I finished my new engine box and after a few coats of varnish it was ready to take its place on the deck. I made a few changes from the original design, mostly just in dimensions and how the mahogany fit together, but it basically a duplicate of the box that was on there before.
I had my first mate helping out with measurements. It's his boat by the way :-)
I started by cutting the panels from marine plywood. This box is 1 inch wider in every direction. My plan is to install sound deadening material (1 inch thick) when the box is complete. When the panels were cut I laid them up with white oak as the support structure and then laminated with Formica:
I then cut a bunch of mahogany stock to use as trim for the box. I used a table saw to recess the stock . The original engine box did not have this feature, but I needed to do something to cover/protect the areas on the box where the Formica comes together.
The lipped mahogany did a great job covering up the edges.
http://www.bocaboard.com/data/512/IMG_4163_resize.jpg
From that point it was just a matter of assembling the rest of the support material and waterproofing everything.
Finished box:
Installed:
Old box vs. new box
My next project is the battery box/seat area that you can see just in front of the engine box..