Update:
I spent a lot of money again this week. Decided I wanted a new center
console. Not any console mind you, a “nice” one. Most
of them are just too damn small. I think some short guy designs
most of them. Gary’s Auto body in Bradenton, FL does some
really nice consoles for very reasonable prices. He made me a large
one that not only fit my size, but had lots of options. For instance
it has the little side pieces angled to fit rod holders and a Coosa
composite insert for the face. Plus it did not have the back cut
out. I wanted to install a set of double doors for access so this
was perfect.
While I was there I looked around his shop a bit and was quite impressed
with all of the things he did marine wise. I think he is more marine
oriented than auto body. Gary was very nice and patient with me
answering all of my questions and offering suggestions here and
there. As it turns out I ended up ordering a leaning post/live well
from him as well as an under the floor gas tank before the week
was out.
I decided to get the leaning post live well instead of buying
another standard live well for under my rear deck so that I could
get more storage space. The same justification I used for the
under-floor gas tank.
When I went to pick up the new components I learned that he also
makes custom flats boats himself. He has a mold set up for a 15
footer. Pretty small but also very light. I picked the brains
of the guys working on the boat till Gary had time to see me.
His manufacturing method was to spray and hand lay the hull and
stingers/bulkheads using his private molds. (One mold for the
hull, one for the stringer/bulkheads.) the transom is made of
either Coosa board or Foam board depending on customer request.
They then install a 27 gal under floor gas tank and piped it to
the rear engine area. Tear drop lights are installed in the front
and the wiring is run through the bulkheads. The floor is made
of a honeycomb material laminated with fiberglass. Once the floor
is installed it is completely filled with a two-part expanding
flotation foam. The front deck is also made out of honeycomb material
with composite supports. A dry storage hatch is added to the front
deck. Since that is where they were with the boat I don’t
know how they do anything else. However, I did find out that there
are absolutely no woods used at all.
Update:
Using the dimensions of my new console I put the top in Autocad
and situated all of the controls where I liked them. I bought
4 waterproof rocker panel assemblies from E-bay from Boaterbits.
They should be in any day now.
I have started researching the electrical requirements for boat
manufacturing and have found that there are many, many rules that
have to be followed. Unfortunately the rules I have read so far
assure me that the electrical panel that I made is no good. In
fact pretty much everything I had done electrically would have
to be re-done. One of the items that I did incorrectly was use
solid wire. Marine use requires stranded wire to avoid fracture
and corrosion. So much for all of the wiring I had already pulled
and fastened down.
I also came to the conclusion that the rules were either not
in force at the time the boat was manufactured, or that the boat
company did not follow the rules very well.
I will continue to research the requirements until I am comfortable
enough with them to avoid duplicating my efforts again.
I will also continue to update my Autocad file by drawing out
the boat in layers to show some semblance of detail for each section.
|
