Deck plate

[drzdave]

Thinking about putting a deck plate in my 76 170 about 5 inch from transom in the middle
Any thoughts on this
I seem to get a ton of water down there when it rains
So I'm thinking bilge pump down there

[drzdave]

No thoughts on this ? Anybody  

[flounderpounder225]

I don't know the layout of the 170, but it sounds like a great idea, just buy a high quality pie plate that will stand up to the traffic, and make sure you completely seal the coring and frame of the hatch when installing.

[RickK]

Hi Dave,
I'm trying to remember the area that was available in front of the engine under the sole befroe the first crossmember of the stringers and if I am remembering right, there wasn't a whole bunch.  When I first got my 170 the PO had installed a pie plate in the same area you're talking about and I remember looking down in there and there was just enough room to get a pump in there.  I think a rectangular access plate might be better so you're not trying to work with one hand.
How are you going to route the exhaust hose out?  If you're going to try to come out through the plate and up over the transom, it's a lot of lift all of a sudden on the pump but I don't see an easy alternative.

[drzdave]

Well for the exhaust hose I was thinking maybe get a thru hull fitting and put it in the gully
So the water just pumps to the upper deck and then could be pumped out from there then when it's not in use I can put a plug in the thru hole fitting to seal the lower deck back up

[dbiscayne]

agree with the comment about the hatch instead of a pie plate.  I've done the pie plate for bilge access, a real pain to work with and eventually spent a little more $$$ and got a decent square hatch.

[drzdave]

Yeah I'll keep that in mind when I buy one thanks fellow ASers