Cabrera Kit Questions

[dcasey10]

I have a few questions for those of you who have installed the Cabrera deck system.

Will the Cabrera engine boxes be wide enough to hold gas V8s until I re-power? Every photo I have seen has a pair of inline 6s, or some of the larger Cats squeezed in there.

Who has opted for buying the deck frame supports vs constructing the supports? I have watched Jimmy's high speed video and could not follow his entire process on the substructure build.

How are the side panels and engine boxes connected to the gunwales and L brackets to bulkhead? I have seen a number of boats with coaming pads which might be hiding screws holding them in.

I should soon have a kit and will have a few extra parts, one set of rebuilt/painted old style dual flip up engine boxes, and one set of the traditional box shape with outboard gutters. After a great deal of time and energy put into my project I saw this as a more efficient way to try and get the aft of the boat completed.

DJ

[Craig Mac]

I used the Bridge between the engine boxes on my gas boat and the original engine boxes-----the bridge needed to be narrowed--as the original boxes are wider than Cabrera's----my original boxes have just enough clearance for the exhaust manifolds----so I would say no to Cabrera's engine boxes------you can confirm this with Rob at Raybo----but it was a ton of work to get the bridge to work with my application. Besides being narrowed the bridge had to be shortened.

[Marlin]

What is the bridge u describe, section between the the engine boxes that covers the area down toward the cabin area

[Tony Meola]

Side Panels? Are you referring to the two additonal pieces or wings just outboard of the engine box?

[Craig Mac]

If you go to the Cabrera website----the Bridge is the section of the deck between the two engine boxes-----I have a Glass Teck main deck and original engine boxes-----at the time Glass Tech had no replacement for this area --Cabrera had this piece but it was designed to work with their main deck and engine boxes.

I knew it would require a lot of modification but wanted to get away from the plywood and Formica construction of the original.

[dcasey10]

Criag- Sounds like the cabrera engine box system will be not be wide enough for gas engines based on the fact that the bridge had to narrowed. This would make things very complex. I opted to go with the kit assuming I would avoid much of the fabrication part of this job...

Marlin- the bridge piece is what is in between the engine boxes with the step up to the cockpit sole sold as one piece. I did not get this and am considering this along with the deck supports cabrera makes.

In terms of wondering how the Cabrera parts (the engine box L brackets or wings, and then the cockpit side panels that have a step and storage) mount into the boat, do people glass these in or are they screwed through the coaming of the gunwales?

DJ

[Tony Meola]

Try sending JImmy G a PM. I believed he used the Cabrera kit.

[Raybo Marine NY]

The piece did not come close to fitting, no fault of the piece itself it's just designed for their entire system

We had to cut Craig's in every dimension to fit - length and width I don't even think the height worked with the original boxes

Based on that I would say no it will no to a gas boat

[Marlin]

I installed a 3 piece teak deck with the capts guidance . I didn't like the Cabrera stuff after I drove to Miami ,bought a kit from Alex out of California, ,wings, motor boxes, bridge. Set the wings temporarily, motor boxes temporarily, the bridge was too wide! Slit the bridge down the center and kept redlining till it fit. I removed the newly fashioned bridge ,glassed the pieces together, tested the fit . I eventually made a teak panel that covered the vertical up/down sliced area, that set on a teak deck/hatch that covered the aisle to the cabin door. The wings were a bad fit in relation to the squareness of the motor boxes and had to slit them in the corners to have a good reveal /gap with motor boxes when closed, regelled the slit/adjusted corner of the wings. After I got everything were I wanted it to set, I ran a piece of masking tape along the mating edge of the wing to the inside of the vertical side panels that lead up to the hardtop. Removed the wings, drilled holes inside this edge line to allow a way to fasten the wings to this side panel. I had to epoxy coosa strips on the inside of this area to accomadate or create enough thickness for stainless 1/4" hex head lag bolts to attack the wings up to the side panels. I've had to remove them several times as I have a gen set under this area on the port side for servicing( would never locate a genny there again) . When I confronted the company about the bad fit, they said the wings were removed from the mold too done and became misshapened/warped . I also cut service hatches into the side of the bridge to allow servicing the fuel filters, chech the oil ,etc. I have forwarded these images to one of the members to post eventually