Here is some of the progress so far on the Transom.
not sure on how much you want to spend but if you plan on keep the boat for a long time !!! you might want to take a look at this and the ones I seen done will out last the boat !!!
www.transomrepair.net - The Home of Seacast™
"What if you woke up today with only the things you thanked God for yesterday"
"Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil - it has no point. "AMEN"
Well it looks like you have a good start with it all torn out. I would look for some aluminum tube that would work, so you could go back without wood. I have a Lowe also and that is what I would like to do when eventually I have to replace mine. If not use fiberglass to laminate the plywood to make it the right thickness and seal the edges.
Be sure not to use treated wood as the modern copper treatment will attack the aluminum. I don't even use treated wood for my trailer runners for a aluminum boat.
skeetbum LIKED above post
I am going the plywood with epoxy route for this redo. The way I look at this is the boat is about 30 years old and this is the first removal of the transom so if I get another 30 years out of the replacement wood transom I think I'll be ok with that.
skeetbum LIKED above post
Looking good take your time and measure twice and remember if you drill holes to mount motor be sure to seal the inside of the holes.
crappieintern LIKED above post
Sounds good, my old Lowe is a 1977 model and I have not owned it since new but from what I can tell it is still on the original transom and in good shape. So your plan makes good sense to me. Keep the pictures coming.
I did transom on 1964 PolarKraft Jon and used two layer exterior plywood. Applied two coats of urethane to each with plenty of drying time between coats. Next painted with exterior paint and reinstalled. All old holes (which were plentiful as this boat was a hand me down from family) filled with 3M 5200 and stainless steel hardware to bolt through transom board. Stable and dry so far but only been a year.
I changed my mind on the plywood and ended up using an LVL after talking to a guy who has one on his boat for 10 years. The beam was exactly the right height and thickness. After I sealed up the beam and all of the holes it will be watertight!
strmwalker, skeetbum LIKED above post
Does anyone have any suggestions on bending the transom cap back in to place? Apply heat maybe? Has anyone successfully done this without cracking the aluminum?