Capt. Kirk
Active member
Well my partner wanted to take the boat in to have our autopilot and radio installed, but this week he is in Mexico fishing so I decided to hijack boat to my house and do it myself. Was hoping that I could get it done fast in case I screwed it up and had to get it fixed. Well, I did not give myself enough credit as it went very smoothly.
I want to thank Dale for all his e-mails and encouragement on the electrical. I could not have done it without him. I also found that the product manufacturers (Icom, Raymarine, and Teleflex) phone and e-mail support were excellent.
I caved in to the idea of mounting the radio flushmounted in the only spot left on the console, somewhat under the steering wheel. I thought the wheel would get in the way, but I went for it anyway.
Pulled the 15/16" nut off the steering wheel and pulled on the wheel.....pulled on it some more, then a bit more. No go. OK...what am I missing here.....some pin or hidden part holding the wheel. Off to the internet and an e-mail to teleflex support. They got back to me in less than and hour and gave me three or four ideas on how to coax it off. No go again. So I do some more snooping around and see a pictorial on replacing some seal kit and the guy was using a gear puller to get the wheel off. That was a new tool to me....now where to find one. Turns out the auto part store Auto Zone loans out tools at no charge. So that is what I did.
Worked like a charm. Was a bit difficult to get the claws on the wheel as they we a bit fat, but I got it to pop off.
Later that day I needed to drill a 9/16" hole in the dash for the auto pilot emergency switch and I was not sure if my wood boring bit would work, so I sharpenned the bit and used the middle of the radio cutout as a test spot. Work out just perfect.
Set the template down and drilled some holes on the radius areas and started cutting.
Got myself a perfect (if I may say so myself) cutout.
Slipped the raidio in and could not be happier.
Things are starting to get a bit tight under there.
Will post on the S1000 auto pilot install soon.
Kirk
I want to thank Dale for all his e-mails and encouragement on the electrical. I could not have done it without him. I also found that the product manufacturers (Icom, Raymarine, and Teleflex) phone and e-mail support were excellent.
I caved in to the idea of mounting the radio flushmounted in the only spot left on the console, somewhat under the steering wheel. I thought the wheel would get in the way, but I went for it anyway.
Pulled the 15/16" nut off the steering wheel and pulled on the wheel.....pulled on it some more, then a bit more. No go. OK...what am I missing here.....some pin or hidden part holding the wheel. Off to the internet and an e-mail to teleflex support. They got back to me in less than and hour and gave me three or four ideas on how to coax it off. No go again. So I do some more snooping around and see a pictorial on replacing some seal kit and the guy was using a gear puller to get the wheel off. That was a new tool to me....now where to find one. Turns out the auto part store Auto Zone loans out tools at no charge. So that is what I did.
Worked like a charm. Was a bit difficult to get the claws on the wheel as they we a bit fat, but I got it to pop off.
Later that day I needed to drill a 9/16" hole in the dash for the auto pilot emergency switch and I was not sure if my wood boring bit would work, so I sharpenned the bit and used the middle of the radio cutout as a test spot. Work out just perfect.
Set the template down and drilled some holes on the radius areas and started cutting.
Got myself a perfect (if I may say so myself) cutout.
Slipped the raidio in and could not be happier.
Things are starting to get a bit tight under there.
Will post on the S1000 auto pilot install soon.
Kirk
