Keel Plate Removal/Replacement

[Ehren]

I have a 2017 FSH Deluxe and I am looking for some advice from folks that have flush mounted their fish finder Transducer on the aluminum Keel Plate. I have the TotalScan model of transducer.

Has anyone completely removed this plate to facilitate the installation of their Transducer?

Were there any surprises or items to be watchful of?

Were there any specific torque specifications that need to be adhered to when reassembling?

Please feel free to share any pics you have related to this post...

 

[H2O Life]

Hi new to the forum, and just got my Deluxe 3 weeks ago. I didn't remove mine, just added to it.... tried it out yesterday and it works great! I just couldn't bring myself to drilling any holes yet!! I got the angles from Lowes and cut them down, added the standoff's for the 2 bolts going through the Keel Plate, got some SS M8 1.25x 70 bolts from Grainger to replace the 40mm bolts that I pulled ou, . I drilled out the drain plug from my old VXR and ran the plug and wire through it and sealed it. Right now I just have an EcoMap 44DV, and will eventually upgrade, so I didn't want to make any major mods just yet. Oh, and I plan on doing a bit more shaping on the brackets when I get some bad weather, so don't be too critical lol!

 

[darkpints]

Hello. I used H2O Life's mounting and it works great, thanks! You don't have to completely remove the keel plate to do this, but I have removed the keel plate to replace my steering cable. When I disconnected the jet nozzle and removed the 4 bolts, the plate was still stuck on the hull due to sealant around the 4 bolt holes. After carefully determining there were no more fasteners to remove, a couple good whacks with a rubber mallet broke it free. Don't know about torque, but make sure you replace the sealant and use thread lock when reinstalling.