Major modifications and stuff

[REEL_Therapy]

It’s been a long time since I was last on here and I still don’t see a whole lot of 260 WA owners.  Anyway, here’s the deal; blew one of my twins last fall and the boat has been yard-art ever since. I’ve made the decision to start a keel-up restoration of the old girl in preparation for a motor next spring. I have a few questions for our resident experts, but I will imbed those questions in the following description of my secret evil plan.

The deck has some soft spots, but rather than repair them, I want to lay down a whole new deck. I posted some discussion about the deck last year, but I have some ideas for improvements over the existing design. One problem is with the “fish box” if that’s what you call it. I hate this! Its long and deep, but the access lid is very small. You need gorilla arms to reach to the very back of it. I want to install long fish boxes on the left and right sides of the deck. What’s under there? Is it just foam? Can I cut a cavity into the foam for fish boxes? Does carving out flotation foam violate some sacred covenant?

The baitwell leaves much to be desired. It’s fine for holding shrimp or pins, but that’s about it. My plan is to saw off the entire sink/baitwell console from the stern and mount an oblong 30 gallon tank astride the stringers. I’ll fabricate some sort of bench and cowl that can be removed for bilge access. That will take care of the bait situation as well as provide some seating. My modification should provide sufficient structural integrity to the exterior of the stern area. Any technical arguments with that plan?

Lastly is the helm station. Mine was set up for twins 17 years ago and it’s pretty tired looking. Plus, I’m replacing the twins with a big single. I’d like to build a complete console similar to the one on the 2000 251. I want to set the helm back a few inches, eliminate that big black cowl on top and have something smooth and modern that will accommodate my electronics, new switch/breaker panel, re-mount the binnacle and also a molded foot rest. I'm also wanting to have an aluminum lader welded up to access the tower. I'll have a seat frame integrated into the lader design for a new two-up helm bench. Its going to be a lot of fiberglass work and I am soooooooo looking forward to it! I’m also going to add some teak touches here and there. I’ll post lots and lots of pics throughout the process once I finally gather the courage to start chopping her up! I’m really interested in feedback from anyone else who has taken on major projects like this, or any reason why I should abandon the whole plan before I commit what’s left of my sanity to it.

[231CALIFORNIA]

No 2 projects are alike and most of us tend to overengineer to be safe and another group of guys just cuts and reworks and comes out fine.
Going to a big single is often a good idea.
The Under deck spaces, im not sure whats down there in yours, bad idea to remove foam without replacing it in very similar close location imho but that doesent mean you cant compensate somehow, especially if you end up shedding weight on transom with single engine.
you need to be sure transom is "kneed" iinto stringers properly or you may be creating a flex problem but good design may actually make it stronger but i dont know your proposal.
One option is to sell the old gal and get/buy  what you really want and spend your time fishing and less time sea trialing testing designing adjusting.
All boats are a Compromise.
I have had too many projects that take too long and require compromises .
If you are gung ho to re plan here go ahead, might be great.
but a rebuilt powerhead and an add on bait tank sounds a lot cheaper and deasier.
but if you do it , post it here by all means.
BTW, post picture and guys will give you far more ideas.

[C-Lark III]

Reel Therapy, you are a brave man !!  Consider your "man card" punched... 

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