New dashboard

[Miles Offshore]

Im taking on another project while winter is upon us and I cant fish anyways. After seeing all the really nice looking control/instrument consoles on THT I decided my old ugly (so ugly its fugggly)dashboard has got to go. I went and bought myself black starboard today cut to size. All new gauges, new navman [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] , all new 8 gang blue seas switch and fuse panel and 10 blue seas flush mount extra fuses for my electronics. Plan on taking my GPS and VHF out of my overhead radio box and flush mounting those along with radar and bottom machine in the dash also. And sinse I decided to redo this I have also decided to rewire the rest of the boat as well as replacing fuels lines , seawater strainer, and replacing the crappy cable steering with hydraulic. The only thing I dont like about the black starboard is the fact that I will lose the engraved seacraft logo. (Really not going to lose any sleep over it though. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] ) Plus I get to clean and paint my bottom again !!! (My favorite thing in the world to do, whats not to like about blue snot , earwax etc.! ). Just wondering if anyone else has taken on this dash project ??? I also started to go with all new white gauges but took them back and got black instead. Mounted on the flat black starbrd I think they will look pretty good. craig

[ January 02, 2003, 08:36 PM: Message edited by: Miles Offshore ]

[ocuyler]

Craig,

I have the very same plan in the complete redo of my 23'. Because all the new toys are washdown capable, I see no reason to close them in behind Lexan or in a box. So flush mounting everything in Starboard is simple and will look terrific.

My only consern in a proper seal behind the Starboard. Any thoughts there?

Regards,

Otto

[Jon G]

Miles, I just bought the same Blue Seas switch panel last week. Looks like a super unit water- proof to boot, top of the line stuff. Starboard will look/work great. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Good luck. Jon

[Scott]

Me too......

But I'm going to make the project a tad more complicated...(I dont know why ... just love making things more complicated than they need to be [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] ) and mould one out of FG/gel-coat (like Trayder did with the live well) and paint it the same as the topside/inside of the boat when ever that happens. The old wood grained Formica has faded out and has more holes in it than Swiss cheese.....New Gauges .... white faces stainless bezels....similar to the Silverhawk setup.... And I have yet to make my mind up on switches and fuse/circuit breaker panels....Individual toggles would be neat, more retro , and very custom but alot of work installing...Then there is always the Paneltronic waterproof circuit panel (in white vs the standard black) Oh yea....and Santa brought a recessed bow light a few days ago too

Craig .... I think that 23 that was down in Florida (you know the one .... It was for sale for something like $65,000 [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] yellow hull twin Yamaha 200's) had a black starboard dash....Looked pretty smart!!!!

[John R]

Hate the faeux woodgrain (or real as it probably is here) - Black starboard looks OK. I like the big white look myself but does that really add too much glare??

[ January 03, 2003, 08:09 AM: Message edited by: John R ]

[Miles Offshore]

Thanx for the comments guys, Otto I dont think sealing will be a problem. The switch panels all come with a front loaded gasket, as well as my electronics. Where I fuse the electronics on the outside with the same blue sea fuses I guess water could force its way behind them but i think it would be tough. Since I leave my curtains on year round very rarely do i ever see water up there.
Jon, the blue sea website has a lot of stuff on it that is not in the marine catalogs. My friends formula he put a flush mount from behind battery switch that is pretty cool and i have never seen one before. I like the way the switches feel, they are lit also allowing me to get rid of the extra bilge lights and blower light as well. I am really not very fond of the old toggle type switches because they are difficult to see in the dark. They wear fairly easy and do not seem to have the solid trip feel like the newer switches. Nothing wrong with the retro look, I considered it myself but talked myself out of it after playing with the switches on the restored formula.Scott, you are right, it does look good- i guess I will have to purchase one of those carolina built looking steering wheels also !!! John I initially had the white bezeled stainless gauges as well but didnt want all white gauges with the new black navman !!! After looking at the black on black I decided it looked very nice too. Under my dash where the wheel and stuff is is all white too. The worst part about rewiring the whole center console is having to "break" most of the wires at the hull/console joint, minus the plug. Those cuddy's dont have that concern and it is seeminly easier to wire . I will definitely feel better with all my new stuff though, especially the hydraulic steering ! Right Capn. Skip ???