Removing a Lower Helm - is this crazy talk???

[tsha222]

My dad and I have been working on a 1977 Carver Santa Cruz and in fact, I posted in another thread about wanting to enclose the cockpit and convert it into a proper saloon. Anyway - we have recently run across a 1977 (that year seems to be calling us) Silverton 34. It's engines and all running gear are in impeccable shape but the boat is beat up - actually road out Hurricane Ivan. Blistering paint, needs new bottom job, needs updating and the interior is begging for some loving. What I found interesting is that one of the previous owners glassed in the front windows and had the lower helm station removed, making for a much roomier cabin.

Back to our Carver. It has a lower helm but we NEVER use it. Just how difficult is it to remove a lower helm? That's probably a loaded question and depends largely on what all is there, but before I start even entertaining the idea, I was hoping for some feedback. We are gutting the interior of the boat, enlarging the head, removing the dinette and switching some things around. If I can successfully eliminate the lower helm, I could add some additional storage or seating.

Thanks and Happy Boating!

 

[Bondo]

Re: Removing a Lower Helm - is this crazy talk???

Just how difficult is it to remove a lower helm? That's probably a loaded question and depends largely on what all is there,

Ayuh,... Anything is Possible, once ya know where you're Startin'....

 

[tsha222]

Re: Removing a Lower Helm - is this crazy talk???

Yes indeed and therein lies the issue. I don't know where I'm startin' I could easily remove the wheel. I guess I need to see really how much more room I would get removing the entire station vs how much would open up by removing the wheel.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Removing a Lower Helm - is this crazy talk???

Naw,... Ya gotta look deeper than that...
You've gotta see what it's got for steering Gear,... Cabled, Hyd., Hard parts,..??
Then figure out how to gut it out,+ rerig a single station where you want it...

 

[tsha222]

Re: Removing a Lower Helm - is this crazy talk???

Oh, is that all? I am almost positive it is a cable steering system but I could be talking out of the wrong orifice. My thing is that the visibility is laughable and when we are tooling around in the boat, we're always up top. I can see a point of having a shelter for bad weather, but we're doing an enclosure for the flybridge anyway.

Decisions, decisions...

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Removing a Lower Helm - is this crazy talk???

well I haven't seen your rig BUT on my 80 carver santa cruz 2667... I have hydraulic helms and morse shifters... to remove the lower helm I would have to remove the tees from the plastic steering lines and replace with elbows and then the shift and throttle cables from the upper controls connect to the lower controls... so the proper way would be to buy new cables that reach from the upper controls to the engine room. Then you would need new temp? and oil pressure senders for single station and you would want to look into any electric stuff that needed dealt with

 

[DAVECAD2.0]

Re: Removing a Lower Helm - is this crazy talk???

well I haven't seen your rig BUT on my 80 carver santa cruz 2667... I have hydraulic helms and morse shifters... to remove the lower helm I would have to remove the tees from the plastic steering lines and replace with elbows and then the shift and throttle cables from the upper controls connect to the lower controls... so the proper way would be to buy new cables that reach from the upper controls to the engine room. Then you would need new temp? and oil pressure senders for single station and you would want to look into any electric stuff that needed dealt with

Kevin:
I also have a 1980 Santa Cruz. Single 351W. Would like to know the arrangement of your seawater intake and cooling (V-Drive, Tranny, etc). Mine is on about the fourth engine and as many owners. As a Mechanical Engineer mine is totally plumbed incorrect. Just curious about other boats of this ilk. Photos would be nice if thats not asking too much.

Thanks, Dave

 

[tsha222]

Re: Removing a Lower Helm - is this crazy talk???

I have the boat down to the stringers!! That was fun. We have had an issue with our starboard engine (Volvo Penta Turbo diesels) and after having a couple of friends look at it - we slung a rod. We're pulling the engine on Saturday.

Back to point, after ripping everything apart to get down to the bare bones, I decided that rather than removing the lower helm, I will change its purpose. I'm going to leave everything as is, but remove the wheel and rebuild the helm to house the electrical panels, generator starter, etc. If I ever want to be able to, I could put the wheel back in and have my dual stations again but I don't think that's gonna be an issue with me personally. Leaving the other stuff in place will let me start my engines if I need to charge my batteries in the middle of the night. Man, there is really a lot of room in that boat considering it is just 10 foot wide and 28 foot long. When we are done, I am going to feel bad calling it a Carver - maybe Franken-Carver is more appropriate.

And it is indeed a cable steering system... And man oh man, is there a rat's nest up on the flybridge. I almost feel like there's no other way to do this than do what we're doing. I know that there's wire that's not even going to anything, which I guess just happens over the life of a boat, but I hate the wiring. I owned a home theater business for almost 20 years so I am going to trace every cable down and get things tidy again.