Dash Fab analog to Digital

Lake Luv Kentucky

Lake Luv Kentucky

Member
Jul 10, 2020
66
Boat Info
2003 SeaRay 300 Sundancer 30' Cruiser
Completely updated custom i
Engines
Twin Mercury 5.0
with Bravo III Drives
I recently found out as a first time boat owner OEM stuff is impossible to find! So as my old gauges started failing, I searched ebay.... The price for a few used Sea Ray OEM gauges quickly justified my converting my Dash pod to digital. I wanted the biggest Display Chetco Marine or Sea Gauge offered, however my dash panel is 9" tall and the screen I want is a 12" Display so after alot of head scratching and ridiculous quotes to fab a new dash I remembered what My father used to say, "If a man can build it, a man can fix it!" The following is my progress. I am new to the site so I will try to post these photos, sorry if they are not great quality.
IMG_3317.JPG
IMG_3323.JPG
IMG_3324.JPG
IMG_3325.JPG
IMG_3329.JPG
IMG_3334.JPG
IMG_3341.JPG
IMG_3416.JPG
IMG_3423.JPG
IMG_3317.JPG
IMG_3323.JPG
IMG_3323.JPG
I will try to do them in order of my week long experiment.
 
Lake Luv Kentucky said:
I recently found out as a first time boat owner OEM stuff is impossible to find! So as my old gauges started failing, I searched ebay.... The price for a few used Sea Ray OEM gauges quickly justified my converting my Dash pod to digital. I wanted the biggest Display Chetco Marine or Sea Gauge offered, however my dash panel is 9" tall and the screen I want is a 12" Display so after alot of head scratching and ridiculous quotes to fab a new dash I remembered what My father used to say, "If a man can build it, a man can fix it!" The following is my progress. I am new to the site so I will try to post these photos, sorry if they are not great quality.View attachment 87918 View attachment 87924 View attachment 87925 View attachment 87926 View attachment 87927 View attachment 87928 View attachment 87929 View attachment 87930 View attachment 87931 View attachment 87918 View attachment 87924 View attachment 87924 I will try to do them in order of my week long experiment.
Click to expand...

That's some serious work!
Welcome aboard CSR.
We love pics.
 
sorry the site limited me to 10 photos that showed up in a weird order. The wood grain is hydro dipped graphic. I still need to clear coat with 2k gloss and install the screen will post the finished product once It is installed.
 
Nice Work. I'm impressed on how that turned out!

I also converted from analog to digital gauges using Chetco SeaGuage G2 unit. Its a huge learning curve and undertaking, but fun and rewarding in the end. The only thing I kept was the sync gauge (haven't found a way to digitize), Aetna digital tachs and used Maretron 4" displays. New dash was just a new piece of ABS.



Good luck and keep us posted.
 
Lake Luv Kentucky said:
I recently found out as a first time boat owner OEM stuff is impossible to find! So as my old gauges started failing, I searched ebay.... The price for a few used Sea Ray OEM gauges quickly justified my converting my Dash pod to digital. I wanted the biggest Display Chetco Marine or Sea Gauge offered, however my dash panel is 9" tall and the screen I want is a 12" Display so after alot of head scratching and ridiculous quotes to fab a new dash I remembered what My father used to say, "If a man can build it, a man can fix it!" The following is my progress. I am new to the site so I will try to post these photos, sorry if they are not great quality.View attachment 87918 View attachment 87924 View attachment 87925 View attachment 87926 View attachment 87927 View attachment 87928 View attachment 87929 View attachment 87930 View attachment 87931 View attachment 87918 View attachment 87924 View attachment 87924 I will try to do them in order of my week long experiment.
Click to expand...
Very Creative nice idea! Welcome Aboard, Last year i converted mine to digitalIMG_1748.jpegIMG_1669.jpegIMG_1748.jpegIMG_1667.jpegIMG_1221.jpeg
 
Nice work! Why did you tape off the wood frame? Are you taking the wood out after the product is finished?
 
dtfeld said:
Nice Work. I'm impressed on how that turned out!

I also converted from analog to digital gauges using Chetco SeaGuage G2 unit. Its a huge learning curve and undertaking, but fun and rewarding in the end. The only thing I kept was the sync gauge (haven't found a way to digitize), Aetna digital tachs and used Maretron 4" displays. New dash was just a new piece of ABS.



Good luck and keep us posted.
Click to expand...

Thank you I will.
 
Riptide III said:
Nice work! Why did you tape off the wood frame? Are you taking the wood out after the product is finished?
Click to expand...

I used MDF to construct the frame. I taped it off so the fiberglass wouldn’t stick. I knew i was going to hydrodip the end product, and MDF Or any wood in general would swell and possibly crack the finished results. I am looking to reinsert a resin or treated piece of wood behind the screen insert, now That I dont plan on water contact anymore knock on wood! lol

I have to reinsert some kind of material so i can attach the screen brackets behind. Still going through that in my head.
 
LLK,
The dash modification looks intriguing, being unfamiliar with the 300, I can’t quite visualize it in place, although having had a 280, I expect it will look great. The 280 dash definitely posed a huge challenge to a glass cockpit concept. I tried, but couldn’t make it work on ours and look good. I’m certainly waiting to see how yours works out.

Given the age of the boat and engines, why did you opt for a third party system when you could of easily (?) upgraded to Mercury Smartcraft technology? There seems to be a bit of re-inventing the wheel at work. I’m not criticizing, but not being familiar with Chetco, I’m curious to the benefits. Could you fill us in?
 
AFF9DC72-A991-40EE-82C1-BEF889C82E03.jpeg
True the age of my boat is a factor however both engines being replaced with only 10 hrs on them and the addition of a bow thruster not to mention a meticulous maintenance schedule Puts my boat on par with alot of newer boats that have alot more hours on my lake. True this is better suited for ocean going people but this is a touch screen I can also monitor a lot more things than standard guages allow fuel consumption fuel pressures etc. I opted for the chetco based on reviews and aesthetics, just personal preference I wanted the look of a modern dash vs busy bunch of round gauges

ill post a pic of both panels together to give you an idea of the location etc.
6401E4D6-A972-4390-AF5D-26E2D9E6F85C.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: QT1
dtfeld said:
Nice Work. I'm impressed on how that turned out!

I also converted from analog to digital gauges using Chetco SeaGuage G2 unit. Its a huge learning curve and undertaking, but fun and rewarding in the end. The only thing I kept was the sync gauge (haven't found a way to digitize), Aetna digital tachs and used Maretron 4" displays. New dash was just a new piece of ABS.

Thanks yeah I kind of wondered about the sync. Im glad to know im not the only one making the leap. I am having the technical side of wiring etc done by my boat mechanic im sure he will be doing alot of go to meetings with Joe over at chetco ;-)

Good luck and keep us posted.
Click to expand...
 
Just finished putting the 2k clear on this afternoon, temps are 98-100 really hot in KY today. Guys the gloss really shows off any little imperfections so i may be using some swirl remover and a good buffing after a few days. Just a few little nats or dust particles in the final finish
E238E3BA-3849-4B04-9ED5-A544D2309F37.jpeg
 
So I am really nervous to wet sand the clear coat with 3000 grit. I plan on spraying another 3-4 coats this week. I am only nervous because the hydro graphic is so delicate and detailed that if i get heavy handed or burn through the clear it would be catastrophic and result in a complete strip and re-dip. Im not a body man by trade I'm a broker so any tips would be appreciated. The good news is my screen and module from chetco is shipping out this week! So If the stars line up right ill be on the water and finished in 10 days time.
 
Lake Luv Kentucky said:
So I am really nervous to wet sand the clear coat with 3000 grit. I plan on spraying another 3-4 coats this week. I am only nervous because the hydro graphic is so delicate and detailed that if i get heavy handed or burn through the clear it would be catastrophic and result in a complete strip and re-dip. Im not a body man by trade I'm a broker so any tips would be appreciated. The good news is my screen and module from chetco is shipping out this week! So If the stars line up right ill be on the water and finished in 10 days time.
Click to expand...
Why not use 6000 or 8000 paper? 3000 is far to aggressive for what you are doing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,099
Messages
1,425,905
Members
61,018
Latest member
IslandGirls1020
Back
Top