Cable & Pulley Steering

I've been moving to a new house the last week and the garage I'll be doing my boat building work in needs some cleaning out and refurbishing (it has a slight lean that needs to be straightened out). I do have an update on the steering situation though.

 After deciding to go with the cable and pulley steering system I went on eBay and found pretty much everything I'm going to need. First, I bought the steering column which will hold the steering wheel, though I'm not sure if the steering wheel I currently have will fit because its not from the cable and pulley era. It looks like it has may fit but I'll need to take the column apart where it mounts to the dashboard. I'll update with better pictures once I'm moved in to the new house.

Secondly, I purchased some pulleys and the two spring connectors (not sure what they're called) as well as the components that connect to the outboard bracket, minus the actual steel piece. Overall this seems like it will be easier to put together than the Teleflex system. The only con of the pulley system I have read about so far is that there will be some feedback from the outboard. This means if I hit a wave and the outboard moves, my steering wheel will also move.

First picture is of the steering column and the second is of the pulleys and other components. (The second picture is from the eBay posting as there was a problem with the shipping and it hasn't arrived yet.)

Hatch Beams and a Boat Show

The past week or so I have been working on the hatch, which is directly behind the bench. This was probably one of the more frustrating parts of the build as there are a lot of pieces. There are 4 beams width wise, 2 beams length wise, and 4 square spacers that all fit between the coamings. What made it hard was dry-fitting everything, because once you added a support beam, the coaming would get pushed out just enough to make the other beams fall down. I realized the importance of a good fit and one that didn't need to be pushed, but rather placed, into position. I will be fastening the beams in position by twos to make it easier. Hopefully the pictures will do a better job at explaining what I'm talking about. I also replaced the dashboard and was a lot happier with the grain and the fairing I did to make it fit.

I also participated in the 2013 Spring Lake Wooden Boat show this past Saturday and had a lot of fun showing an "in-progress" boat, as well as talking to other boat builders and getting their inputs and recommendations. It was pretty cool talking to other people about boat building who have the same passion for it that I've found. I talked to some people about my steering problem and most of them recommended the cable and pulley system, even though I already bought the Teleflex system. I've been looking at pricing and may just buy the pulley system and get it done with.

Below shows my boat and outboard and in the show, and some of the hatch beams.

Bench, Dashboard, and More

I decided to enter into the Spring Lake Wooden Boat Show next week so I made it a priority to skip out on some weekend festivities to get some work done. Sadly, I spent most of the day updating equipment with new saw blades and out at home Depot buying some router bits so I can  shave the 90 degree angle off the soon to be put in dashboard. I finally finished putting the bench in, which is only 1/4 plywood, and put two support beams in that sit on the outer most battens. To do this I built up some wood under each batten; nothing special but works well. I then put in the support beam for the seating bench and the support beam for the splash well. The coamings weren't perfectly straight (twisted in some spots) so I had to keep running back and forth between the angle grinder, table saw, and hand plane until I get everything to fit just right. I ended with the dashboard but I'm not completely happy with the grain that will be showing. I may replace it  and then use the current one for the support beams for the hatch.

On another note, I'm really struggling with the steering system. The steering wheel I bought doesn't seem to fit the helm and despite the cable having enough give and take, it looks like the outboard will barely turn when fully extended. Next week at the boat show I'm going to ask for suggestions and if I don't have any luck there I'll head over to the Glen-L forum.

The picture below is me sitting in it for the first time. It felt really good to hold the steering wheel in place and get a feel for how small it really is, or should I say cozy. My job should be slowing down so I'm hoping to have some time later in the day to do some boat work.

Steering

I spent sometime the last few days, when it hasn't been raining, working on the steering. I ordered a steering link arm ($12) to attach from the steering cable to the outboard, but I'm not yet convinced it was the right part. I mounted the outboard to the transom and tried to do a dry run and see how far the steering cable would push the outboard, but it doesn't seem like there is a very big turn radius.

I also checked the location of the cavitation plate to the bottom of the transom and it looks like the outboard is about 3" low. This means I'll have to fasten/epoxy/fiberglass a piece of wood to the top of the transom to make up for the difference. If I don't I'll likely end up with porpoising and poor planing performance. Next week is looking to be low 60's all week so I'll be able to get some more work done. The garage the boat is currently in is a very tight fit and makes it hard to do any work. Below shows the outboard mounting and some of the steering components and the steering link arm I purchased.

Fresh Air

I took advantage of the weather today and moved my Squirt out of the storage unit and into a garage at my parents place. It's not very big but I can get the electrical and steering set up. I'm currently looking into where I'm going to mount speakers, the gas tank, and the battery. I'm also trying to decide if I want to add some pockets on the inside wall. I'm not sure how I'm going to wire everything up yet either so that's what I'll be researching this next week. 

Activities on the list for the near future will be; dashboard, steering wheel/steering cables, throttle/shifter, engine mounting, battery location, speakers, bench seating, and some more encapsulation in some areas that need more or have yet to have any. Shouldn't take long, right? Hoping for a mid summer splash date.