Anyone installed a Flight Control Tower? Question!

[Dr.John]

I was in the process of installing my new FCT on my '01 Sport, and I noticed that on the left side, the mounting plates DO NOT sit flush with the deck :shock: . In fact there is almost a 1/4 inch gap under one side of the plate. :evil:
I know there is a 1/16" rubber gasket that goes between the plates and the hull, but that sure isn't going to make up the difference. Of course what my concern is that if I installed it in this condition I would be putting a lot of stress in the fiberglass on the deck, which I fear ultimately would cause the spider cracking that is commonly discussed. :cry:
By the way, the other side is a nice fit and the plates are flush with the deck, well within 1/16 th. :lol:
Has anyone had this experience? :?:

[skinautique]

The towers aren't "exact" when they are made. Sometimes they need to be flexed. With the backing plates installed and a properly drilled deck, you shouldn't have an issue with spyder cracking. Check to see what some other people say but I am almost positive that when you start to tighten down the bolts, the tower will pull down onto the deck nicely.

[JWAT]

I just installed a FCT about 3 or 4 months ago on my '97 Super Sport. The feet will not line up with the deck perfectly at first. If you read the directions (at least on mine), it says you are supposed to use a crescent wrench and slowly bend the feet to contour to the deck. I had to do this on all four feet of my tower and now it fits great. I have had no stress cracks what-so-ever on my boat. Just remember to take it slow and bend a little at a time. You may want to put a thin towel or something between the wrench and the feet when you are bending them so you don't scratch up the tower. Let me know if you have any other questions.

[SWCC-PART-MAN]

if all you have is a 1/4" you should be ok. it's not gonna stress it that much. look at how all the backing plates will mate the back side of the deck. grind on the deck ot the backing plate to fit contour. ALSO, when you drill the mounting holes make sure to BEVEL the holes. if this isn't done I PROMISE you will have spider cracks. before installing the tower go and get the PLASTIC mounting plates NOT THE SANO PADS. the sano will squeeze out. the plactic is available through your dealer. good luck bro!

[Dr.John]

Wow, thanks guys!

JWAT -
I didn't get an instruction sheet, probably because the box was almost destroyed in shipment, and could have fallen out. What plate gasket material did you use (see response below)?
Of course I didn't check the fit before having it powder coated :bang: so bending the feet w/o damaging the coating will be a real trick.

SWCC-PART-MAN -
Can you elaborate on "grinding the deck"? Ouch! :shock:

[JWAT]

I'm not sure which pads I got. The one's I used were black and one side was sticky so it would stick to the foot of the tower.

I would recommend contacting a dealer or CC directly to get the little sheet that has the instructions on them. It will tell you approximately where to line up the tower on the boat. As far as bending the feet, don't worry about hurting the powder coat. Mine was powder coated white when I installed mine and it didn't hurt it at all. Just make sure to put a towel or something in between the wrench and foot and you should be good to go. I know SWCC-PART-MAN is supposedly someone that works at a dealer, but I think he is making it way too complicated. Like I said, I just did this a few months ago and it took me and one other guy to put this tower on in about 3-4 hours. Just make sure to take your time and measure everything twice. When bending the feet, just do a little bit at a time. And please, don't start grinding anything on your boat:-)

[SWCC-PART-MAN]

the sano pads are like a non-slip pad. when squeezed between the tower foot and deck over time it will "moosh out". plastic pads are available. cc part #8079 03-...00-02 s6805. specify plastic. when drilling holes start in reverse till through the gelcoat then drill in forward till through the fiberglass. this keeps drill bit from chipping the gel coat up. after all holes are drilled taper or bevel the holes. you want a small ring of fiberglass around all the holes, this keeps the bolts from making the all famous spider crack when the tower flexes. if you have a tapered stone for your drill it works perfect. also, jwat is right about measuring twice. also, the grinding i was talking about is under the deck and on the under deck plates for a proper fit.

[SGY]

I would bend the mounting feet of the tower to fit flush on the deck. I'm sure its not a good idea to load that tower by cranking the bolts down to fit flush against the deck. The powder coating is pretty durable stuff. Just take a rag like JWAT suggests and you should be ok. Just be patient and work on it a little at a time. You can buy a bit that will taper the holes if you like. When you get it to 99% right be happy and get er done. I always screw things up trying for that last 1%.

Good luck.

[JWAT]

Yeah, when I said countersink the holes, I meant the same thing as what SWCC and SGY said when they said to taper the holes. There are special bits that you can use to countersink the holes with. Just drill the normal hole for the boat first and then go back and countersink (taper) the holes so the screws don't grab the outer part of the get coat. I think you can also use a bigger bit than what is used for the holes to countersink them if you don't have an actual countersink bit, but don't take my word on that:-) If do use a bigger bit, drill in reverse.

[Dr.John]

I do have a counersink bit that should work well, and thanks!

After looking at the black "sano" pad, it looks like an under-cured rubber than doesn't rebound from an indention as a fully cured rubber does (sorry it's the materials engineer in me :roll: ).
I can see an advantage for using it though, and that is if the plates are not in good contact with the deck, as in my case, the material will "creap or flow or "moosh" and minimize localized stresses by filling gaps and increasing the contact area. The diasadvantage would be that the mounting bolts would need to be re-tighted after time, and the material that oozed out would need trimming.

Those of you that have used the plastic pad, what does it look like, thickness, etc. :?:

It makes me think that "the real deal" (from an engineering standpoint) might be a thermosetting sealant that could be applied to the plate, partially cured, then just snug up the bolts. After the cure has taken place, fully tighten the bolts. Violla, a pad that make fulll contact with both surfaces, minimizing stress and won't ooze. :cheers: A couple of downsides might be 1) difficulty in removing tower legs and 2) more involved application. I'll have to think about that one :roll:

[JWAT]

I didn't notice any "oozing" when I installed my tower. The pad stuck directly to the foot and was thick enough to fill in a real small gap if you had one. I made sure to get my feet to shape to the top deck as good as possible. I would think this would put a lot less stress on the deck and tower.

[AirJeff]

Our '02 Air with the factory tower has the "sano" pads. We picked it up this summer with the pads oozing. I think it takes a while for them to ooze. It doesn't look the greatest, but I figured I'd work on it after the weather cools off here in MN. Today it's supposed to be almost 70, but by the end of the week we're looking at 45. :cry:

[Dr.John]

Jeff, you DO have a heater.....right :lol:


Have you checked the tightness of the mounting bolts?

[AirJeff]

Ah, heater...maybe thats why my toes get so cold! That's at the top of our list to install. I'm just trying to see if I can find a sweet deal somewhere like the group buy last spring. (If I could figure out how, I'd install two heaters :lol: )

I think we checked the bolts right after we got the boat and they were fine. But the dealer probably would have tightened those up before we bought the boat this summer.

[NautiqueJeff]

Ah, heater...maybe thats why my toes get so cold! That's at the top of our list to install. I'm just trying to see if I can find a sweet deal somewhere like the group buy last spring.

You might check with Mid-Ohio Nautiques. They're offering a 15% discount on lots of things, including heaters. Give Kellie or Danette a call at (419) 929-9119 and ask for the PlanetNautique Discount.