Need help wit helm station issue - please respond

JDAYRES777

Good Afternoon Fellow Rinker Boat Owners, and I am so proud to be part of this great boating fraternity of owners.  Folks I have a major issue and I really need help. I am a new boater as far as being an owner; and, Rinker is my first boat. I have a 2000 Rinker Fiesta Vee 270 in good condition except for 1 area that needs some major work, and that is the HELM STATION.  The prior owner "butchered" the flat section where you put your chart, by cutting into it for instruments (GPS AND RADAR), that small flat area needs to be totally cut away and replaced with new material.  I need some recommendations folks.  I have all of the manuals on the boat, including wiring diagrams, but no descriptions of how to remove that entire helm station and get behind it where it meets the cabin bulkhead wall behind it.  I am in Middle River Baltimore County Maryland and need name of good firm close by that can do this work and also help me with newly purchased electronics install. To further complicate this matter, the prior owner put in an old Navico Rotary autopilot that I need to being up to date.  Any help and recommendations would be appreciated.  my email address is available upon request. Thanks so much JDA.

MarkB

Yes, pictures please. Want to see if it can be entirely covered with a PVC or HDPE sheet.

Dream_Inn

@jdayres777 that looks really nice!  Very well done!  Do you have any 'before' pictures?

frenchship

Welcome,
need to see some pictures of the damages.

212rowboat

some clever use of starboard or even a cutting board from the dollar store would make that hole look like it is supposed to be there, and add a spot to pin things, to boot... a bit of silicone behind it and four nice looking screws w/brass grommets/countersink washers for the screws would look good.  I'd maybe even put a clamp on it sorta like a clip board.   

JDAYRES777

Hi to all of your great Rinker Owners who helped me on the new Helm Station ideas. Here are the new pictures.  Not everything is done.  VHF radio to be mounted on a removable mount, but all lighting, switches, and wiring done in January 2017.

JDAYRES777

Oh, and yes - everything works and it lights up like a red and green Christmas Tree at night. All bad switches were tossed and replaced. And, yes it was expensive, but, it is really nice. Waiting on new deck carpet now and painting-remounting of Radar Arch and final VHF-AIS/GPS antenna's and stereo.  

LaRea

Nice job.  Who did the work?

diggin2day1

Awesome 

JDAYRES777

Hi again folks,

Talking to you on my7 lunch break real quick.  The work was done by Weavers Marine in Essex Maryland.  Both Jeff Zahner (service manager) and Joe are and have been Rinker Owners. It took 2 weeks to do, and was expensive. I could have bought a small used car for what I paid for the work.  However, because I got the boat for under 20K  when I purchased it. I am still way ahead of the game. I could have purchased one for upper 20's and would have needed to do the same thing to it. But, in my case I got a Mercury Horizon closed cooled engine with only 385 hours on it, and a completely overhauled bravo 3 outdrive with new props.  Once the final electronic VHF AIS and stereo refit is done in the next 45 to 60 days, this boat will not need any updating for another 10 to 15 years; and, the inside is immaculate. The inside cabin carpet needs steam cleaning once we are done everything, and the new deck carpet in a deep pile royal blue with white binding from Matworks in Georgia is already underway. The carpet and the new mooring cover matches with the new blue canvas you see on the picture.  The before pictures of the dash are on my earlier postings. it was just a bunch of big holes where the prior owner had expired Simrad Radar, Simrad GPS, and OId VHF Radio (all circa 2002, 2003) we are planning some more cosmetic upgrades in 2.5 years, for now we want to enjoy it the next 2 seasons, then decide on what the next step is, of which 1 will be extended swim platform.  The walking area on the stern right now is really narrow.

   

MarkB

Excellent result.

Handymans342

Turned out well!!! I remember the butchered pics of the helm and our phone convos

rasbury

Yes, this story sounds familiar...that looks really great!

Dude_Himself

I used Ryan Casey at Coastal Customs in FL: sent them my measurements, they sent back a paper proof, printed it out/cut it out, found it to be a smidge big, had them fix it and print on in fancy black (to match the chartplotter, it's a vertical surface that doesn't get sun exposure) and it looks great! $50 well spent to save me the time of fabricating.

Can't find photos here, but I've posted them before...