Been very busy with work and other projects and am usually too tired to work on the boat, but I am now gearing up for a full blown kitchen remodel. So, while I wait for the cabinets we ordered a few weeks ago to arrive, I'd better get on this project while the getting is good since I have not a clue how long that will take and spring is coming fast.
I had been toying with the idea of cutting the bow open for some time now. I made the decision to just do it. What's done is now done, now to make it look like it was not just a hack job done in haste. The last statement is why most of my projects take a lot longer than they do for others. Sometimes too much thinking leads to not so much doing. So, one day after a few hop type beverages I decided to get after it. If my buddy Larry is lurking, you know what I am talking about (4 year Mustang project that is 4 years away from completion...)
Enough of that. Along with pictures I hope to explain this well enough for anyone contemplating doing the same. What I have found is, anyone in the future could reverse this with a sheet of new 5052 AL and a little thought. I have also toyed with the thought of buying a sheet of AL and making a custom bow cover painted to match the boat for that Holiday look, but who knows if I would ever get around to that
. A lot of ideas flow through my head when I get into these projects.
First step in the bowectomy, Make a cut. I laid my I-Pilot on the bow and figured out how much to leave on the bow, then I traced a line at 6" in from the rub rail trim around the sides and used a gallon paint can for the radius cuts at the bow end and connected the dots with a straight edge. The opening came out small, I expected that, but I wanted to sneak up on the final size rather than cut too much off the bat.
Then I removed the rub rail and drilled all the rivets out to get the bow aluminum to lay flat and trimmed off the excess at the rear of the bow piece which ended up being about an inch and an eighth per side at the back end and of course tapered toward the bow.
I was still not sure how much of the bow aluminum I was going to be able to keep, but I will used it as a template for the 3/4" ply I used for the support.
Knowing that using the bow piece was not an exact size, I decided it would be much easier to just trim the pieces later rather than trying to measure or trace cardboard, etc. I had to do some trimming at the point of the bow and just laid the two pieces on top of each other marked a line and cut, I could have cut both and centered it, but it doesn't really matter to me if they are even. I will be joining them underneath with another cut piece of ply and glue anyway. For the rear of the pieces I just marked the forward end of the gunwales and trimmed them to sit flush at the top.
Here it is with the bow aluminum laid back on getting ready for windshield placement and final opening marking/cutting. I knew the ply would be bigger than needed, but I figured the jig saw would be running a bunch more by the time I was done. I will be cutting about 6" or so more back toward the windshield and trimming the sides another couple inches (4" from the rub rail as opposed to the 6" I originally did). I will probably not end up being able to keep the areas I left for the two side consoles, but for mock up purposes it has helped with the concept.
I went out and turned the heat on in the shop a little while ago, it should be good and warm now, so it is time to get after it.
