Pics of problem, need advice (speakers)

Awesome, exactly what I was looking for. I was planing on reverse cutting through the gel with a 3.5 inch holesaw and taking it out that way then filing it the rest of the way round on the edges :)

I just spent 5 hours using heavy rubbing compound on my hevily chalked and discolored hull and I am spent. Tomorrow I get to go through it again with a lighter compound , the a couple coats of polish then a UV wax. Probably get to the speakers tomorrow too if I am up for it. It is looking really good now though, it was a pretty dramatic difference. I cant wait til its done though.

81nautique wrote: 8122pbrainard wrote: 81nautique wrote: It's just fiberglass underneath a coaming pad for goodness sake, it's a freakin ski boat not a classic car. Alan, You may have taken my comment wrong! I'm all for cutting the hole in back of the exsisting for his speakers. All I said, was that it reminded me of the stereo in the Dodge. By the way, a Dodge Watercar is a boat. It was a prewar that didn't make it. It was the son of the founder of Dodge that ran the company. Absolutely beatifull boats! They made a Chris Crafts look like work boats! That wasn't directed at you Pete. Just seemed like a pretty basic thing, if he wants to cut a hole for a speaker do it it's his boat, who cares.. The factory does it all the time. I don't understand the reasoning behind "You can't put it back", or I wouldn't be cutting there. He's gonna fill the hole with a speaker and cover it with a coaming pad, will look nice, no big deal.

I know it will work but my big question which I dont think will have a problem is integrity. I dont want speakers sticking out and I will cover the holes anyway and I know it will look nice cause I am picky like that. I dont envision myself owning this or any other toy boat and not have some tunes in it. So as long as I wont hurt it structurally, I will be cutting them this weekend :)

Pete,

I've seen several of the Dodge boats at the Tahoe boat show in August. BKH

81nautique wrote: It's just fiberglass underneath a coaming pad for goodness sake, it's a freakin ski boat not a classic car.

Alan, You may have taken my comment wrong! I'm all for cutting the hole in back of the exsisting for his speakers. All I said, was that it reminded me of the stereo in the Dodge. By the way, a Dodge Watercar is a boat. It was a prewar that didn't make it. It was the son of the founder of Dodge that ran the company. Absolutely beatifull boats! They made a Chris Crafts look like work boats!

It's just fiberglass underneath a coaming pad for goodness sake, it's a freakin ski boat not a classic car.

If you don't want to break out the sawzall a dremel or roto zip with a spiral cutter works well, nice clean cut.

boat dr wrote: Why would someone cut a hole in a boat, that is forever,,,,,, Kinda like modifying a dash to install a radio,it will never be the same. But whatever turns your crank..............

Reminds me of a 1930 21' Dodge Watercar that I knew about years ago in Three Lakes. The kids cut a hole in the dash for radio/8 track and holes on the inside cockpit trim for the speakers. They even came up with a step up transformer from the 6 to 12 volts. Surprisingly there dad wasn't that upset!! I was glad to see the boat go to a collector/broker in the Minneapolis area because he respected the boat. He did restore the boat and of coarse had to replace wood where the holes were cut.

quinner wrote: Tim, Very interesting, were those cut-outs on your boat done at the factory?

Im not sure, but I suspect that they were.

Why would someone cut a hole in a boat, that is forever,,,,,,
Kinda like modifying a dash to install a radio,it will never be the same. But whatever turns your crank..............
There is always a PLAN B.......

I wouldn't be cutting into the fiberglass in that area if I was you.

If it's only 3/4" you should be able to find a nice trim ring to push it out. Do a search IIRC Randy_in_Ohio may have done some upgrades on his +/-93' SN, also do some searches on Planet Nautique, more Stereo upgrades happen over there. Hate to see you cutting up the boat if it's not necessary.

Could you not use a shim or spacer ring between the speaker and the vinyl? How far off is it?