Steady Work and Making Progress

I have been slow to update my blog because there is little to show for all the work that I have been putting into my boat project.  I have been working on something almost every day.

Rebuild and paint the shifter control selector:  I cleaned, polished and painted the shifter control center and then installed all new cables.  I started to look at the control cables that I received with the used motor that I bought and found that the old cables were all rusted.  After giving it a little thought, I think it was best to just replace them with new and not worry about them breaking.. A safety thing for me..

In the photo below you can see the shifter all painted and put in its place.  Also the radio was installed by cutting a hole in the mahogany and mounting the brackets.  Here you can also see the red courtesy lights that I installed for a total of four LED strip lights.  The walls will have upholstery that is yet to be installed.

The wiring project on the boat was much larger than I ever imagined.  I am amazed how much wire is in a simple boat.  I now have about 80% of all the electrical installed and tested but most of it still needs to be secured.  I used a brother label maker to identify each end of each wire and then covered the label with clear shrink tubing to secure them in place.  I also did this when I built my airplane and the time it took paid itself back many times when you need to do repairs.  

The switches in the first picture are: 

Top = Key switch

Left of the switch panel is a little button switch that is for the courtesy lights

On the Switch panel from left to right are:  Horn, Anchor/Nav, Stereo, Bilge Pump1, Bilge Pump2.

Everything is connected and working but not secured

Volt, RPM and Fuel Gauges

Installed supports in both the main and passenger cabin areas around the deck.

 I made two speaker mounts that I installed just under the front deck.  You will not be able to see them when seating in the boat.

The Steering system has given me my biggest head ache and I have spent so much time and money trying to resolve this problem.  The problem that I have been having is not getting enough right and left turn of the motor.  In the photo below was an attempt to install a splash well mount steering system.  In this setup I used an 11' steering cable.  I was not happy with set up so now I am attempting a linkage type steering system that will be mounted above the deck.  The Linkage type steering required a 12' cable and a linkage arm.  It will also require me to build a custom mount. In my next post, I will show some photos of that setup and let you know how things work out.