new glass boat

[fievel9922]

I just bought my new baby. 18 foot warrior tiller and was wondering about drilling into the fiberglass to mount electronics, adn rod holders and such. any thing i need to worry about or any advice to avoid spider webbing or cracking. thanks to whom ever replies

[Superduty]

I would epoxy transducers in the bilge area and shoot through the hull vs mounting on transom. As far as mounting rod holders or sonar units goes, start with small bits if you must drill holes. I have mounted all my sonar units in-dash. Dash board panels are cheaper to fix/replace than fancy gelcoat fiberglass. The only downside to in-dash mounting is you can't spin the unit around to view from other parts of the boat. I would use the ram mount system if not mounting in-dash. Keep in mind you will have to drill holes large enough for your transducer and power cord plugs to pass through. Most mounts have bases that are large enough to cover up any small drilling errors. Don't know if your boat has stainless steel rails but many rod holders are designed to mount on these rails.

[LMITOUT]

I got my first fiberglass boat today and haven't done any rigging, but in doing research about mounting various items it is suggested that you chamfer around the hole to be drilled to prevent the gel coat from chipping out. I also read the same thing in the boat manufacturer's manual.

[PerchJerker]

Put down a piece of masking tape over every hole location and drill your holes through the tape. Start with a small bit, then the correct size bit, then chamfer the hole. To chamfer the hole, use a slightly larger bit and RUN YOUR DRILL IN REVERSE.

Use rail mounts for as much as possible.

You can use hole saws and hole caps in fiberglass, start by running the hole saw in reverse after you have the pilot hole. And use masking tape for the hole saw too.

[sparkyaber]

What PerchJerker said.

[waskawood]

If you are using a screw and not a bolt and nut, run it in part way and back in out cleaning out the hole and the screw, then screw it in a little further.......