Holiday to Open bow conversion.... aka: the unthinkable

[CheapboatKev]

Re: Holiday to Open bow conversion.... aka: the unthinkable

can someone post a pic of the bracketing for the seating/platform in the bow of their SS? from what i have seen the seem to be riveted on. anyone have any ideas on how i could add some angle to make brackets without having to drill and rivet through my boat?? i haven't done too much to her in the last few days.. im still in the staring at it stage.. this will probably last a while but my next planned step is to get the floor pieces cut so i can visualize things. has anyone ever heard of Advantec subflooring? it is awesome stuff.. hard as a rock and virtually waterproof.. supposedly can be submerged for 6 months without absorbing any water! ive used it many times and i can say withoout a doubt that it is great stuff. i have a few small pieces that have sat outside for the last few years and besides being a little grey and weathered it is pretty much the same as the day it was bought. it comes in 4x8 sheets, 3/4" thick and costs about 20 bucks a sheet. been thinking about giving it a shot.

Hiya ZZ..

Take a look at our buddy EZ's SS thread
This page has a pretty good shot of the bow seating area. I think he has some more detailed pics further in.
I applaud ya, I was very tempted to do the same to my Holiday, but just couldnt cut her..


http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=357767&page=3

 

[zigzag]

Re: Holiday to Open bow conversion.... aka: the unthinkable

ill do that thanks.. i know ive looked at it before.. im at the point where the boat is emptied out and im just trying to get an idea for a layout to work with.. i looked at it like this.. even thought the boat 'looked' ok, it wasn't. it needed stripped out and rebuilt anyway.. things were falling apart.. ive got a good motor with a ton of spare parts, and i cant afford another boat at the moment nor would the wife let me drag another one home.. so im taking the opportunity over winter to rebuild it in a way that it will be the most versatile for us.... it almost made me sick to cut it but once i did i felt alot better about things.. really was happy about the extra space. it was a nice sized rig before but was a little cramped for the four of us. hopefully keeping a stripped down, no frills setup will leave me with plenty of room. now, all i have to do is put everything back together!! yikes

 

[Starman8]

Re: Holiday to Open bow conversion.... aka: the unthinkable

can someone post a pic of the bracketing for the seating/platform in the bow of their SS?

I did????

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Holiday to Open bow conversion.... aka: the unthinkable

Starman, you have to forgive zigzag. He's all atizzy after cutting the Mariday past the point of no return. . ZZ, while I do like Holidays, it's no sin to make her into what you want, need or desire. Lots of help here, jasoutside has a link in his sig to all the Starcraft restos and rebuilds by model when you get stumped or need ideas. Keep the pics coming!

 

[dozerII]

Re: Holiday to Open bow conversion.... aka: the unthinkable

Hey ZZ, I don't see any way around making an aluminum angle that has to be riveted to the inside of the hull at the bow to support a casting / seating deck. Using closed rivets and 5200 will make them water proof. It will take a fair bit of measuring and planning to get the angles right , as even Starcraft only got them close on my 18SS. I have had to make varing shims 1/4" to 5/8" to get my new casting deck level.
Glen

 

[Starman8]

Re: Holiday to Open bow conversion.... aka: the unthinkable

The bow floor upper decking attaches to the sides of the hull with L-angle, as we all know. That will be an interesting point?

I like the splashwell design, below is what the 2000 model did with a similar cut from the factory.

 

[Starman8]

Re: Holiday to Open bow conversion.... aka: the unthinkable

I did????

An example of an option.

 

[zigzag]

Re: Holiday to Open bow conversion.... aka: the unthinkable

ok, so here's a bunch of pics of things ive been tinkering with the last few days.. i went ahead and shortened the splashwell today and gained another foot of space. i still need to rivet the thing back together as it is only taped at this point.. i dropped the jump seat assemblies back in to see what i have to work with. couple of pics have some pieces of osb... im only using it to help me visualize things.. its cheap and it helps

i also grabbed a 12' piece of pvc window trim and scabbed it to the boat to see how it would look. i think it is going to be something that i can work with, i'll add some aluminum L channel and it should finish off pretty nicely.

 

[zigzag]

Re: Holiday to Open bow conversion.... aka: the unthinkable

here's some more of how i shortened the splashwell..

 

[zigzag]

Re: Holiday to Open bow conversion.... aka: the unthinkable

and some more...




cut from leftover bow

 

[zigzag]

Re: Holiday to Open bow conversion.... aka: the unthinkable

playing with some ideas....






and carved some pumpkins too!

 

[zigzag]

Re: Holiday to Open bow conversion.... aka: the unthinkable

so, i just measured and it looks like by doing all this i have gained about 4 feet in the boat.. went from ~8' of usable space to ~12', that's going to be great!

 

[Starman8]

Re: Holiday to Open bow conversion.... aka: the unthinkable

looks cool, and you got the bug.............

with the engine up, is all OK with clearance relating to your fuel line, throttle, and steering cables in the shortened splashwell?

 

[zigzag]

Re: Holiday to Open bow conversion.... aka: the unthinkable

it should be. the steering will be ok... plenty of clearance to tilt and steer. ill more than likely have to buy shorter shift throttle and steering cables before its all said and done though.. kinda planning on backing up the steering console and all my cables were a little long to begin with. havent decided what i want to do as far a fuel tank/s yet.. i want to balance weight out as much as possible so i may end up with a tank under deck... on the other hand id still like the ability to remove the tanks so i may keep the portables but place them father forward in the boat.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: Holiday to Open bow conversion.... aka: the unthinkable

Four extra feet of deck space is a whole different boat man, excellent!

 

[Starman8]

Re: Holiday to Open bow conversion.... aka: the unthinkable

if you stay with portables, I would minimize the run of fuel hose(safety) to the shortest length

take a look at some modern Starcraft and LUND aft decks

normally, they house batteries, baitwell, cooler, etc.

in your case, 2 6gal tanks would fit neatly where those jump seats are placed under a deck with an access hatch(lattitudanal lift up/slide em out), a house battery, and the beauty is, you can still place two jump seats star and port(or floor mounted) as well as a casting deck seat mount

you have options and based on what you have done, will find a nice functional solution while gaining space/efficiency

nice work there

 

[zigzag]

Re: Holiday to Open bow conversion.... aka: the unthinkable

this is what ive been thinking... the darker blue would be floor level, the lighter would be decks

 

[Starman8]

Re: Holiday to Open bow conversion.... aka: the unthinkable

this is what ive been thinking... the darker blue would be floor level, the lighter would be decks

View attachment 117858

The greatest benefit during the 2 rehabs/resto's I did was getting ideas/methods from the guys here. So, being presumtuous, this is an idea I would consider in a similar situation, but remember, I am not a big fan of jump seats permanently installed, I like options, ability to convert from skiing/fishing, and I like storage, so, those flanking higher up inside splashwell walls are unneeded if I had a similar restore.

My version would include a casting/trolling deck, hidden fuel and battery storage, and shallow light tackle dry storage, and the ability to POWER VELCRO Jump cushions AFT, but would have 2 floor bases directly in front of the Aft deck wall......................

 

[zigzag]

Re: Holiday to Open bow conversion.... aka: the unthinkable

WOW! Starman... that is truly awesome!! i really like that. i kept looking at those flanks and jump seat parts wondering if i really needed them and what i could do differently. im going to take a good look at it before i move forward. thanks again..

 

[Starman8]

Re: Holiday to Open bow conversion.... aka: the unthinkable

WOW! Starman... that is truly awesome!! i really like that. i kept looking at those flanks and jump seat parts wondering if i really needed them and what i could do differently. im going to take a good look at it before i move forward. thanks again..

Thanks, but the mock up didn't show one thing, that may be important...............see the modified mockup