Broken engine control panel box

[Russell]

My CD36 has its engine control panel in a box, I suspect most years CD36 used the same box and perhaps other models did as well. I need to fill the hole that the old engine pull stop came out of and repair a crack. One of the boatyard fibreglass guys said I cant use epoxy because its incompatible with plastic and will just fall off. This suprised me, can anyone else verify this? I was thinking I could fill with epoxy, fair it then awlgrip the box and have it like new again.

I am sure others have had to deal with either repairing or replacing this plastic box. What appoach have you taken? Maybe I am better off building a new box out of teak (gah, another thing to varnish, no thanks).

[The Patriot]

... I am sure others have had to deal with either repairing or replacing this plastic box. What appoach have you taken? ...

I went through this one when the engine was replaced. It was simpler to just replace the item, rather than attempt a repair or build from wood.

[Russell]

... I am sure others have had to deal with either repairing or replacing this plastic box. What appoach have you taken? ...

I went through this one when the engine was replaced. It was simpler to just replace the item, rather than attempt a repair or build from wood.

Replace with what though? Were you able to find an exact fit premade box? I dont suspect I am going to have such luck here. I did find some similar things, but not quite right.

[The Patriot]

... Replace with what though? Were you able to find an exact fit premade box? I dont suspect I am going to have such luck here. I did find some similar things, but not quite right.

[edited] See next post.

[The Patriot]

I need a dumb slap. The man I go to for the very best service and advice regarding Volvo marine engines is Richard Vosbury in Annapolis. If anyone knows about this stuff, it's Richard.

Vosbury Marine
David Taylor Research Center
303 Greenlee Road
PO Box 841
Annapolis, MD 21404
(410) 757-3844

[jerryaxler]

I replaced the control box with the a similar model that was made by the same manafacturer of the original. Measurements were all the same, but it now comes with a lexan closable cover.
Look under my name in history and it should give you the name of the company. If you can't find it, I'll look in my files.

[Cathy Monaghan]

Hi Russ,

I think different boxes were used depending on the engine and the instruments themselves.

I don't know if this will help or not, but take a look at your engine control panel to see who the original manufacturer of the intruments in the panel are. On our CD32, all of the gauges are Stewart Warner except for the tach which is Motorola.

We have a Westerbeke 21A diesel and the engine instrument panel was actually put together and is sold by Westerbeke using the Stewart Warner and Motorola gauges (at least they were in 1986, don't know what's in their panels now). Our panel is "The Admiral", Westerbeke part# 036843. So if you've got a Westerbeke....

Hey, didn't I read in a prior posting that you're getting a new engine? You should have brand new instruments, in a brand new box, for that engine. So you probably don't have to worry about repairing or replacing the old one. (Then again, I'm probably wrong.)

Good luck,
Cathy
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay

[Matt Cawthorne]

Before I replaced my engine control box I had the engine stop cable break out. The simple fix was to use a couple of large stainless fender washers. Just remove the cable core and the nuts that hold the cable in place and the fender washers can be put in place. Tighten the nuts back around the fender washers and re-install the cable core. I lived with that for a number of years. Much faster than glass and probably better looking. You can see the fix at the following link.

Option number two was what I ended up doing later.

http://www.cawthorne.org/gpage.html

[bobc]

I repaired the box on my CD 27 using West System Epoxy. It was cracked, modified by a PO, and had a piece of plywood attached to the engine shutoff cable to add strength.

I put a piece of glass cloth over the back. It's been a while, but I think I also used epoxy thickened with filler to fill the holes after I glassed the back. I then painted the whole thing. No problems.

It wasn't a big job, and took less time than the alternatives. I didn't figure I had much to lose if it didn't work.

Bob

[Russell]

Thanks for all the replies.

Cathy, engines dont come with coaming boxes, ussually just flat panels you have to come up with your own way to mount. I dont have any issues with the panel, its the box I am refering to.

Jerry, thanks, I will look to see if I can find your post with the manufacturers name. My googles have not brought me any luck finding one the right size and my box is unmarked in any way.

Matt, your custom made box looks terrific! Certainly going a route like that would be ideal. I dont really have that kind of time, perhaps that will be a route I take down the road. Nice job there.

I guess I will just go the epoxy route most likely for now. I will check on how to import things into France, if the box from the manufacturer is easy to get through customs then I may go that way. But likely given time frame and ease, I guess just an ugly epoxy repair and some paint is what I have to live with for now.

[Oswego John]

Hi Russell,

I don't know what is available to you for use down there. Has anyone mentioned the use of plastic welding with a heat gun. Some body shops have them as well as plastic fabricators. It would have to be a portable unit if you located one.

Just a thought. Good luck.
O J

[Cathy Monaghan]

Thanks for all the replies.

Cathy, engines dont come with coaming boxes, ussually just flat panels you have to come up with your own way to mount. I dont have any issues with the panel, its the box I am refering to.....

Hi Russell,

The Westerbeke part# I provided in my preveious post includes the box -- of couse it's the whole kit and kaboodle -- the instruments and the box. So I guess it depends on the manufacturer. Oh well.

If you can't repair your current box and need a new one, you can build one out of wood. If you want a fiberglass one, you can still make one yourself. Do you have a copy of Don Casey's book This Old Boat? Pages 52-56 show you how to make an instrument box out of fiberglass using a mold. It starts with the paragraph labelled "Learning by doing". Casey uses a Cool Whip container as part of the mold in his example, but you can make the entire mold out of wood. You could even use the old box as the mold for the new box.

Hope this helps,
Cathy

[bottomscraper]

Casey uses a Cool Whip container as part of the mold in his example, but you can make the entire mold out of wood. You could even use the old box as the mold for the new box.

Hope this helps,
Cathy

The fiberglass shower sump on Mahalo has an inverse "Rubbermaid" logo!

Mobile Marine Electrical Service will custom make panels. They made a small breaker panel for us but they will also make engine control panels. They have some examples on the pages below.

http://www.wewireboats.com/s.html

http://www.wewireboats.com/photogallery/idx-list.pl

[mike ritenour]

I simply took the old fiberglass one to my local welder and he made a duplicate........very nice stainless steel one that fit perrrrrrrrfect.

Think it cost me $150.00

rit

[Bruce Ebling]

I built this panel from scrap teak and it looks much better than the old plastic ones. I have built several others since and have had good results, they are not as susceptible to UV rays and can be custom built to what ever size you need.





Bruce