70s 20SF trim tab instal question

[CHANCE1234]

for those of you who have installed trim tabs on a early 70s SF, more specifically the ones with the old live well under the port aft seat: i'm installing bennetts and need to know what you guys did about the port side tab. will i have to cut a hole in the livewell on the aft end to run the hydraulic line? i don't use it as a live well, just storage right now. Just wondering what you guys have done who have this setup. Thanks for any help.

Elijah

[htillman]

I'll check mine this afternoon, its a newer model but has the livewell and bennet tabs.

[Bushwacker]

Originally Posted by CHANCE1234

for those of you who have installed trim tabs on a early 70s SF, more specifically the ones with the old live well under the port aft seat: i'm installing bennetts and need to know what you guys did about the port side tab. will i have to cut a hole in the livewell on the aft end to run the hydraulic line? i don't use it as a live well, just storage right now. Just wondering what you guys have done who have this setup. Thanks for any help.

Elijah

Elijah,

My '72 Seafari also has the same baitwell setup under the port seat, and it's geometry should be identical to the SF. I installed Bennett hydraulic tabs myself in about 1977 with no problems. If you mount them out at the chine per the factory instructions, the hole for the pipe feeding the standard actuator will end up at the top of the baitwell, just below the top of the seat; there is an inch or two of clearance there to route the hydraulic lines. (I think Bennett may make shorter actuators, but I prefer the standard one which puts the hydraulic line hole above the waterline on the transom.) I mounted the pump on the inside surface of the inner stbd stringer (see 3rd pic; 72 and earlier models have the 4 stringer design), and ran the nylon hydraulic tube for the port tab into top of the baitwell at the fwd stbd side. You can see the black tubing at the fwd corners of the baitwell in the second picture. BTW, the Phye plate on port wall of baitwell in that picture provides access to a big storage area between baitwell and port side of hull, outboard of the outer stringer! The last picture is a shot before bracket was added showing the trim tabs and baitwell inlet , which is just to the right of swim platform. I had Don cut some slots in the new swim platform to clear the actuators. I use that baitwell and wanted to keep it, so I added an overflow thru hull and a new water supply tube. The flotation tub covered up the old baitwell inlet/outlet port, so Don removed it and filled the hole with Coosa, as the original transom core was still solid. The lower mount bolt in the second picture is about where the old inlet was. (That original cup/Phye plate type inlet/outlet fitting was installed using the brittle polyester "Potter putty" which tends to crack and leak, so it's a potential transom killer! I checked mine and fixed it years ago not long after I got the boat; if you haven't checked yours, I'd pull that cup from the inside and check it!)

[CHANCE1234]

Thanks Bushwacker, that's what I was looking for. I may have some questions for you whe I get ready to do the instal. Thanks. Curious, how much storage is behind that pie plate??

[Bushwacker]

Originally Posted by CHANCE1234

. . . Thanks. Curious, how much storage is behind that pie plate??

It's actually a surprising amount . . . the outer stringer straddles the outer step, so figure it's about the width of the outer panel, maybe about 10 inches or so and about 1' tall. That's where the battery is located on the stbd side. I keep some bilge cleaner, spare fluid for the hydraulic steering, some Simple Green cleaner and some wax products there. The Seafari has a shelf that's part of the inner liner which runs the length of the cockpit, all the way back to the transom, but there is about a 1" gap between the shelf and the side of the aft seats. I found several drain plugs in there that had rolled down the shelf and fallen through that gap!