TOPIC: 59 Glastron

I bought this boat about ten years ago, worked on it here & there since. Had a good spurt back in 2010 to get it ready (cosmetically) for the Gravenhurst show, the first year they "allowed" fiberglass. After the show it was sentenced to solitary in the back corner of the shop. My first boat was a 29' with twin 4.3 Mercs. Somewhere along the way, I contracted footitis reversicous and now have a boat half that size. Well, this is the year it gets wet.Finally have the motors running. Needs steering, control cables & wiring. I've never rigged an outboard before, so here's my first question (of many to come). I'm thinking the steering should be done first, then cables, & wiring so the latter wouldn't interfere with steering, correct? Also, the old Johnson manuals I have don't show any springs on the steering cables, are they a good idea, or no?
Sorry for the long post, you're a real trooper if you made it this far!

Cheers

Bill

Honestly I don't know but just want to say she look awesome.

I think the springs keep it taught so it doesn't jump a pulley as the tiller cable stretches, just make sure you center the cable with the steering wheel offset, I did it from center so now I have to remove and rewind, I didn't cut the cable and it's way longer on one side.
I think a middle of spring load and tighten the cables after awhile to keep the load. With all the stuff flopping on a boat on rough water some load is probably needed.
I did the steering and still don't feel great about the fuel & throttle/gear cables. I zip tied them to keep the angle below the steering cables and the OE Mercury fuel connection comes out too far, the fuel line touches the top of the steering & pulleys if not zipped down, think I will just change out the connector or find a 45 deg piece since a 90 didn't work either.
Just my 2 bits.
steve

Yep, definitely need springs. Don't have pics handy of my Aristocraft setup, but it has springs. As Firstfibre said, keeps tension on the cables. Somewhere on here is a tip on how to re-spool the wheel, makes it easy so you get it right the first time. I didn't, and will eventually have to re-do it once the club mariner is in the water!

Al T

I scanned some excellent cable rigging info. It can be found right here: http://www.boatsinthebelfry.com/archives.html click link 3 OBC standards manual and look around page 12

-KevFin

Thanks for the replies, seems like springs are the way to go, thanks Kevfin, that's a great resource.
cheers
Bill

barnickelbill,

Check out Thomas Firth Jones' book: BOATS TO GO: 24 Easy to Build Boats That Go Fast With Minimum Power for a simple/cheap/workable system for cable steering.

yours, satx

Bill, I hope my 59 Seaflite looks half that good. I'm jealous of the twins. That would look good but the odds of finding them are rare

Ok, more cable steering questions. When I got the boat, the system had been removed, so I have nothing to go on. I have two pulleys (see pic), that I believe were on the front. Would the same pulleys have been used on the rear or would it have been a fixed one? The spacing seems right from the inside of the transom to the center of the holes for the cables. Also, I'm guessing when the cables are under tension, the pulleys would be at a 45 deg. angle, so i would have to take that into consideration when mounting the rear pulleys inside the fin? Thanks again for the help.
Cheers
Bill

Also, just curious, why is there a silver star beside the title 59 Glastron on the main menu board? It changes to gold when I go to the thread

Hi Bill, Here is a diagram showing one very simple way to do a cable steering set-up. The same pulleys may be used, front & back

Larry

barnickelbill wrote:

Also, just curious, why is there a silver star beside the title 59 Glastron on the main menu board? It changes to gold when I go to the thread

It's been designated as one of your "Favorite" threads Bill. I think it does that automatically if you are the one who started the thread, or you can flag someone else's thread as a Favorite by clicking the button.

Ok, so I'm learning more about cable steering. Was searching on this site and came across these instructions. Says to use only one spring. Every pic or diagram I've seen shows two, but this makes sense. Also read a remark about someone having a cheap Attwood pulley with no grooves, so off I go to the local marine supply to see if I can get a pulley with grooves. The guy standing beside me happens to be a rigger (overheard cranes, winches etc.). He says nothing wrong with the pulley, you just have to wind it properly. If it's wound as shown in the pic the cable will stay tight to the inside. As evidenced by the marks on the pulley, it was done wrong last time and walked to the outside of the pulley. The cable should be fed so it looks like threads of a bolt going into a nut. Who knew?

Cheers

Bill

Being a "project" boat I am willing to offer $150. LOL !! I need to do this same thing for my 59 project.

Being a "project" boat I am willing to offer $150. LOL !! I need to do this same thing for my 59 project.

Bill, here is another diagram on winding the cable on you steering pulley. Hope it helps.

Larry

Larry, thanks for the input, stay tuned!

Dave, I have considered your generous offer, as you point out it is a project boat. However, I have decided to forge ahead. I think if I Bring On A Thousand or two I should be able to complete it. At which point, I hope to get an OFFER from someone with a MALFUNCTIONING shift KEY for a FULL 10 percent of it's value.

Cheers

Bill