posted 04-12-2005 08:54 PM ET (US)        

Well i had the "expert" come today to install my electronics. I had really gotten a good feeling from him when he explained his business and type of work he does.

Here is what happened. I am pretty calm considering...it just seems that the whaler gods are angry at me

VHF radio bracket is tilted slightly. This idiot decided he wanted the antenna to match the angle of the side rail on the console so when you see the antenna on the side profile of the boat, the mount is angled about 2-3 degrees off the deck. Not horrible but really really annoying and I can't fix it cause it is so slight that newly drilled holes would be too close to each other. Looks like something i would have done.

The VHF radio is also tilted slightly and not level. Looks horrible. Plus, it is flush mounted yet the top portion of the radio is flush but the bottom is away from the console outside wall by about 1/16". Seems that the console wall is not plumb. Was thinking about hiding that gap withsome silicon. Possibly a thick rubber gasket that i can cleanly cut and place inbetween the outside console wall and the radio lip. Also, he mounted it directly in the middle of the console, about an inch below the where the console top edge is. I wanted it like Tabasco's and even showed him the pic. He chose to do it as he saw fit. So annoying.

I was supposed to have a Poly Planar AM/FM/CD stereo installed on the flat area above the throttle but this "installer" was nervous about having to move the wiring harness that covers the back area of that flat area on the inside of the console. So now i will have to do it. Any thoughts? He was afraid that it might void the mercury warranty if the harness was moved.

I was supposed to pay him $600 but considering the shoddy work, he offered to accept no payment. I couldn't do that to the guy so I gave him $200. He did do a decent job on the GPS/Charplotter and i may need him to tweek it if it doesn't work right the first time.

So...now the dilema...what to do? Do I use starboard, cut and shaped nicely with a nice routered edge and mount the electronics to it ensuring that they are level?

I also had a cool idea about buying some thin teak and mounting that to where the crooked components are. Then having the components mount to the teak. Poly eurethane it, make it really pretty. Plus to make it seem like it wasn't a "fix" i would mount some teak strips to the top of the deck walls under the side railing. Always wondered why B/W stopped the teak. It was such a beautiful addition to the boats and seemed to be their signature.

I am not going to go overboard here. It is what it is. I couldn't afford the dealerships pricey bill so i took a chance.....a good one so I thought.

Now i am in fix mode and I welcome any help on this. Sorry for the long message. I hope you all were able to read to this point and still keep your dinner in. Seems all i do is gripe on here.

So please, send me any helpful tidbits you can but please, no "I told you so's".

All the best....

Alan

posted 04-13-2005 10:00 AM ET (US)            

I think this is a simple adjustment of the bracket that mounts the radio.

I recently installed a flush mount Icom 402 myself.

On each side there is a bracket (short L) that screws into each side of the radio.

On the face of the L that perpendicular to the radio is a adjustment screw with a washer ish thing on the end that presses the radio backwards (toward the inside of the console. There is a small narrow gasket on the inside of the lip that will make contact with the wall of the console.

You can get the screws adjusted close to correct before install but then need to make final adjustments when the radio is in the opening. It sounds like the installer did not adjust these screws from inside the console.

ANTENNA -

Is the bracket mounted on the side of the console? Photos would REALLYhelp us see this issue.

It would not be difficult to remove, fill holes with Marine Tex and re-mount.

STEREO -

I recommend you wait on this item. Do a search here and see what others have said. Alot of money and they don't last very long.