agropper Posted June 7, 2019 Report Share Posted June 7, 2019 Hi All - New to the forum. Bought a 2002 Redfisher 18 about 5 years ago which has run beautifully and was pretty well maintained. Then I lent it to my dad for a year and now its needing some pretty major cleanup. The hull and motor are fine as far as I can tell. Particularly troubling is the inside of my center console, which has been flaking off its gelcoat and been a constant mess. Theres a hokey plastic shelf inside the console where the radio is mounted that basically makes the console unusable and I thought there must be a better way to do it. So I pulled the console off and then began to realize what I was getting into. Now I've decided to do a complete re-wire since there were wires hanging all over the place - I was thinking about a bocatech push button pre-wired custom panel. Maybe install the radio flush-mount in the console and make the console more usable. Has anyone done that? That then lead me to the bilge, which is also kind of a mess. The recirculating pump for the port box has no valve on the thru hull, so I'd like to re-plumb that, replace the pumps and maybe paint the bilge. There's not much room to work through that little porthole. Has anyone opened up that hole with a larger hatch for better access?? Any structural issues with doing so? It doesn't seem critical to structural support/strength. Anyone want to talk me out of going down this rabbit hole? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Limitless Posted June 7, 2019 Report Share Posted June 7, 2019 Several folks replace the hatch access to the bilge with larger rectangular hatches - preferably with removable "lids". I've done that on my RF 18s and 16s. It's not a hard job and just requires taking time to measure it out and be sure you have room to get you saw into the area you need to cut. The following is a pretty good thread on how to: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agropper Posted June 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2019 Great info - thanks so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.N Posted June 9, 2019 Report Share Posted June 9, 2019 My center console is a mess as well and I'm not looking forward to dealing with it. Thankfully I have the 21' Redfisher that has a removable hatch for bilge access. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agropper Posted June 9, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2019 Yeah - I think I will enlarge the opening, remove everything, prep and paint and then do a clean install. I don’t really understand the white flex tubing in the picture. It is the drain line from the livewell, but goes through hull below the waterline. If that tubing breaks - with no valve - the boat is going down. Surprised there is no valve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blewbyu Posted July 10, 2019 Report Share Posted July 10, 2019 I got a new custom panel with breakers from Marine wiring in Stuart, Fl. put in the rectangular removable hatch from TH Marine and re plumbed both livewell pumps with new shut off valves. i replaced that shelf with a starboard shelf and mounted the stereo head unit and amp on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agropper Posted July 10, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2019 Hadn’t thought about replacing the shelf at all. What a piece of flimsy junk! I was thinking about molding a removable fiberglass cubby to mount to the back of the door frame that would hold a couple of small tackle boxes and a shelf for wallet, keys, etc. that way nothing can fall into the abyss of the console. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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