Cockpit Sole Gear Shifter for East Coast Tritons
"I have a Triton which has the old style bronze gear shift hole in the cockpit sole. Is there a cover available for this? Or has anyone come up with a better idea?"
Skip Baker, #3, White Cap
Morse Controls makes a thottle/shift mechanism that bolts to the cockpit side...usually it is mounted forward on the port vertical surface of the cockpit seats. If you have a West Marine Catalog, , it is on page 295 of the Master Catalog and goes for a bit over $400....plus it would probably need different cables to hook it up.Skip Baker
Larry Suter, #607, Dogstar
I think just about all the East Coast boats have this arrangement. Mine came with a cover plate that screws down into the threads that should be in the hole. There's a slot on the plate top that allows the gearshift lever to be a giant screwdriver.
I leave mine off most of the time. Last May when it was blowing so hard in a race we took on heaps of water in the cockpit. Most all of it drained into the bilge. Pumped for about 45 minutes...
Before doing anything expensive/time consuming, you might want to look around all the the nooks and crannys to see if you can find the plate. Maybe someone on the web has one they don't use anymore.
Al, #26, Esprit
It would be a simple matter to pull the shift assembly, take it to a metal fab shop and have a new bronze cover cut. Shouldn't cost much.
Ray Alsup, #256, Pegasus
I don't have an east coaster however, someone had put a deck plate in the cockpit sole for stuffing box access long before I purchased the boat and it leaked like crazy (not as crazy as Larry's though.) I just replaced it with a new 6" snap-in deck plate for around $10. Cheap, fast and no leaks.
Tony, #512
Go to the hardware store and buy a 2" pvc screw end cap. It fits perfectly and costs .69 cents.
Al, #26 Esprit
The 1959 Pearsons use a cast bronze shift mechanism with a rectangular cover. There is a rectangular plate about 3"x1"x3/8" that is beveled to sit in the hole. Nothing but mother gravity holds it in place. The easy solution is a good metal shop. Take the shift mech. out (4 screws and one cotter pin), take it to a shop and have one made out of bronze stock.
A.J. Matthews, #605, Ay Mon
I don't really think you can find a replacement cover for the "tranny hole", but a new through-deck fitting with cover may be the solution. Look around for a somilar sized unit in bronze, stainless or Lexan. They are readily available. However, when replacing the fitting, make sure that the new fitting will clear the cockpit supports under the decl. try to avoid cutting into the stringers as that will cause the cockpit floor to get spongy.
Personally, I like the positive feel of the thru-deck transmission handle. When it is in, it's in and there are not a whole lot of parts that can go wrong.
It is also a pretty goo anti-theft device. No one (other than a Triton owner or an archeologist knows what that bronze handle is for.
Charles Wineberg, formerly #192
I installed a small brass hinge on the trans shifter cover plate, so I could just flip it aside without fumbling or loseing it. Duct tape had worked just as well, but engendered too many dubious questions from visitors, wondering what else was being held together that way. I seem to recall that I also drilled a small hole in the base of the shifter socket, to keep water from collecting in it. Regretably, I am not currently a Triton owner. Fair winds,