Help with '75 18 ft Seacraft project

[Bushwacker]

. . I looked over all the pics on the hermco website and I like the water tight fittings for the controls and steering cables. Does anyone know where I can order those thru-bracket fittings .

If it were me I'd save some money by using balsa core instead of Penske board or whatever in the deck and put the savings in the bracket. (Balsa core works fine, but as with any cored structure, you just have to properly seal any holes in it with the drill oversize, fill with epoxy & redrill routine.)

The hydraulic steering hose fitting is a Cable Clam which is available from West Marine and other marine supply outfits. It's just a tapered round rubber plug with a tapered plastic ring on outside. Just drill the size holes needed for hoses in rubber plug and then cut the plug in half on centerline of holes. With a little silicon around the hoses, the tapered ring keeps everything in compression and water tight. I've also seen metal fittings for hydraulic hoses that go thru a bulkhead where you connect a hose on each end. Makes for a neat installation but it adds 2 more hoses and 4 more connections which are a potential leak source. Advantage is that when UV finally kills the hoses, you only have to replace 2 short hoses instead of the long ones all the way to the helm!

The fuel line/control/electrical cable rigging kit is probably available from numerous supply outfits, but I got it from Don for about $45. I like the way he rigs it down into the bracket and then into the transom inside the bracket because then you can walk across the platform w/o having to step over all that stuff. Kit includes 2 aluminum tubes, about 2" OD by about 4-6" long, and 2 flex hoses and clamps that fit over the tubes. If you're having an aluminum bracket made up, you might want to have the vertical tube welded into the bracket so it's coated or painted at same time as rest of the bracket. Also, after you put the tube thru the transom and run all the rigging thru it, fill it with silicone. It's probably below the waterline, so if you ever develop a leak in the bracket tank for whatever reason, you don't want that sinking the boat!