Excel 435 HD fit out from scratch

[jeffstevens763@g]

got all the bolts in position now its not tightened down yet until i get the transducer, battery charging & aerial cables connected, got to glue some rubber on the hogging rail bolts too to prevent chafe

[Steve509926]

Looks a very tidy job Jeff.

[jeffstevens763@g]

to close this out a short vid of the boat as it will be used for wild camping trips but with two chutney barrels the others are just weighing down the floor tiles whilst the glue sets.

all in I'm very happy with the console ive had two people say how good it looks without prompting any reaction so it cant be too bad it'll do me anyway.
thanks for the interest lets hope we can get to use it.

cheers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoEfmar-KoA

[Fenlander]

Jeff that is an impressive result to be proud of... great attention to detail all round. Well done.

[Steve509926]

Looks a really nice job Jeff. Have you changed the grab rope? It looks much softer than the grab rope on my SD360.

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by jeffstevens763@g

to close this out a short vid of the boat as it will be used for wild camping trips but with two chutney barrels the others are just weighing down the floor tiles whilst the glue sets.

all in I'm very happy with the console ive had two people say how good it looks without prompting any reaction so it cant be too bad it'll do me anyway.
thanks for the interest lets hope we can get to use it.

cheers

Looks good Jeff. Love the cup holder[emoji6] Just need to get her wet in anger now, won’t be long.

[jeffstevens763@g]

Thanks David there are some imperfections but the eye is drawn away by fittings having said that they are very small.

Steve yes I changed the rope the self splicing stuff although handy if you can’t splice is cheep and doesn’t fall well which would be a pain if you needed to get hold in an emergency I’d sooner have good rope and spend that bit more from the manufacturer.

Thanks PD yea the brew is a big thing in my book I carry an Aldi insulated cup well not theirs but a fiver from them more than double elsewhere forgot the name of it but stays warm for over an hour.

Thanks for the interest cheers

[Steve509926]

Originally Posted by jeffstevens763@g

Steve yes I changed the rope the self splicing stuff although handy if you can’t splice is cheep and doesn’t fall well which would be a pain if you needed to get hold in an emergency I’d sooner have good rope and spend that bit more from the manufacturer.

Hi Jeff, what is the rope? Would the same rope be suitable to make a bow bridle to attach the anchor rope and painter too?

[jeffstevens763@g]

Originally Posted by Steve509926

Hi Jeff, what is the rope? Would the same rope be suitable to make a bow bridle to attach the anchor rope and painter too?

hi Steve i got mine from central marine services its what they use and yes its fine for the bridle splice to the outer rings then pull a small loop through the bow ring with a small shackle to stop it falling out. the pressure on the bow ring half's the pull on the outer rings

Rope

Colour: Black

Dia: 13 – 14mm approx.

Stranded Fibres 3

Price: £1 mtr

[jeffstevens763@g]

just made this slide show for a quick reference.





https://youtu.be/xziq3wABQiI

[Steve509926]

Thanks Jeff

[Steve509926]

Hi Jeff, another grab rope question.
When you've threaded the rope through the two eyes on the rail, then passed the 3 strand rope through 1 strand of the preceding rope (I'm sure you will understand what I mean) how have you finished off where the rope crosses to form an "eye"? Have you whipped the intersection where the rope crosses with thinner black cord? Or have you used some heat shrink? Yours looks much neater than my attempt.

[jeffstevens763@g]

in post 62 you see the rope passing through the bottom strand on the tube side the rope lays flatter then if you leave it the loops move and it looks crap so i sew through the rope and whipped so it kept in in position, [used a quick sticher] you can use play ground rope connectors but i couldnt find any for my size of rope.

[Steve509926]

Thanks Jeff, I've gone through the top strand that's why it looks crap. Blindingly obvious when it's pointed out

[jeffstevens763@g]

what you can do is instead of crossing the rope is go in and out of the two eyes on the hogging rail and pull the two loops together and whip them if that makes sense so you have your grab loop each side with a small loop through the hogging rail

[Steve509926]

Think I'll try both ways first and see which one looks the best.

[jeffstevens763@g]

you could use these solid or split egg connectors



https://www.onlineplaygrounds.co.uk/...omponents.html

[Steve509926]

Think that would look really neat and make the grab rope hang better.

[jeffstevens763@g]

Originally Posted by Steve509926

Think that would look really neat and make the grab rope hang better.

yep you could get your rope from them too

[jeffstevens763@g]

So got a trip in from loch etive to loch sunart wild camping around 140 miles used 35 Ltrs of fuel with a 10 1/4 x 11 prop top speed approaching 18.5 knots with 60 Ltrs of fuel and full camping kit she’s getting on the plane at 8.5 knots (GPS). With the engine lowered 50mm onto the transom I see no detriment in performance but no cavitation like I did before The ride is excellent crossing wakes and has a smoother fall into the troughs than the Mercury did I’d say the excel is 20% better all round than the Mercury but being the bigger boat that’s the main reason.
on the way back I did notice the floor moving at speed suspected the tubes low on pressure from the heat the day before ( pressure relief valve ) When I got home pumped the tubes but the itiwit pump has given up got the stirrup pump out that came with the boat doesn’t work the large o ring that makes the seal has shrunk so ordered a new pump and binned the stirrup pump for my bravo foot pump.
Vid is of first day top of the sound of mull it pi$$ed it down and for the next 12 or more hours stopping just giving us enough time to pitch the tents before it started again.



https://youtu.be/pXk1bDOomTk