I'm down to rigging the electronics in my Venture. When I bought the boat, it had a complete Furuno setup with radar, plotter and fish finder. But they were all about 5 years old and were the sizes we'd have expected, which are a lot different from the huge screens on the market today. I want to install a Garmin 4212 (not the touch screen version for me) and the yet to be released Humminbird 1197 which will be out this month. The Humminbird is 13.1 by 9.3, making it bigger than the Garmin.
The Venture has a lot of console space, but it is broken up into three angled panels and none of them are big enough for much over an 8 inch display. It is a real problem on many boats and something many of us may face. Since I wanted the big stuff, here's how I did it and it may work for you:
I looked at the area and figured that if it was broken into only two panels instead of three, I'd have the room I needed. So, the first step was to remove everything so you can see exactly how much room you have. You can also see the three angles to the face:
Next, I took several pieces of cardboard and started making templates. Nothing is ever square or even, so it is easier to make a set for the height and then a set for the width and then combine them to make a third set to make sure they fit.:
Once I found that the cardboard fit properly, I went to buy some 1/4 inch black Starboard to make the actual panels. But West only carries 1/4 inch in white, so white it is. 1/2 inch might work, but the console has a panel that slides up to cover the electronics and there is not a lot of clearance. I duplicated the panels in Starboard and fussed with them until they fit. Then I took the panels out and did a pencil layout until everything fit and looked right. Next, I used holesaws for the gages and a jig saw for the VHF and big items. Once they were back in the boat, it was easy to see where there was going to be console to back up the Starboard and where it was going to be air.
Next, I used a little tool like a Dremel to cut the holes, using the Starboard as a template. You can do that if the bit does not cut all the way op and has a smooth area where it can ride on the Starboard without hurting it. The holesaws were also guided by the Starboard:
Here's how it looked with the final cutouts and the the panels bolted in. It is not as nice looking as the original panel and if anyone has a suggestion to improve it using some other material, I'd love to here it. The two Starboard panels are slightly different colors; one has some green and grey in it. Besides, I don't really like the way the Starboard looks. It works, but that's about the best I can say for it. I've done other ones in aluminum, but corrosion is a problem and it would be tough to make it fit these contours, but here they are:
Then I took 1/2 inch starboard and made tapered pieces to fill the gap between the old console face and screwed them in. If the screws would be hidden, I went in from the front. If not, I went in from the back. I also used a couple hole saws to make a bunch of rings which I cut on an angle to make beveled spacers for the gages so they could be clamped tight without distorting the Starboard. I even though about shooting foam in between, but could not face the mess. You can see a couple of the wedges in this shot, including the one held in with three screws. It is hard to see at first:
Then I put some of the stuff in to see how it would look:
Making big electronics fit!
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