Some updates to the 2950

[C-Lark III]

Thought you might enjoy a "before and after" view or two of the helm on my 93 Proline 2950.  Have spent more than a few hours redoing wiring, replacing switches, adding electronics, and replacing helm instrument panels. 

[a7ewizard]

C-Lark,

Great job! A "few" hours must be a gross understatement.

I'll probably go down that road at some point....(I finally re-routed radar and VHF cables thru the hardtop legs, cable tied to the underside of the hardtop, and thru the top. Only been 4 years since the hardtop install!).

My panel corners are cracked and a bit faded. They are made from a thin composite of some kind with illuminated labels/stencils. I'd like to keep the same look and re-use the existing switches. It appears you simply went with labeled switch covers (my 24SS has those, be careful because the printing fades!)

Did you investigate any other panel options? Is that black PVC or Starboard? Would you do anything differently?

Warren

[C-Lark III]

Hi Warren --  Thanks for the compliment !  My motivation was pretty simple for this project -- My panel corners were also cracking out, and I had already added the wood border trim to hide it a bit - (veneer trim for table edges).  Then some of my switches didn't work, and I checked and found they were corroded.  I also wanted to move some of the other switches from other locations (For example, my washdown pump switch was behind a door in the cockpit area, and a couple of others were on the lower part of the helm area).  Finally, I wanted to update the electronics -- Chart plotter, DF, and VHF.  So I bought a new piece of 3/4" white starboard and made a new "dashboard" and mounted the electronics.  And I bought a piece of 1/4" black textured starboard and made the three new switch and instrument panels.  (The original panels are 1/8", and a bit flimsy in my opinion).  I'm very pleased with the outcome.  I did investigate the possibility of having new panels made for me -- Checked the internet, and found a few places that make great looking replacement dash / instrument panels, with backlit lettering, etc...  Great looking stuff, but expensive to have them made.  Since I have a pretty good shop, I decided to make my own.  I also bought all new switches (Carling brand).  A bit of a challenge to find the correct labeled switches, but found almost all of them as you see them.  Only had to buy two or three unmarked switches, and swap out the covers with correctly marked ones.  (You'll notice there are now 15 switches on the left side panel, instead of the original 10.  There are 13 in use, and 2 spares if I get any new toys that need them).  I moved the old VHF to the overhead electronics box as a backup, and put the stereo up there also, alongside the Radar screen.

For now, I can't think of anything I'd do differently, with the possible exception of replacing all the wiring to the switches and gauges.  I replaced corroded connectors, and any wires that had internal blackening, but most of the wiring is the original.  Hope that doesn't come back to bite me, but I just didn't have the energy to tie on a complete rewire.

Albacore are a week away from my waters, and the salmon are biting --  so the boat gets her belly wet this coming week!!

Good fishing!  

Jim

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