audisnapr
08-13-2020, 03:46 PM
When picking up the rear 910's from Wakemakers for my 2017 Mondo, I saw the suggested stiffener set on WM's website as well. After doing a bit of reading here on the forum and also knowing that the OE bags deform the panels already, I figured I would pull the trigger on WM's set. Except, for whatever reason, they were 4-6 weeks out on production, and the bags, shockingly, shipped right away. So off to Home Depot I went.
Unfortunately, my HD does not carry a 1/8" thick, aluminum u-channel shapes, only 1/16" thick and thinner stuff. I'm sure I could have shopped around and found what I needed but... I was lazy and didn't want to shop around during the COVID lockdown. I ended up with 1/8" thick, aluminum angle 3/4-inch by 3/4-inch.
With that said, having the paint I needed on hand as well as the tools and supplies, my bill was a little over $60. Not a huge savings from the WM set but feel I got more for my money and stiffeners that were purpose built for my boat.
http://gallery.visualrealms.com/data/media/255/img_1213_sml.jpg (http://gallery.visualrealms.com/data/media/255/img_1213.jpg) http://gallery.visualrealms.com/data/media/255/img_1214_sml.jpg (http://gallery.visualrealms.com/data/media/255/img_1214.jpg)
I'm no engineer but my guess is you lose a little bit of strength by not having the second leg of the u-channel when using the angle but I was willing to roll the dice. Plus, since I was buying two, eight-foot-long pieces, I could create four, +/-24" long pieces for each side, versus the three 19" long pieces that come in the WM set. The number and length of brackets is a personal preference.
Materials:
2X, 8ft long, 1/8" thick, 3/4-inch by 3/4-inch aluminum angle
24X, 1/4"-20 by 1-inch long stainless steel screws (my HD had a box of 25 stainless steel "truss head" screws which appear to have a lower head profile from a traditional screw)
24X, 1/4"-20 stainless steel lock nuts
400-600 grit wet/dry sandpaper or brillo pad rubbing alcohol or similar cleaner for paint prep
1 can of dark primer
1 to 2 cans of black paint (for projects like this, I prefer paint that has texture - it looks more like a factory powder-coat and will sort of hide imperfections in the material) https://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/stops-rust/textured
Tools:
Obviously, the more equipped you are with the tools and the handier you are at using them, the better the finished product can be. With that said, these live under covers next to an engine so it's not super critical that they are perfect.
Saw (can be a chop/miter saw with a wood blade which will cut straight through aluminum no problem or a hand, hacksaw with metal blade)
1/16" & 1/4" Drill bits (ideally you have a set of drill bits so that you can drill pilot holes)
Screw driver (using the screws I did, it could be a Phillips or flat-head. You can opt to spend a bit more and get a hex head "cap" screw but my HD doesn't carry anything like this in bulk)
Box/adjustable wrench, socket or pliers (to hold the lock nut while tightening)
Center punch (not absolutely required but helpful to mark the drill locations on the aluminum)
Clamps of some kind (c-clamp, box clamp, spring clamp, trigger clamp, etc)
Tips/Suggestions:
Assuming all of the different boat models and years have different size panels, be sure to measure the panel for the maximum length for each aluminum stiffener. For a 2017 Mondo, I could get away with 24" pieces.
Depending on the thickness of the saw blade that you are going to use, it's a good idea to measure each piece to be approximately 23.75" to make sure there's enough material to make them all the same size from a single eight-foot pieces. Measure twice, cut once. Measure off the first piece, cut, then measure off the second piece, cut, and so on.
If you have a miter/chop saw, you can cut a 30-degree angle piece off of the rib of the angle so that the ends of the aluminum pieces aren't sharp, 90-degree cuts. I did this after I cut each length so that I only have a 30-degree cut on the rib, not the base of the aluminum angle, similar to the image below.
http://gallery.visualrealms.com/data/media/255/30-degree_cut_angle_sml.jpg (http://gallery.visualrealms.com/data/media/255/30-degree_cut_angle.jpg)
Create a template out of a sturdy piece of material to use as the drill pattern so that the spacing of the holes are all the same on all of the aluminum stiffeners and the engine panels. You can use one of the aluminum stiffener pieces as your template.
If possible, use a small drill bit (1/16") to create the holes in the template. You will use this template to drill all of the holes in the aluminum stiffeners and the engine panels. The pilot hole method will take you twice as long to drill because you have to drill each hole twice but provides a much more accurate hole location.
If using an angle-shape versus a u-shape, consider which way you want each angle to face since there is only one leg. They can all face the same direction or maybe two face one direction and the other two face the opposite direction, similar to what I did.
Continued in the next post...
Unfortunately, my HD does not carry a 1/8" thick, aluminum u-channel shapes, only 1/16" thick and thinner stuff. I'm sure I could have shopped around and found what I needed but... I was lazy and didn't want to shop around during the COVID lockdown. I ended up with 1/8" thick, aluminum angle 3/4-inch by 3/4-inch.
With that said, having the paint I needed on hand as well as the tools and supplies, my bill was a little over $60. Not a huge savings from the WM set but feel I got more for my money and stiffeners that were purpose built for my boat.
http://gallery.visualrealms.com/data/media/255/img_1213_sml.jpg (http://gallery.visualrealms.com/data/media/255/img_1213.jpg) http://gallery.visualrealms.com/data/media/255/img_1214_sml.jpg (http://gallery.visualrealms.com/data/media/255/img_1214.jpg)
I'm no engineer but my guess is you lose a little bit of strength by not having the second leg of the u-channel when using the angle but I was willing to roll the dice. Plus, since I was buying two, eight-foot-long pieces, I could create four, +/-24" long pieces for each side, versus the three 19" long pieces that come in the WM set. The number and length of brackets is a personal preference.
Materials:
2X, 8ft long, 1/8" thick, 3/4-inch by 3/4-inch aluminum angle
24X, 1/4"-20 by 1-inch long stainless steel screws (my HD had a box of 25 stainless steel "truss head" screws which appear to have a lower head profile from a traditional screw)
24X, 1/4"-20 stainless steel lock nuts
400-600 grit wet/dry sandpaper or brillo pad rubbing alcohol or similar cleaner for paint prep
1 can of dark primer
1 to 2 cans of black paint (for projects like this, I prefer paint that has texture - it looks more like a factory powder-coat and will sort of hide imperfections in the material) https://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/stops-rust/textured
Tools:
Obviously, the more equipped you are with the tools and the handier you are at using them, the better the finished product can be. With that said, these live under covers next to an engine so it's not super critical that they are perfect.
Saw (can be a chop/miter saw with a wood blade which will cut straight through aluminum no problem or a hand, hacksaw with metal blade)
1/16" & 1/4" Drill bits (ideally you have a set of drill bits so that you can drill pilot holes)
Screw driver (using the screws I did, it could be a Phillips or flat-head. You can opt to spend a bit more and get a hex head "cap" screw but my HD doesn't carry anything like this in bulk)
Box/adjustable wrench, socket or pliers (to hold the lock nut while tightening)
Center punch (not absolutely required but helpful to mark the drill locations on the aluminum)
Clamps of some kind (c-clamp, box clamp, spring clamp, trigger clamp, etc)
Tips/Suggestions:
Assuming all of the different boat models and years have different size panels, be sure to measure the panel for the maximum length for each aluminum stiffener. For a 2017 Mondo, I could get away with 24" pieces.
Depending on the thickness of the saw blade that you are going to use, it's a good idea to measure each piece to be approximately 23.75" to make sure there's enough material to make them all the same size from a single eight-foot pieces. Measure twice, cut once. Measure off the first piece, cut, then measure off the second piece, cut, and so on.
If you have a miter/chop saw, you can cut a 30-degree angle piece off of the rib of the angle so that the ends of the aluminum pieces aren't sharp, 90-degree cuts. I did this after I cut each length so that I only have a 30-degree cut on the rib, not the base of the aluminum angle, similar to the image below.
http://gallery.visualrealms.com/data/media/255/30-degree_cut_angle_sml.jpg (http://gallery.visualrealms.com/data/media/255/30-degree_cut_angle.jpg)
Create a template out of a sturdy piece of material to use as the drill pattern so that the spacing of the holes are all the same on all of the aluminum stiffeners and the engine panels. You can use one of the aluminum stiffener pieces as your template.
If possible, use a small drill bit (1/16") to create the holes in the template. You will use this template to drill all of the holes in the aluminum stiffeners and the engine panels. The pilot hole method will take you twice as long to drill because you have to drill each hole twice but provides a much more accurate hole location.
If using an angle-shape versus a u-shape, consider which way you want each angle to face since there is only one leg. They can all face the same direction or maybe two face one direction and the other two face the opposite direction, similar to what I did.
Continued in the next post...