Instigator
Well-known member
U
Quit bitching and get to work!
UPDATE:
Well, the motor is in, wired and completely plumbed. However.... Mother nature is being a vindictive bitch!!! I have been ready to fire it up for a week and a half but with nightly temps dropping into the 20's (hell today's high temp is 35) I haven't fired it yet because I don't want to go through the hassle of re-winterizing again. So, I have been waiting (not so patiently) for the weather to break. Looks like next week will be when I finally hear it in the boat.
So, I have been taking care of a few little projects on the boat to update it a little. from the factory there was a stereo remote above the ignition. Well, when I did my stereo upgrade a couple of years ago, I couldn't use it anymore, but being that it was cut into the dash, I just left it in place. Well this year I had a switch panel made by Dana Marine to fill the hole. I went with them because they offered a color called WineBerry, which is a bad ass metallic pink!!! Got it all wired in and it looks great!! Now I just need to update the factory switch panels to match.
Next on my list was to replace all the gauges. That wasn't very fun mostly because Checkmate didn't leave much room behind the dash to work. But I got it all done and they turned out great IMO. I used Autometer Marine Pro Comp gauges. they are silver face with a chrome lip. I then went back to Dana Marine for matching WineBerry bezels. I know, something has to be wrong in my head with how much I love my pink boat!!! I bought a tach with an hour meter built in, so I was able to free up a space in the dash for a water pressure gauge without having to cut a new hole. The only thing is, my GPS speedo is on back order and won't be here till next Wednesday. But its all wired and ready to put in as soon as it gets here. I think the gauges made a huge difference in making the boat look more modern.
The last thing I did, which was the biggest pain in the ass out of anything I have ever done on this boat, was to replace the helm. I have always had a little bit of play in the wheel but could never get the helm out because the steering wheel was so seized on the tilt steering mechanism that I could not get it off. I had literally been trying for two years to get it off because I had bought an updated steering wheel for the boat. Well, last week, I said screw it, I want the damn wheel off!!! So I sacrificed my tilt steering mechanism and finally got it off. I could not believe how seized onto the shaft it was. We finally got a puller that would fit the hub and started cranking. I cranked on it with the biggest wrench I had and pulled as hard as I could, it didn't budge at first, but after about 30 seconds with that pressure on it, it finally came loose with a very loud BANG!! This shows how much pressure I had to put on the shaft to get it off.
Getting the helm out from behind the dash proved to be a huge challenge as well. I wrestled with it for two hours, and it finally came out. This was my reaction when that job was finally done!!
But, it was all worth while because with the new helm and tilt steering mechanism installed, I got rid of almost all the play in the wheel. Of course I get to do it all over again next year when I upgrade to hydraulic steering, but at least this year will be a lot better.
So now, just waiting for this crazy weather to break. Hopefully later this week I'll have some video of her running to share!!!
Quit bitching and get to work!
