Can I move the controls?

[311Hemi]

As of this past weekend I finally joined the ranks of owning my own boat. I picked up a 2002 Crestliner Sportfish and am working on getting things set up the way I need.

One nuisance I have is that the controls for the engine are mounted a little lower than what I would prefer. I think they did this because of decorative padding on the inside walls of the gunnel where mounting it lower they did not break up the decorative pattern. I looked on the backside of the wall in the rod holder area and it looks like there is some room to move it up. I am curious if this is something that I could easily move up a little ways and then cover the old hole with a cover?

[boatfixer]

Congrats on the purchase!

As long as you have room and dont kink or bend the cables, you should be fine. make sure the panel is solid and you're able to get all the screws securly fastened. The last thing you want is a wobbly control and BE CAREFULL when cutting the hole, the vinyl can easily get distorted.

[PerchJerker]

One nuisance I have is that the controls for the engine are mounted a little lower than what I would prefer.

Congrats on the new boat! But I have to say STOP!!!!!! Have some patience, and spend a little time in the boat before you start cutting vinyl and moving the controls a few inches and patching holes with covers. I think you should run the boat for a month or two, or even a whole summer, and then see if you think it's still something that needs to be done.

[steffanf]

I'm with PJ on this one... I wouldn't do such a drastic modification for just a few inches. I'm sure the boat was designed like this for a reason... asthetics aside. I think I would just get used to it in its current configuration...

[311Hemi]

Thanks for the reply's. I am certainly going to give it a couple months to see how it is. I will probably get used to it but it feels weird compared to the other boats I have gotten used to driving.

I am going to be adding a slide adjustment to the drivers seat so that may raise the seating position a couple more inches which will make it even lower. Being 6'4" I will have to lean over a good ways to reach it if I am kneeling on the seat.

Mainly just wanted to see if anyone had done it and how difficult it is to mount. I think I could come up with a nice stainless steel plate to make everything look good. We will see. 3-5" could make a big difference.