Since this boat will easily exceed 50 MPH, a Teleflex NFB Dual Cable steering system will be required.  A used unit was scavenged from a junked SeaRay cuddy cabin cruiser.  Two 15' cables and clevises will be needed to connect the cables to the rudder's tiller arm. (08-JUN-2006)

We've upgraded from a Teleflex NFB Dual Cable system to Seastar hydraulic steering.  Running two hefty cables through the stringers to the tiller would have compromised the stringer's integrity, so we'll be running 3/8" copper lines instead. (30-JUL-2007)

Visible in this photo are the two fiberglass drain plug tubes.  A brass sleeve will be slipped into the tube and sealed with 3M 5200 sealant.  If any water leaks past the tube, the fiberglass tube liner will protect the frame from water damage. 

In order to mount the cylinder within the stringers, we fabricated a second tiller which will connect to the central tiller arm via an adjustable tie bar.  The tiller arm was flame-cut from a piece of 3/8" steel plate.

A piece of 3/4" ID schedule 80 steel pipe was fitted through the tiller arm pivot point and bushed with a bronze bushing.  The pivot rod is a 9/16" x 2" machine bolt captured between the top and bottom plates.  We'll post more photos when we finalize some of these parts . . .

More parts came back from the machine shop.  The slave tiller arm bushing housing was welded, the pivot pin was upgraded to 3/4" diameter and re-bushed to tighter tolerances.  Nice work, Steve ! (24-DEC-2007)

To complete the assembly, we fabricated a hydraulic cylinder mounting bracket and stainless steel tie bar.  At a later date, we'll be replacing the tie bar with two tie-rod ends and a length of threaded rod.

Here's a photo of the completed installation.

A Gil offshore sea strainer filters raw water before feeding it into the cam-driven water pump and oil coolers.

Visible in this photo are the two 3/8" annealed copper tubing hydraulic steering hoses.  They're retained by bulkhead fittings bolted through the stainless steel transom support uprights.  The hose barb thru-hull fitting located above the copper lines is for the bilge pump exit hose.

The tilt helm is a very nice feature.   (04-MAY-2009)

We quickened the steering action to 3 turns lock-to-lock by using a SeaStar 2.0 Sport Tilt Pro Helm displacing 2 cu.in./rev. and a SeaStar BA125-7ATM cylinder.  The tilt option was well worth the added expense !

An aluminum backup plate was fabricated to mount the hydraulic helm to the dash.

Here's the finished dash.  (Click the image for a higher resolution photo).  (19-JUL-2011)