'96 Super Sport ND tower install

[kasper]

Everyone,

I want to thank so many for posting the seemingly endless amount of useful information on this site. After several hours of searching, and lots of reading of unrelated posts (because they're very interesting), I decided to start a new thread. So hopefully this is not duplicated elsewhere.

I just purchased a New Dimension FCT2 tower for my '96 Super Sport. I am aware that all of the mounting hardware will come with the tower. But I am wondering if anyone else has done the install themselves, as I plan a DIY. I have seen some posts regarding things that would be done differently during the install, with no examples provided. It seems pretty straight forward to me. One thing I am unsure of is the necessary/recommended glassing of the backing plates under the gunwhales. I believe this is dependant on the thickness of the fiberglass that the foot is attached to. Are there any recommended thicknesses that if not met require glassing, or is it necessary at all thicknesses?

I am aware of checking to ensure the front window opens freely and the tower folds down into appropriate position before marking holes. Other than ensuring everything is equal from side to side, are there any other possible obstacles that I need to be aware of? I plan on ordering a custom bimini top from Only Inboards. I was told a form will be sent to me so I can provide measurements for the bimini. Is there anything I may need to keep in mind regarding this, especially the forward position of the tower, given all other things are worked out? It doesn't seem like theres going to be much room for adjustment of the position, but sometimes an inch or so can make a difference.

Thank you in advance for any information that may be helpful!

[kasper]

Well, I received the tower from ND and it was packaged extremely well. The tower comes with pretty good instructions and even came with kitty hair fiberglass repair. So that answered my question about whether glassing was necessary or not. I called ND with a couple general questions and they were very helpful, and offered much more information than I was even requesting...excellent customer service!

Basically, I requested some help from a friend and got to work. We taped off the areas where the tower feet would sit with masking tape, measured many many times to ensure everything was square and equal from side to side and front to back. Note: do not use the cup holders as guide points, they were not placed in the exact same spot from one side to the other, at least on my boat. I marked the holes on the masking tape then drilled the holes with a 1/8" bit, in reverse at first to get through the gel coat, then stepped up to a 1/4" bit. Then I chamfered the holes on top to prevent bolts from pushing against any gel coat and creating spider cracks. I recommend marking/drilling one foot at a time, and the legs will move a bit if needed to align everything correctly.

Once the holes are drilled, we did a dry test fit, then got to glassing in the backing plates. The hardener amount and temperature will need to be taken into account as the first batch of fiberglass hardened before I could get the plate in place. I placed about 3/8" of fiberglass on the top of the backing plates that sits against the underside of the gunwhales, threaded some old nuts/bolts through since the fiberglass can be pretty tough to get off if dried completely (5-6 min). Tighten the bolts just enough so the fiberglass begins to push out around the plate's edges and let it dry. Then remove the junk bolts, re-run the 1/4" bit back through to clean up the holes.

Remove masking tape, place rubber foot cushions under tower feet, tighten nuts/bolts from hardware that came with the tower. Done! This tower looks great and has proven to be very solid while towing. I am 6'3" and can walk under it.

As for the bimini, I am currently working with tower biminis to see if an over the tower bimini can be made for the ND FCT2. So far I understand that it should be possible.

[s_kelley2000]

Awesome write up, thanks so much. I am going to be tackling this on my 99 soon(http://www.planetnautique.com/vb3/sh...r-Installation). What did you end up going with for board racks? Got any pics of how it came out?