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1542 Grumman Side to Center Console Conversion
- Thread starter bigredxlt
- Start date
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Finally made some decent progress.
Got the boat painted, front deck cut, console cut and mounted up, steering and throttle/shift cable run. Finally got her on the water for a few runs. Ran well but the decking added a noticeable amount of weight. Also concerned that I have moved too much weight forward in the boat. The balance seems to be dead center of the boat as opposed to slightly back. The float pods in the back probably contribute to that.
Bad news: Looks like I spun the prop pretty good. So I'm going to need a new one. Any suggestions?
Got the boat painted, front deck cut, console cut and mounted up, steering and throttle/shift cable run. Finally got her on the water for a few runs. Ran well but the decking added a noticeable amount of weight. Also concerned that I have moved too much weight forward in the boat. The balance seems to be dead center of the boat as opposed to slightly back. The float pods in the back probably contribute to that.
Bad news: Looks like I spun the prop pretty good. So I'm going to need a new one. Any suggestions?
The boat does seem to have a small leak somewhere. Either than or the drain plug was not tight enough. Guess I'm going to have to do a leak test before finishing the rear decking.
Things left to do include:
1) Rear deck
2) Permanently install hatches
3) Try to figure out a better route for the steering and control cables (both seem a little stiff and I'm pretty sure it has to do with how I ran them)
4) Front plate for the console
5) lights (front nav lights, courtesy lights, and hatch lights)
6) wiring and install switches
7) bilge pump install (holding off until I can get the aluminum shards out of the boat from all the drilling and riveting)
8 ) Hydroturf and undermatting
9) seat posts and bases (two up front and one on the rear deck/bench)
10) new prop
11) Stereo (probably going to go with the cheap pyle mp3 one on amazon for $60)
Things left to do include:
1) Rear deck
2) Permanently install hatches
3) Try to figure out a better route for the steering and control cables (both seem a little stiff and I'm pretty sure it has to do with how I ran them)
4) Front plate for the console
5) lights (front nav lights, courtesy lights, and hatch lights)
6) wiring and install switches
7) bilge pump install (holding off until I can get the aluminum shards out of the boat from all the drilling and riveting)
8 ) Hydroturf and undermatting
9) seat posts and bases (two up front and one on the rear deck/bench)
10) new prop
11) Stereo (probably going to go with the cheap pyle mp3 one on amazon for $60)
Another thing to note:
The boat is much more stable than I expected. I am not sure if this is due to the beavertail pods welded on the back or that 42 inches across the bottom is make it that stable. I was able to fish standing on one of the rear pods without a problem. I definitely did not expect that level of stability. Also some people had some concern that there wouldn't be any space to move around the center console. I am happy to report thats not the case. Moving around the boat is extremely easy and I think moving the console to the center actually saved some space because the original configuration left some space between the front of the console and the middle bench that was essentially wasted.
The layout of the boat is great. Probably going to end up with two seats on the front deck and on the rear deck to fish three people. The boat will probably be fished with 1 to 2 people most of the time.
The boat is much more stable than I expected. I am not sure if this is due to the beavertail pods welded on the back or that 42 inches across the bottom is make it that stable. I was able to fish standing on one of the rear pods without a problem. I definitely did not expect that level of stability. Also some people had some concern that there wouldn't be any space to move around the center console. I am happy to report thats not the case. Moving around the boat is extremely easy and I think moving the console to the center actually saved some space because the original configuration left some space between the front of the console and the middle bench that was essentially wasted.
The layout of the boat is great. Probably going to end up with two seats on the front deck and on the rear deck to fish three people. The boat will probably be fished with 1 to 2 people most of the time.
starcraft12
Member
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2014
- Messages
- 6
- Reaction score
- 0
Good job. It's stable, is functional & looks good!
huntinfool
Well-known member
Lots of work to finish, but nothing like getting her wet. Congrats.
