pipnit
06-28-2004, 11:50 AM
Hey Guys,
I thought that I'd share with you what I've been upto. I found a 76 18" 2+3 on here last year, about a year ago. Bought the boat, orange SBC with a TRS drive. I rebuilt the engine to 400hp, put a new gimble ring on and bought a new interior all around from Bilt Rite. The pedastals on my boat had been repaired in a previous life by a hack welder so I ordered pedastals too. I didn't want to through bolt it (and didn't have enough room to get in there with blind nuts). I run a company where we roll structural steel so what I did was make two rings out of 316 Stainless 1/4"x1.5" flat bar. I rolled them to the same diameter as the pedestals, welded and ground down the butt joint then drilled and threaded holes for some stainless allens. I was able to easily get the threads going on the holes closest to the storage in the bilge, then just swung the ring around and screwed in the rest. The result is a super strong connection that you don't have to worry about loosening up. I showed a couple boat mechanics and they thought it was a brilliant solution for any make brand. So if any of you guys are going to be replacing your pedastals, drop me a line!
Geoff
I thought that I'd share with you what I've been upto. I found a 76 18" 2+3 on here last year, about a year ago. Bought the boat, orange SBC with a TRS drive. I rebuilt the engine to 400hp, put a new gimble ring on and bought a new interior all around from Bilt Rite. The pedastals on my boat had been repaired in a previous life by a hack welder so I ordered pedastals too. I didn't want to through bolt it (and didn't have enough room to get in there with blind nuts). I run a company where we roll structural steel so what I did was make two rings out of 316 Stainless 1/4"x1.5" flat bar. I rolled them to the same diameter as the pedestals, welded and ground down the butt joint then drilled and threaded holes for some stainless allens. I was able to easily get the threads going on the holes closest to the storage in the bilge, then just swung the ring around and screwed in the rest. The result is a super strong connection that you don't have to worry about loosening up. I showed a couple boat mechanics and they thought it was a brilliant solution for any make brand. So if any of you guys are going to be replacing your pedastals, drop me a line!
Geoff