2004 Glastron GX-185 boat build

[shrowihr 10+ year member]

Alright here goes a build log. I realize that some of this stuff may not be as interesting but bear with me here and we can all make it through this!

I will be updating this boat build log as it progresses. I have all winter to finish it and some of the purchases won't be until spring time.

as of today I have a 2004 glastron GT-185 boat with a pioneer headunit and a JL E4300 amp and some 6.5" kenwood marine speakers. it's not much and all of this will more than likely have to be replaced.

When i picked up the boat it had tint on a couple of the windows but not all so the first thing we did was get the windows re-tinted. I really think it gives it a classy look. It's 5%. I also wanted to store it in our garage for the winter so that it was easily accessable to work on when i had time. but the trailer was to long. I had to cut the tongue off and order a new one with a fold away section so that i could fit it in the garage.

With all that said i'll start with a few pictures.

This is the new trailer tongue before i chopped it off. It was to long and i didn't need it to be this long.

Here is the trailer tongue after i cut it basically in half to get it bact to about the same leingth as it was from the factory. You can see the orig and the cut piece laying on the ground.

next is a couple random pictures of the boat.

tinted windows

Click to read more...

 

[shrowihr 10+ year member]

Next we will look at the few components that are already on the boat.

These are the Polk 4" DB series speakers. the previous owner had some holes for some tweeters in this location and i decided to put some 4" speakers here. I should have stuck with the tweets because the bottom half of the area where these speakers were going to go was completely fiberglass. so i had to basically carve out a section for them.. it was a pain! but it is done and i really like the look of it. You can also see one of the 4 kenwood 6.5" marine speakers.

It was dark when i took the picture of the headunit. it's nothing spectacular but it works and i'll keep it around for a little while.

Here is the JL amp that is running all the mids and highs.

Here is a photo of another one of the kenwoods and a polk DB1001 tweeter.

 

[SourDeez 10+ year member]

Nice *** boat man.

I suggest 4 fi BTL 18's slot ported @ 32hz

 

[shrowihr 10+ year member]

The motor is a Volvo Penta 4.3 liter 190 hp stock. It comes with a factory 75 amp alternator that will be getting upgraded. All i will be adding to it is the big 3 and the larger output alternator.

This is a picture of the back seat removed for measuring and cleaning of the area we will be using to house the subwoofer (I know you have been waiting to hear that word!)

There really isn't a lot of room on this boat for a sub and the space constraint of fitting it under the rear seat has been a huge hasle. It wouldn't have been such a big deal if the sub was normal (we will say normal is 300-500 watts... but i like to go all out and stretch the boundaries so i bought a 10" DC sound labs XL. 2250 rms... good god this thing weighs like 53 lbs!

To power the i got a great deal on an audiobahn amp. I know what most of you think about audiobahn but i had one of these same amps back in 2001 and it really was a great amp. We will see how it does paired with the DCXL before i make any changes. This thing is huge and heavy.

Mounted under the passenger dash(this location may or may not change depending on how wiring it goes.

 

[shrowihr 10+ year member]

as far as a box for the sub i am severly constrained on space and almost gave up hope and sold all the sub stuff to get something a little more practical... but i figured i'd give it a shot and see how it turned out...

In the end the box will be fiberglassed and painted to match the boat. It will have a 8"X9"X3/4" plexiglass viewing window that you will be able to see when you lift the seat. It will also be illuminated with led's inside just like the rest of the boat.

Here is a few build pictures of the box

2 inch port 22 inches long box being mocked up

basic box done

making flush mount rings for the sub. I will be putting a grill over it as well

before the top pieces were glued and screwed on.

box all sanded down ready to be fiberglassed.

 

[shrowihr 10+ year member]

One of the other projects that i have started is installing a rear view camera and monitor to watch the skiers while i'm driving.

Here is the monitor. it is made to clamp onto a rear view mirror so i am making a bracket that will mount to the dash.

here is the beginning of the bracket and where it will be mounted

 

[shrowihr 10+ year member]

That's about where the boat sits right now... still to come is finishing the sub box, a battery isolator, LED lights for the entire boat, another big battery probably an 8D. and wiring it all up! I have also been looking into a lowrance fishfinder/GPS. they run aroun 1700 dollars for a 7" screen but i think it will be a nice feature.

Welcome to my money pit.

I'll also be taking suggestions for boat names... maybe something with "hertz" lol

 

[DB-Audio 10+ year member]

nice job man looks really clean

 

[shrowihr 10+ year member]

Well i had a little bit of time to play with the subwoofer box and a piece of plexi glass. the plexi is 8"X9"X3/4" and the cutout is one inch smaller all the way around. I put the hole where is did because it will stick up in the area where there used to be a cubby area. I realize that it doesn't show off the whole speaker but all you need to see is that beautiful back side! So now you will lift the seat and see into the box. It will be lit with the same leds that will light up the whole boat. There is 1/4 T-nuts inside all holes to hold it. I just need to find some sort of seal to seal it off. Here is a few pictures. Only thing left to do on it is some fiberglass and paint!

How about green...

or red...

I like the blue

 

[shrowihr 10+ year member]

Well I ordered a little grill guard for the sub. I ordered the 12" model so that it would attach to the outside of the box and hopefully give me the clearance needed for the sub.

 

[shrowihr 10+ year member]

I did this on a spare piece of acrylic I may try to clean it up a bit if I decide to use it. It was a lot tougher than I thought it would be.

 

[shrowihr 10+ year member]

Here is the actual piece of plexi glass that is going on the box. It looks so much better when you have a profesional shop do it!

 

[shrowihr 10+ year member]

 

[BoomBoxStereo 10+ year member]

GOD ****!! this is coming along beautifully. i wonder how that DC is gonna sound on the water

 

[shrowihr 10+ year member]

We will find out in a few months! I'm pretty excited now that it is actually in the boat. I got to excited when i was getting it all put together and didn't take any pictures of the grille installed with the sub. The wire i'm using is Knu Conceptz 10Ga speaker wire.