Center Drain Plug

[rdlangston13]

While performing my ballast upgrade a noticed a spot on the bottom of my boat between two of the tracking fins that was a flattened out circle like it was meant to have a center drain plug installed there. If you remove the floor from inside there is a hole
Molded into the gas tank that I believe goes to where this circle is. Has anyone added a center bilge drain to their boats?? I am considering doing this on my 08 LSV but am not sure how. I know shortly after my model year they started to come standard with the center drain plug.


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[kaneboats]

Need to find a kit like this one but with a flat plug:

http://www.nueratrailerparts.com/p-12431-drain-plug-garboard-brass.aspx?gclid=CLqAnNfhgsYCFdgQgQodDQsAkg

[rdlangston13]

Well all the new boas have the plug that you remove or install from inside the boat. I was hoping to find one like that. I don't think it would be too hard to drill a hole in the floor and install an access panel like the newer LSVs


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[ninedriver]

I believe the problem is the gas tanks weren't molded with access to the area where the plug would go. You'll have to access it from underneath the boat. The kit like Pat posted will work fine. I wouldn't worry about the plug being exposed as it's inline with the tracking fins and doubt it'll create much if any drag. Be careful when drilling from bottom up as gas tank sits above with maybe 1/2" of clearance.

[brain_rinse]

This could be a really great upgrade. Watching to see what you come up with.

[rdlangston13]

I have a hole in my gas tank that looks like it goes down right where the plug would go. I'll test it with some magnets in the next week


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[hang-nail]

Did the holes line up? I have a 2003 Outback LSV, I have the same water not draining problem and the molded area behind the first track fin. I also have a hole in the fuel tank but have not taken the time to see where it lines up.

I was thinking of using a Garboards with a backer so I would have no concern for the attachment to the boat. Anyone have an opinion on theses vs the standard wood screw style?


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[996scott]

Any info on this? Would love to do this if the holes line up.

[rdlangston13]

I have not had a chance to look into it yet. I wish I didnt spell plug wrong in the thread title though. embarrassing!

[brain_rinse]

Fixed the title. Still watching this thread for updates!

[996scott]

I just found a thread from 2011 where some one was going to do the same thing and they determined that the flat circle between the tracking fins under the boat does not match up with the hole in the gas tank. It sounds like the only way to do it is drill a hole through the flat spot in the hole being very careful not to go too far up as the gas tank is only an inch or so off the floor. The drawback is you can only access the plug from underneath. I think it would still be worth it to do, just a little scared dealing with the gas tank.

[996scott]

Ok, so I got curious and decided to pull the gas tank (very easy to do, not even screwed in, just disconnect the gas lines and slide it out). The bottom of the hull was really nasty! Oil, water, gunk, etc over 8+ years and it was pretty bad. So there are 3 square pieces of board that are used for mounting the tracking fins and the gas tank just sits on top of those. So the flat round hole underneath the boat is between the front two tracking fins which means that it lines up with the space between the two front board on the floor. So the question is, is it worth it to put a drain plug in from the bottom or just pull the tank once every year or two and clean things out? If you do put a plug in would it be best to just screw it in to the fiberglass or use longer bolt that go through the hull and use bolts to tighten them down? Any thoughts?

[jstenger]

If you do put a plug in would it be best to just screw it in to the fiberglass or use longer bolt that go through the hull and use bolts to tighten them down? Any thoughts?
The center drains from the factory are thru bolted with lock nuts.

On a side note, there are no plates on my 2014 LSV backing the fins. There are only washers and lock nuts. Your center plate looks like it may cover part of the drain.

[996scott]

ok so one more update on this. The white square boards are not used to mount the tracking fins. The are there to just support the gas tank. There are holes in the boards to access the screws from the fin but the boards are actually just epoxied to the hull. I started moving one and I was able to just pop it off. The fins are just bolted to the hull. What I also figured out was that the area between the front two fins is not the low point in the floor of the boat, it is about 12 inches forward of the first fin and it is about 2 inches deeper. You can see the water pooled up in the pictures forward of the bolts from the fin. So putting a drain plug between the front two fins would help but I think you will still have that deeper area holding water. With that being the case I think I am going to just leave things as is for now and maybe pull the tank every year or two just to clean things if needed.

[jstenger]

My boat pools water in the same area. I have to jack the trailer tongue up to get all the water out.

[rdlangston13]

We have a large hill by the lake house and I usually just park the truck at the top of the hill and let the water drain out


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[996scott]

My boat pools water in the same area. I have to jack the trailer tongue up to get all the water out.

that last picture was taken with my trailer jack all the up. I guess i could float some epoxy or something in the deep area to fill it up which would then push the water back further to where the plug would go but that's more than i'm up for at this point.