Helms (rebuilt in particular)

[DougSea]

Hi all,

Yes, another question from "Here again, gone again" Doug! For those who've follwed my comings and goings on the board and might be wondering where I dissappeared to this last time - my wife had a pretty serious mediacal condition hit her over Thanksgiving - made for an "interesting" holiday and New Year's. She's doing very well now and we're hoping to run into some of you at the NE Rendezvous.

So the question - do any of you have pictures of "rebuilt" 28TE helms? Especially some of the older, shorter vintage? The reason for my asking - I'm hoping to flush mount the Northstar M121 I picked up last year, remount my switch pannels, move my engine guages and in general upgrade my helm. As always in one of these endevors it's nice to see and hear of others experiences.

Looking forward to seeing some great work. Thank you all,

Doug

[jcollins]

Hi Doug,
Search around for RicM's helm project. It turned out great.

[DougSea]

Ah yes, I remember a picture of a smiling lunatic making big holes in his portside console! I'll look for the finished pics.

[jcollins]

I was poking around this morning. There are some nice pictures in this thread.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1419&hilit=helm+project

[DougSea]

Thanks John. I went through that thread and one that I had started about two years ago, got some good ideas. One issue I have is I have a lot of switches mounted to the main area of the helm that newer boats appear to have elsewhere. I do think I'm going to try and mimic RicM's "minimalist" approach with just engine guages and my MFD. I'm also thinking I may make a first version out of plywood, try it for a season, and then make up the Rolls Royce version.

[DougSea]

Down at the boat today and started in on the helm project. At this point just ripping out the old and getting things prepped.

Going to try and post some pics (shot on my BB so the quality's not so hot) using the UPLOAD function.

Old - Before.jpg

Old - EngineInst Out.jpg

Old - Rough Layout.jpg

The current plan is to build a "Pod" that sits on top of the existing helm which will house the engine instruments in a new layout. Going to make it as short as possible, same face angle as the helm, and sat back an inch or so. Will mount a new electronic compass on top. (Anyone want the huge Riche Binnacle compass? I'll sell it cheap! Otherwise it's going in my office.)

The "Main" helm will be made of birch plywood, 1/4" with a 1/2" backer and will feasture my Northstar M-121 and my autopilot controls. The switches are ALL going to move. I'm hoping that once I re-route the various switches that this will move along fairly fast.

We'll see!

[RobS]

Doug, Is the depth of the Northstar shallow enough to not be an issue? There is not much depth to work with as you approach the top section of the dash. Would still be do-able with some interior modifications in the head as others have done.

[DougSea]

Doug, Is the depth of the Northstar shallow enough to not be an issue? There is not much depth to work with as you approach the top section of the dash. Would still be do-able with some interior modifications in the head as others have done.

Hey Rob,

Thanks. Good point. I had "eyeballed" the space and determined that I was ok but after your note I thought I'd double check. Looks like I should be fine. The M-121 isn't very deep and it has a curved back and will fit with no "head mods".

On a side note - took alook at the connectors from my engine pannel - when I pulled them apart yesterday I didn't notice that 2 of the eight pins on the primary connector had corroded totally apart!! Glad I found it now and not underway!

[RicM]

Here's the thread on my Helm station:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1419
and yes, there is precious little room behind that helm panel for the depth of a 10" display. After 500 running hours with this new arrangement I would say that it was a great upgrade and certainly worth the pain & $$$! Moving the radio and a few other elements to the port side navigation station was also helpful, and I don't miss the VHF on the starboard side at all, although I have had no success getting Miss K to use it.

[DougSea]

Here's the thread on my Helm station:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1419
and yes, there is precious little room behind that helm panel for the depth of a 10" display. After 500 running hours with this new arrangement I would say that it was a great upgrade and certainly worth the pain & $$$! Moving the radio and a few other elements to the port side navigation station was also helpful, and I don't miss the VHF on the starboard side at all, although I have had no success getting Miss K to use it.

Thanks Ric - your project was a big part of my "inspiration".

I really think I'll like the setup and I'm trying to put it together in a way where, if I don't love the layout, I can change it fairly easily. I've bought the wood for the Engine pod and the helm and I'm under $200! Cheapest thing on the boat!

As for the VHF, I think I'll roof mount it, probably up near the wire channel along the forward edge. I have the Icom 504 with the rear mount mic (not command mic - although it has that option as well) and I'll keep the mic on the port side of the helm. If you look you can see the clip in the photos. There is NO CHANCE Kat will use the radio unless we're sinking and I'm out cold. And even then I'm not so sure...

[DougSea]

Since I'm in a photo posting frenzy I figured I should finally post some of the pictures of the rebuilt helm I put together. After all it was the posts and the feedback here on AOG that inspired the effort.

The new helm pannel is made of maple plywood and finished with West System. I did this to allow me to make the pannel fairly cheaply to try the layout. I'll most likely now rebuilt it with a better piece of wood and finish it more carefully. The big Northstar M121 is awesome!! So easy to see and use. The upper housing is made of maple stock from Lowes, not yet finished. All in all I'm pretty happy with it. I ended up just remounting the original Penninsular instrument pannel and then fitting the wiper switch pannel and the fuel guage. And the horn button. The VHF moved to the overhead. Getting the wiring to it was a huge PITA!!! But it's up there and working and I have a Command Mic III in the cabin.

NewHelm.jpg

StbSideSwitchPannel.jpg

HelmOverhead.jpg

[RicM]

Doug,
WOW! That helm station looks great! I wish I had seen it last weekend. Perhaps I should have borrowed a dink and taken the chance! The circle cutout would be a great place to mount a mini speaker for the stereo, just add another on the port side.

[jcollins]

Hey Doug,
Looks great. Very good job.

John

[lpbp]

After Looking at Doug and Ric,s Helm and cockpit lay outs it gets the wheels turning. But first I must say great job fellows . I have the over head bulkhead for my Nav Equip. Question for Doug ,height of dash Ext ? and do you find this better than a bulkhead . I quess some of this would go by your own height and height of eye sitting dwn .. I am looking at mounting a STD HORZ 300 with fish finder back in the overhead bulkhead to replace the old North Star beside the radar . My question here is does any body have any cons about the fish finder up there for vis , glare etc .etc .
Why I am asking on some of these issues is if a unit is mounted on the dash it can use a internal ant and if mounted in a bulkhead a external ant . Just some thoughts kicking around before purchase .
Well it s also official -pullout Oct 29th ,finally nailed the boat hauler to a date .