Slipped down to FL to visit and do a little work. Sorry for the bad pics - apparently I had image stabilization off and was still shaking from tools...
Sprayed a layer of gelcoat to see if I got the color right and maybe not get a ton of orange peel – very close but I can go a touch lighter on the next coat and I got a lot less orange peel – still learning though. I have more transom sanding in my future.
Went ahead and cut the hole for the drive. I tried to use a long router bit with the Mercruiser drill fixture – not good – ended up drilling and marking it with the fixture, using a cut blade in the angle grinder to make the straight parts of the cutout 1 ½” deep, a ½” drill for the corners, and a diamond abrasive blade in a sawzall to finish - that worked well but I’m glad I hadn’t just finished the gelcoat or I’d be redoing it a little around the drive hole. Note to self – tape the sawzall foot when I’m worried about the gelcoat finish.
I cut the hole to get the AV plate up 2” so I really hope I got it about right for performance. Fit checked the transom housing – I have a little bit more fine trimming with a belt sander to do.
