87' Sunsetter Titan III Tower Project

[SunriseH2OSkier]

Another angle showing the anchor light:

[Ndawg12]

For the most part looks like Jerry beat me to it but here's a few more for yuh Matt (or is it Mike?? )

[martinarcher]

Awesome. Thanks so much for the pics guys. Those are really good pics and answer a lot of mu questions about how the connectors work. The only thing I can't tell from the pics is, is there a safety lanyard that would hold the tower if the bolts (rubber knobs) loosened up and fell out? I know my Titan I had a little pin on a steel lanyard cable that would holt the tower together of the bolt loosened up.

Thanks guys. I'm getting pumped about this project. It's raining today so I'm off to the garage to install the two JL amps and wiring and then start on the sub box. Hopefully I can get the boat rocking before the tower arrives.

[SunriseH2OSkier]

If you look at the pic Ndawg posted, you can see the safety feature integrated with the hand screw. There is a spring loaded latch on the top of the connection that catches the underside of the mushroom shape at the top of the hand screw. Once you tighten past this point, you cannot back it out without also releasing the latch.

[catcando]

For the most part looks like Jerry beat me to it but here's a few more for yuh Matt (or is it Mike?? )

I think he prefers to be called by another name starting with M! LOL!

As mentioned the bolt is held in by a spring loaded assist.

I thinkwe need to come up with a better solution for the anchor light. The $150 bake's charges is alot. Monster tower charges $40 and a mount couldn't be more then $20 fab'd up for a similar setup. I wonder how much it would cost to intigrate the light into the spindal for the rope. This would be a cleaner approach for sure.

[martinarcher]

I think he prefers to be called by another name starting with M! LOL!

As mentioned the bolt is held in by a spring loaded assist.

I thinkwe need to come up with a better solution for the anchor light. The $150 bake's charges is alot. Monster tower charges $40 and a mount couldn't be more then $20 fab'd up for a similar setup. I wonder how much it would cost to intigrate the light into the spindal for the rope. This would be a cleaner approach for sure.

You guys crack me up.

Thanks for answering the questions about the safety mechanism. I figured it works something like that after studying the close ups of the knob connections.

I actually ordered a tow spool with a light with my kit of parts from Star One. Can't wait to see it. I'm not sure if it is integrated into the actual tow spool or if it's the same one that Bake's sells. Brett might chime in and let us know. If not, I'll let you know when I get it.

[SunriseH2OSkier]

It'll be just like the one shown at Bakes...

[Bill_AirJunky]

Nice..... just rolling back into town from a week in Hells Canyon & ran across this thread. I can't say I'm surprised the Monster didn't cut it for ya. And I look forward to seeing what your able to do with it.

[martinarcher]

Nice..... just rolling back into town from a week in Hells Canyon & ran across this thread. I can't say I'm surprised the Monster didn't cut it for ya. And I look forward to seeing what your able to do with it.

Yeah. My crew wasn't too fond of the creaking tower and I can't say I like it much either. I don't think the Monster tower is going to fold or anything, it just makes noise once you load it up with four racks and a coupe Pro 80's. The funny part is my wife is the one who pushed me to get a Titan this year after she heard the Monster creaking. She said at the WOW, "When you get home your ordering a Titan for this boat!" I love me wife.

[riderite]

Hows the build coming? Would love to see some pics.

[martinarcher]

Well the tower arrived today. I only got one can of aircraft paint stripper to try as a test. It turns out it works pretty well. It seems if you spray it on, let it sit for 15-30 min and then spray it again it really works well. Too bad I just sprayed the entire tower once and ran out of stripper. After letting the stripper soak for a while we carried into the garage as it's getting dark fast these day and started removing the old powder coat. It turns out, bending a razor blade in the curvature of the tower and putting it into a set of needle nose vice grips works pretty well. We got about half the tower stripped in a few hours. I know it would be wwwaaayyyy easier if I would have bought a couple more cans of paint stripper or gasket remover as a second heavy coat turns the powder coat into a rubbery coating that peels right off instead of scraping off. Tomorrow I'm coming home prepared with a few more cans and it's game on.

After it's stripped it's time for the cutting and welding. I figured out I can loose about 9 inches of front to rear spacing if I knock 6 inches off each leg. It will also keep me within 1 inch of the current Monster tower height which seems to be about right. That means I need to loose another 11 inches by cutting off the old tabs and welding in the new connectors that Luke and Brett at Star One hooked me up with! That should get the front and rear hoop angles right. I'll have the fabricators tack them in while everything is one the boat (and very well covered!) before removing for the real welds. After that is comes back off the boat for polishing. I figure I'll leave it on the boat for a quick lake test first!

Here's pics so far....

The stripper....

Curvy is good!

My wife was documenting work in progress .....

Good thing I had a pack of 100....

About half done....

Not too bad of finish for not seeing any polishing yet...

[Levi900RR]

WOW, I can't believe how good it looks without polishing! That thing is going to be sweet

[Ndawg12]

Wow, looks good all ready

I'm having a hard time figuring out where you are going to get that 11" you still need by modifying the connectors....?

The second coat of the stripper will make life alot easier, but I'm like you, if you don't have it, figure out another way even if it takes 5 times as long, at least something is getting done

I'm interested in your polishing process, I'm about a month behind you on the same project.

Edited October 7, 2010 by Ndawg12

[JDubya]

Very slick!!!

She is gonna look good with that polished look.

[skier_88]

Looking good. The T III will be much better than that Monster. I'm sure you can sell the Monter to help off set the cost somewhat!

[martinarcher]

Thanks guys. It's a lot of work, but it will certainly be worth it. I got the rest of the powder coating off and started cutting the old tab connectors off. I got one and a half cut off and grinded the welds off the tower where the first one was.

I'll be able to make up the other 11 inches because I'm completely cutting off the old tab connectors and welding in the new tubing connectors. When I weld in the new tubing connectors I'll have the front and rear hoop on the boat to get them "tacked" in at the right angle. That's my plan anyway.

Tomorrow I'll buy a few more packs of Sawzall blades and get back at it. I also need to grind off the welds on the bottom of the legs and pull the conical/threaded insert out so the fabricator can whack 6 inches off each leg and re-weld the inserts into the tubing.

Here' progress as of 5 minutes ago....

Fully stripped of powder coat. Just a bit more here and there to get when I polish it. It's 95% done with the stripping.

Got more Sawzall blades?

Tab cut off and weld ground down.....

[Levi900RR]

Dude, not sure if you have tried these: http://www.lenoxtools.com/Pages/Category.aspx?category=RECIPROCATING+BLADES

Hands down the most insane blades I have even seen. Might save you some time burning up Dewalt blades

[skier_88]

Looking great. I get so many compliments on the polished Titan on the Skier. Going to look great!! Even though, I think we have enough black on our boats to make the poweder coat look pretty amazing too:rockon: I guess what I am saying, our classics are amazing:thumbup:

[riderite]

Matt,

Looks like you have been working hard, cant wait to see the finished product!

[martinarcher]

Well another good night working on the tower. I got all four tabs cut off and the welds ground off with the air grinder. I also got all four of the leg inserts ground out with the angle grinder. They are pretty nice inserts. The guy whole sold me the tower conveniently forgot to tell me that one of the shipping studs is snapped off in the end of one of the inserts. The other one still has the shipping stud stuck in it and I can't get it out. I broke off an easy out in the snapped off stud tonight so I figured I'd leave them both for the machine shop to get out. Has anyone ever has an easy out work? I've snapped off every one I have ever tried. I even heated the insert up with the MAPP gas torch and it still snapped off. Hey Brett what do those inserts cost? I might need a couple if things get bad.

Levi....I ended up buying "Torch" blades my Milwaukee. I cut the last three tabs off with only two blades. They did really good and I was impressed, but I probably would have grabbed your brand if I would have ready this thread again before heading to Home Depot.

The air grinder did a nice job taking the welds off. I then hit the grinder marks with a 80 grit sanding wheel and then hit the area on the tubing with the wire wheel in the cordless drill. The welds are slowly starting to disappear. I have a lot more sanding before I can bust out the polisher, but I'm getting there. I cleaned up the remaining powder coat and loaded the tower in the truck so I'm ready to go get it cut and welded up on Monday.

Here's pics of the progress....

No more tabs!

Inserts out. Now I can take 6 inches off each leg and have the shop re-weld the inserts back in.

I think the trip to the fabricator Monday might be a bit sketchy!

[Levi900RR]

Coupple tie straps and you will be fine

[martinarcher]

Coupple tie straps and you will be fine

I hope so. The good news is they are seriously 1.5 miles down the road so you can't much better than that. The other cool thing is their bay door on the shop are plenty big to pull right in!

[martinarcher]

Well the fabricator has the tubing cut and the ends welded into the rear hoop. I'm going to bring the pieces home and start mocking it up on the boat.

They could not get the broken stud out of the one end so I brought it into work and the guys here in our machine shop got it out this morning. Not sure why i didn't start there in the first place! My fourth heim joint arrived yesterday so I'm getting closer!

I need some help from you T III owners. I'm wondering what the following measurements are on your towers....

1. Spacing between the front and rear hoop at center (pipe to pipe at the tow spool)

2. Spacing between the connectors where they meet the front hoop

3. Spacing between the connectors where they meet the rear hoop.

Thanks!

[martinarcher]

Well I got it mocked up on the boat. Looks like I need to loose about another 15 inches off the front hoop legs to meet my current mounts. I think it looks pretty good matching up with the current mounts.

The only other option I would take is moving the front mounts forward, but the bow starts to narrow pretty fast so I can't go too far forward. I'm certainly leaning on using the existing mounts and just shortening up the tubing to match. I like the way it looks and I really like how from the side the front hoop runs with the windshield line. I think it just looks so killer how it swoops back so cleanly!

If you guys could help me out with the dimensions I was wondering about in the thread above I would really appreciate it. Right now my gap between the tubing at the center of both hoops is 10 inches and it looks about right. I will have to cut the connectors to fit the gap, but I'm not sure where they go in their "stock" location. I'm thinking they look pretty cool if they are lines up parallel with the gunnel rails, but it will take some creative pipe shaping skills to get them to mate up right with the front hoop. Should be fun!

Let me know what you think so far....

[Levi900RR]

Your really making me start to lean towards getting one of these...

Its gonna look sic! Don't move those mounts forward if you can help it.

Edited October 13, 2010 by Levi900RR