Project M - Doubling the Size of the Cockpit

[Currie]

Since I'm not familiar with the Detmar steering, what would hinder the steering functionality by the reversal of the pedestal mount tube? (I'm not anyway near my boat to open it up and take a look) What kind of upgrading would be required?

Thanks,
Harrison

Ah, yeah - the Detmar is a rack-and-pinion steering, so it has a long, 19" gear-case that actually runs about 5" down into the SS tube. The factory pedestal has the tube tilted foreward, but also has the steering wheel tilted up, slightly. This way the steering-rack is pretty much in-line with the tube, and the cable runs straight down in. If you reverse the tube, there might be too sharp a corner and it might not fit. The again, it might not be a problem at all - just something that came to mind.

FWIW -An upgrade, if needed, might be to change out the pedestel box, or more likely, install a rotory-style steering system like the one in my pic (Teleflex Safe-T QC).

~Bob

[Harrison]

Ahhh, thanks for the info.

---Harrison

[Currie]

No problem . Say, that looks like a nice classic car in your avatar. Is yours? Got any larger pics?

OnEdit: Update to thread.

I love working with fiberglass!! I mean it's a pain really, but it's really very cool. It's like once you learn some carpentry, you say, "wait, I think I could build a house with this stuff". With fiberglass, it's like "wait, if I had enough of this stuff, I could build a 44-foot deck-salon, cutter-rigged, cabin cruiser!". OK, I'm a little over-excited, but it's still cool. So far the layup is going well. Haven't started the helm seat and stern yet. That's the real challenge.

~Bob

[Harrison]

It's a "Legends" race car by 600 racing. http://www.uslegendcars.com/racing_series/legends/
Mine (the one in the avatar) was a replica of a 1934 Ford. I'd post a pic, but my website is currently down.

---Harrison

[Currie]

It's a "Legends" race car by 600 racing. http://www.uslegendcars.com/racing_series/legends/
Mine (the one in the avatar) was a replica of a 1934 Ford. I'd post a pic, but my website is currently down.

---Harrison

Sweeet!!

[Currie]

Work has been slow - the pedestel is ready for paint and instrument-mounting, but the helm seat still has a ways to go. The sidewalls are built and ready for glassing, but it's going to be a chore. I have to carve foam, glass-over and shape the sidewalls to match the style of the boat (more on that later).

As far as the pedestel, once I pulled the old one, I realized there was no reinforcement under the cockpit floor where I'm going to mount the new pedestel. I had to "open up" the liner and glass-in some reinforcement plywood. For any interested in what Roger does with the cockpit floor, here's what's underneath:



He has glassed-in a large 3/4" piece of plywood to make sure the pedestel doesn't crack the floor. Aft of that, there a couple of those lightweight foam "ribs" - not enough to spread the load of the relocated pedestel. So I removed one of the ribs:



...then epoxy'ed and glassed in my own 3/4" plywood:



I glassed-over the plywood and the rib to reinforce the whole area. You can also see where I plugged the old hole. This was pretty much the worst part of this whole project. Fiberglassing upside-down in a 18"-high space is no fun whatsoever. It was a PITA - but it's now done . I'll come up with a cover of some sort for the liner, but it's not a priority.

Anywho just thought I'd update. Happy sailing to all who are already sailing

~Bob

[bubba]

Looking good. I like seeing the cockpit under floor picks. How big would you say the origional plywood is for the pedistal? I have been wanting to put a grab bar in front of the pedistal and it would be good if it was reinforced.

[Currie]

Ugh, Bubba, sorry for the late reply - I missed your quesiton....

The reinforcement plywood under the pedestel is about 11.5" bow-to-stern, and 19" wide. The pedestel flange is roughly centered in the board. Hope this helps...


~Bob

[Currie]

Finally got back to working on the boat. Things have been terribly busy at work and it hasn't seen the water this year .

Just a quick update. I did a "dry" fitting today with the new pedestel and the helm-seat sidewalls. Here's some pics....





This pic shows how much room is gained in the cockpit...



The new helm seat isn't done, but it will sit out partly over the motor. It's adjustable with two heights. The ribs in the sidewalls are kind of utilitarian looking, but they are there to support the weight of the seat and the helmsman. The walls will be both bolted and epoxied to the M's transom. Everything has plywood backing plates, which means I had to cut a number of access holes in the gunwales and liner underneath. Also, the walls are made of 1/4" marine plywood, with ribs up to an 1.25" thick, then glassed over with many layers of 6 oz roving and West Marine epoxy. BTW - I left the original mast-arch mounts in place. They'll be used to carry the mast when trailering, but when sailing the arch will be replaced with a stainless rail that fits in the same mounts. The rail is only about 12"-14" high and wraps around the back of the helm seat. For the floor, I extended it with a glass-wrapped plywood piece with a kind of (almost) honeycomb reinforcement underneath. Dri-Dek tiles cover everything and hide the mods pretty well.

The outsides of the walls looks strange right now. They will each end up being about 7" wide, constructed of multiple layers of fiberglass over carved poly foam. I'll make the profile match the sweeping curves of the existing M stern gunwales. Everything will be filled, sanded smooth and painted with a two-part Interlux polyurethane marine paint.

Hopefully more soon. Happy sailing to those who are sailing.

~Bob

[Currie]

Hey all,

I've been slowly making progress on this - ugh. I did get some good work done over the holidays, thanks to almost a month of vacation from work. Here's some updated photos:

Wood/fiberglass skeleton of seat and seat-mount:



Another pic of the seat with the two sets of brackets for adjustable height (when motor is up). This also shows where I've taped off the area for one of the body flanges:



This is a pic of the flange where I'll attach the foam for the new body extension. The foam gets carved and fiberglassed over. Before glassing on the flange, I triple-cleaned the existing hull with soap and water, then again (triple) with acetone. I roughed it up with a rasp, 80-grit sandpaper and scored it many, many times with a Sonicrafter tool. BTW - you can still see some residual green foam on the flange - I used chunks of it to fiberglass-to, then cut it away. I'll dissolve the rest it with acetone:



(continued...)

[Currie]

(...continued from above)

Here are some pics of the seat taking its final shape. I cut and glued the green foam, then carved it with some simple homemade tools. I got a custom BottomSiders seat chushion for Christmas :





The bottom pic shows where I've already glassed over part of the foam. It went pretty well. Looking forward to getting the glass over the rest by this weekend. After that, there'll be lots and lots of filling and fairing to do.

I guess that's all for now.

Cheers!

~Bob

[Octaman]

Hi Bob,

Just came across your posting for the first time; GREAT STUFF!

I too dislike the way the pedestal takes up so much space in the cockpit and have had my round of ideas that 'torment' me from time to time. But have not got round to doing anything about it yet. So, I shall follow your progress with great interest.
I have been preoccupied with my engine upgrade; now have a DF100 sitting on my stern waiting to be tried and tested.
Keep up the good work and thank you for sharing.

Good luck with the project.

Octaman

[ROAD Soldier]

Just an awesome idea. I just got rid of the back flip up bench seat and am always amazed how much more room I have for moving around and landing fish.

[K9Kampers]

I'm like that too, ROAD. I went a season without that seat, and it worked great on singlehand cruises - never use it, didn't miss it. Wife, OTOH, won't use the boat without it, so now it's back on. I'm thinking of a mod for it, like one featured in the archives. Replace the hinge with a quick-pin hinge for the seatback, and making the seat itself hinge to the seatback for a stand-at-helm option.

[Russ]

Pretty impressive. But of course it is, coming from the guy who built that fantastic bulkhead.
Can't wait to see it finished. I'm sure it will look great.

I know enough that I should stay away from fiberglass and resin projects.

--Russ