Instrument replacement & gelcoat work

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David van den Burgh
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Joined: Feb 5th, '05, 18:54
Location: Ariel CD36, 1979 - Lake Michigan
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Instrument replacement & gelcoat work

Post by David van den Burgh »

At the beginning of last season I replaced our old, semi-functioning Nexus system with a new Raymarine instrument package. Doing so meant filling the old instrument holes in the cabin house and, of course, installing the new cluster.

We always thought the original instrument location was pretty silly because it eliminated one of the better places to sit in the cockpit. The new instrument cluster needed to be out of the way and yet easy to read and access. The solution below seemed the best approach, short of a specialized housing at the pedestal (too expensive).

The first step involved patching the old holes. I used several layers of 1708 biaxial cloth and West System epoxy. Once the patches had cured, I sanded and faired the area.

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I mixed appropriate tints with white gelcoat to get a good color match, then wet-sanded the area with progressively finer paper before compounding and polishing.

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The new instruments were mounted on a Starboard backer to provide clearance inside the cabin for the cables and other connections.

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Last edited by David van den Burgh on Dec 21st, '10, 14:35, edited 1 time in total.
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Duncan
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Joined: Apr 17th, '08, 17:43
Location: CD 27, CD 10
Montreal, QC

Very nice

Post by Duncan »

Very clean, sharp-looking installation! You make it look easier that it really was, I'm sure.

How did you handle things inside the cabin? Did you build an enclosure?
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David van den Burgh
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Joined: Feb 5th, '05, 18:54
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Re: Very nice

Post by David van den Burgh »

Duncan wrote:How did you handle things inside the cabin? Did you build an enclosure?
Duncan,

Thanks. We have a teak rack that covers the area.

A picture of the rack in the background:

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BubbaThePirate
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Location: CD28, Douglas, MI
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Post by BubbaThePirate »

Impressive work all around. Nice looking boat too.

Todd
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