Modifying a 4.3 Savage

[Motorman]

Hey guys just after some advice
I have my first boat a 4.3 savage a few years old now lol
I want to put in a ciuple of live bait tanks but i dont want to lose much room
The boat has 3 bench seats that run from side to side
Now i was thinking bout removing the centre seat and somehow putting 2 tanks besides each other and making them heavy duty so if they are closed and not being used they can be used as seats
These seats are filled with foam i assume to help the boat float if it overturns(though i hope it doesnt) ;)
Hopefully i can get around this by insulating the tanks to try and keep a fair bit of foam

Hopefully you guys can help me out
Thanx Brad
this pic is from the front seat back so the seat i want to remove is the one at the bottom of the pic
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y64/AquariumsAlive/BradsBoatback.jpg

[Jeremy]

another way to do it would be to make a 'casting deck' level with the tops of the thwart seats - either full length, or partial at the front or the back. For weight distribution and depending on the size, you might need to put the live tanks in the centre or up the front. Once you have installed the casting deck, mount some pedestal seats for comfort and build the livies tanks under the floor you have installed. Gives you heaps of room for other storage compartments under the floor too.

Jeremy

[HarryO]

G'day Brad..

Another idea would be to use the inside liners from
old 26 litre eskys, recessed into the middle thwart.

I've managed to buy old eskys from markets and garage sales
cheap ($5) that were damaged on the outside, but fine on the
inside.
Once fitted, the foam in the twart acts like insulation, and the
lid can be hinged to the top of the seat.

Might sound like a roughie, but, if done well, looks very
neat...and works well, too, the drain plug was accessible
from under the thwart.

I wish I'd photographed these before I sold the boats.

Harry..

[toymod]

I dont now about removing the centre seat we had a 3.7 stessel and wanted to remover the middle seat but was told not to as it is structual.

I dont think cutting a whole out of the seat would hurt and as can look smart.

[Motorman]

Hey guys thanx for the advice
I think your right with the seat being structual so i was thinking bout still having it the full length across the boat so i dont lose the structual strength but having the tanks in the middle
Yeah thought bout just cutting into the seat but im wanted the tanks alittle wider then the seat is atm just to hold that little bit more water
Harry i like the idea of using old eskies and yeah if i spent alittle time on i could make it look good
Also the idea of a casting deck is also something i will think of
This boat was set up with front steering but the guy b4 disconnected it(still have steering wheel and cables though nothing to attach it to the motor)
I do want to reconnect this sometime though if i had the casting deck in between the middle and front seat you could still sit on the front one forwards and then the pedestal chair to fish from

Thanx Heaps guys

Brad

[finga64]

Why not just cut the seat into three sections from 1 side to the other. Take the middle section out then weld a bait tank in as wide as you want.
Make it so the lid will be the same height as the existing seat. Look neat and you wouldn't loose much bouancy.
Might be handy for people like me with a wide load sign on their butts as well.