I thought when the F*#K am I going to have time to do this. As much as I would love to do it to save the money I just don't think it would happen. So the guy at the glass shop, who was the most courteous and down to earth guy in the world called his engine person and he said he would remove the engine/ outdrive with rebuild of seals and all and reinstall for $1000 and the transom repair for $2500 for a total of $3500.
All I thought is that instead of spending my summer with my head in *** end of that boat that I could possibly on the water again in one month.
I easily choose option number two. Maybe when my kids are a little older would I choose to tackle a project like this.
I know the guys here are going to call me a whimp, but o'well. Looking forward to the lake!!!

Cincinnatikid

 

[cincinnatikid]

Re: 1988 21' Searay Seville Transom rot!!! HELP!!!

Just looking for feedback on the price of 3500 for someone to redo my transom including all engine removal and reinstallation on my 88 21' searay seville w/ 205hp.

 

[erikgreen]

Re: 1988 21' Searay Seville Transom rot!!! HELP!!!

For someone else to do it, that's not unreasonable.

It's not a hard job, but it takes quite a while. The transom I did took probably 40-50 hours total, and usually boat repair labor costs more than $60 or so an hour.

Erik

 

[Solittle]

Re: 1988 21' Searay Seville Transom rot!!! HELP!!!

The price sounds fair. Ask him to qupte using COOSA instead of plywood for the transom core. If is a fiberglass composit. It will cost a bit more but wil never rot. I had my 23'er done with it 7 yrs ago.

 

[Coors]

Re: 1988 21' Searay Seville Transom rot!!! HELP!!!

Reasonable price, and you have the summer to yourself.