Mystery hole

[*EdC*]

Can someone help me identify this hole. I believe my boat may have had a Mercury motor on it. Could it be a control boot of some kind? Thanks...

 

[maxum247]

Re: Mystery hole

I'm probably way off but maybe battery cables if the well goes all the way across the boat.

Gas line maybe.

Possibly a trim switch (home made) for trailering!

I would say old style steering mount but it's in the wrong place besides that with it there you could only turn one way I think! Don't think it would have a hole thru it if it were steering though.

My best thought would be battery cables!

Hope this may help, never seen a hole there before but there are a lot of boat styles out there. What type and how big is this boat, was it a small hp.engine or larger hp?

 

[*EdC*]

Re: Mystery hole

My boat is a 17' MFG Edinboro. I think it originally had a 65hp merc on it I've seen another boat with the same hole. (see pic)What puzzles me is the the square outline

My boat

 

[maxum247]

Re: Mystery hole

Square bracket yeah that is a good question! Towing post maybe! Will be interesting to find out what it is used for!

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Mystery hole

I'm gonna guess ski post or loop, or else a bushing for the motor cabling with a square outline.

Erik

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Mystery hole

it was for the motor connections, fuel, electrical, control cables. the boat had cable/pulley steering, the moving steering cable ran thur the side holes and would wear the motor cables. it was a square mount with a large rubber boot.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Mystery hole

Ayuh,.......

The Old Style of Trim,+ Tilt was powered from a Trim Pump like used on the Outdrives,......
That Hole is where the Hyd. Lines were fed to the motors Cylinders......

My mid-70s 150hp Tower of Power has that same system.....

 

[*EdC*]

Re: Mystery hole

Yea,.... I thought it was for service connections... but my boat didn't have pulley steering. At least there is no evidence of it, i.e. brackets, mounting holes etc. It originally had a teleflex transom bracket for steering. Two holes for it still remain. Bond-o, may be onto something. I have a cutout in the dash for the old style push button tilt/trim switch. Uhmmmm this is gonna need some looking into!

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Mystery hole

just cut a pretty piece of wood and screw in to cover it.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Mystery hole

look at the size of this one on my 1956.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Mystery hole

Hey Ed,..... I got your PM, but will answer it here.....

The Old Style Trim System was nothing more than a 4 hose Trim Pump mounted in the bilge, like 1 of the 2 line systems used on the I/Os of today......
The Hoses were routed up from the Pump to the Rams(look just like the Shocks on your outboard, only they're Hyd. Rams) mounted on the outboard....
There's a plastic housing that the lines pass thru, which is then screwed to the splashwell......
That little plastic housing is What used to cover than Mystery Hole.......

 

[*EdC*]

Re: Mystery hole

Mystery hole solved! Special thanks to Bond-o for steering me in the right direction. I was even lucky enough to find a new in the box replacement
I just love finding new parts for my old boat!!

 

[bassboy1]

Re: Mystery hole

Not disputing Bondo, but they also were sometimes used to run fuel, and battery lines, from the fuel tanks, and batteries below the splashwell, to the motor.
They seemed to be very common in the 70s. This is my 1974. It just had a round piece of trim, whereas, yours was square.

In fact, similar things are still used. See this 2008 Alumacraft Pro 175. The fuel line, control line, and battery cables each go through the transom. Course, it is a tighter, custom fit, but back in the 70s everybody used universal fuel lines, and battery cables, so the hole had to be universal.

 

[oops!]

Re: Mystery hole

bass boy.....

are thoes alum stringers i see???

now that just aint fair.....

go get yourself some good wood ones like the rest of us,
and come join us in the stringer repair sect

oops

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Mystery hole

Ed, I also believe Bondo is correct. I recently replaced my '77 Merc 1500 Tower, and it had the square aluminum fitting for the 4 trim hoses, identical to yours. I covered the hole with a small white plastic vent, to dress it up.

 

[*EdC*]

Re: Mystery hole

Many thanks to everyone who help me solve this mystery There were allot of things I could have done with this, but curiosity got the best of me! Especially when I'm trying to restore my boat to it's original configuration. As Bond-o mentioned, this cover is for an older Merc tilt/trim setup. It allows the 4 hydraulic lines to pass through to the pump! Here are a couple of pics.....