Hinging tackle station on 27 Offshore

[dbye]

I have a 1992 27 Offshore. I have been here for a long time. This is my first post on the new forum.
I am slowly repairing/upgrading various systems on the boat.
For some reason Boston Whaler put many important sytems under the seating / tackle station shown below. The battery charger, wash down pump, shift cables, shift junction boxes, live well aerator, sink/ faucet plumbing, fuel tank access hatches etc are all under this console.
The only way to get access to these systems is through a small door on the port side of the console. Needless to say it is very difficult to adjust/replace anything under the console.
My mechanic said it's like having to remove the front end of you car to get to the engine. He suggested hinging the console so we can tilt it up enough to gain access to everything. I'm just putting this out to the forum for suggestions, ideas, dangers etc. It should work and should not hurt the value of the boat Thanks. Dave

[Jefecinco]

If those are hard top legs beside the seat it looks like you could remove the mounting flange bolts through the seat/tackle station sides. If hinges are installed the seat/station could be tipped/folded over to allow access.

A couple of questions/problems bear some thought. It appears from the picture that it may allow better access to the items in the station if it is folded aft rather than forward. It looks like the seat back will clear the hard top supports. Is the wiring, etc. mounted to the walls of the station? If so, the wires, etc. may need to be lengthened to tolerate folding the station away from the deck. That seems doable but the shift cables may present a lot of difficulty.

Assuming it can be done affordably I would consider how often access is required to perform maintenance. Is it worth the cost and effort to fold the console annually or less often? How difficult is it to remove the seat/tackle station for access? It appears from the picture not to be highly difficult nor time consuming.

[dbye]

Thank you for the reply Jefecinco. That is a good point about how many times I will need to fold it. Maybe I should just take it off and replace everything then put it back on.

[conch]

Another option is to install an additional large horizontally hinged opening hatch below the rear facing fold down seat. You would have to remount the items you have in that area for the hatch cutout.This would be below the sinks bottom and above the screw line seam.
Do you have the upper station? My shore power,three bank charger,and shifters (old motors) are not in that area. Maybe they were added later on yours. My access is on the starboard side, I have tackle drawers on the port side.
If you do not want to add a new hatch, then the seating/tackle center separates at the screw line and lifts up/off for maintenance.
Chuck

[Don McIntyre - MI]

Another option: is there a backrest as part of the fold down seat? If so, could it be made removable? And if there's not a padded backrest, what about cutting a removable section (that way you could rest your chest on the folded down seat!)?

[conch]

Don the backrest area of the rear facing fold down seat is the outer wall for the deep double sinks in the tackle center. There is a picture in the old CW of the hatch installed below the fold down seat. I asked about it at the time but I cannot find it now.
Chuck

[conch]

[Below is a link to a] picture for the installed hatch. The poster was Macdougall70 and his name is Rob.The picture is in an album at Photobucket.

http://s153.photobucket.com/user/macdou ... 3.jpg.html

Thanks Chuck

[dbye]

Thanks everyone for the very helpful replies! I really appreciate all the insight. I thought about the hatch idea. I have the dual station controls and the shift actuator boxes and junction boxes are mounted to the back of the tackle center. I would have to move them to cut the hatch. I'm not sure the hatch would allow enough access. I will be reviewing it with my mechanic.
Again, I am grateful for everyone's thoughts and I am considering everything posted so far. By the way that's a beautiful Offshore in the photo!

[vze2gbs4]

Been there done that(Including replacement of my 24 year old fuel sender with Wema new style-removing 5 screws that are almost welded working sideways mostly with one hand and limited space - brrrr-bad memories). I replaced faucet and all water lines below,installed new seat vinyl ( yes all nuts and washers are below ) and I did everything through the side opening. When I got my offshore the very first thing I did was to get rid of that rotting ridiculous wooden storage compartment on port side inside the tackle center.That opened the space inside so much that I got room for more storage and access to everything was a breeze. I also recomend you clean up that area first with vacum. than wash with spray nine and than bleach it a bit. Mine was as clean as a day she came from factory. removing one of the access door together with a frame will give you additional room to work under.While door is off you may retouch all piting and give a new coat of paint to that frame . I wouldnt make any new openings -once you get rid of that stupid storage you will wonder where all that space came from. trust me its worthed.

[dbye]

Project update:
I decided against the hinge. Seat clearance and fears that the whole tackle center might rattle are the primary reasons. I'm going to work through the access doors and if it becomes necessary I'll remove the tackle center. Again, thanks for all the replies.