Hi,
I just purchased a used 78' Hobie 16 in poor condition as a project boat.
The first issue to tackle was the badly delaminated hull. Since the hull was past the point it was fixable purchasing a new set of hulls seemed to be the solution. I have been told by several different sources that all Hobie 16 hulls are interchangeable. Luckily, I was able to find a pair of good hulls from a Hobie 16 hulls 83' cat for sale for a reasonable price. Unfortunately I ran into a slight problem when I swapped the old ones out for the new.
The holes for the bolt running through the hull pylon and the trampoline casting do not line up! More specifically, the front plyon holes almost match up but the rear ones are off by 40% or more. This is could be be a significant problem or a inexperienced mis-step on my part. My questions are:
1. By design, should these holes line up? Is this an issue with different models (77-83) of 16? Or am I doing something wrong like sliding the pylon into the casting sleeve at an angle to produce this issue? Or is a bent pylon possibly to blame?
Both rear pylons look to be out of alignment to the same degree but you never know...
2. Before I go to town with my driver and metal drill bits (drilling the holes out seems the necessary fix) is there anything I should be aware of? hazards I need to avoid? or advice from someone who has successfully negotiated this hurdle before?
3. If drilling out the holes is the solution will I need to step up a bolt size to keep the boat rigid or will the same size bolts do?
Here is the pic of the rear pylon and casting.
http://s1154.photobucket.com/albums/p532/slidetolzec/?action=view¤t=IMG_0368.jpg