Ok, after several months of cutting marine grade 3/4 doug fir plywood for my complete gut rehab of my 17' speedboat, the day came to install the new transom. <br /><br />The pieces, which I fully encapsulated in polyester resin all fit snugly, and were ready to go into the transom. <br /><br />I dutifully slathered each piece in the appropriate resin and wedged them in. I applied the "C" and bar clamps and motor mounting bolts to tightly secure the pieces into what I'd hope to be a monoblock transom...<br /><br /> After a complete cure I notices a hollow spot near the bottom edge on the port side. Tapping with a hammer revealed an unmistakable hollow void. <br /><br />I am dissapointed over the hollow spot taking into account how much planning and effort went into making it as solid as humnaly possible. <br /><br />The void is is about a 6 inch circle X 1/8 of an inch. It is not accessable except by some destructive method like drilling through the skin of the transom to "pocket fill" it (2 holes), or through the top down... (2 holes), or throught the interior plywood, (2 holes)...<br /><br />Should I try to fill the void? Will it flex, crack, and leak? <br /><br />I have seen this method in several books and have cross researched it on the web. Its a proven method involving an 8 Oz. sryinge with some vinyl tubing to force the resin into the void. The second hole is to let the air escape and will overflow when the resin has reached the capacity of the void...<br /><br />Is it worth the trouble? <br /><br />P.S. The boat is recieving a late 90's Merc 115 (not Opti) replacing a dinosaur 1968 Evinrude starflite IX 80 H.P. (complete with wood panelling accents, funk factor 10!!!)<br /><br />Thoughts?
