Hey guys. Im trying to come up with a way to get better access to the front of this motor. Shoot you cannot hardly take a belt off cause its so tight. So im thinking about cutting a section out of the rear bench (when you open up the rear bench seat, the plywood back panel) Not cut alot out of it but just enough to work on the darn thing. Would this be a terrible idea or is there a trick with these boats that i dont know about? Thanks again.

I have a 1995 24' outlaw and it seems easy enough to just remove the rear seat.

I put hinges on the bottom of my back seat so it can swing forward. Still have to take the side cushions off, but it works good without having to remove the entire rear bench. I have a 240, but its just about identical to a 24 Outlaw.

Same, I hinged the back seat and I just slide it forward, leaves you plenty of room to work, well, "plenty" being a relative term, if you ever see a 29ft Outlaw with a single motor you will appreciate having room to work, you can almost play handball in that engine area, LOL!

thanks for posting this topic ive been wondering the same thing on my 24 though the back seat has been moved forward 3 inches

Hinging the seat is a great idea I hate working on mine. My parents have a Crownline and there back seat flips forward it is soo much easier to work on!!

Mine is all glassed in, so im at a loss. Do any of you have a picture where you hinged yours? I would greatly appreciate it.

edit.

This is about the only pics I have of mine. I built a new backseat tho (along with rebuilding the entire boat) so its probably a little different than what is stock.

I used inserts (in red circle in pic above hatch actuator) at both ends of the backrest to bolt it to the gunnels to keep it in place and make it easier to swing forward and back without rubbing on the gunnels. So I pull the the side cushions off, pull the bolts out, drop the inserts and it will roll forward enough to get at the front of the engine.

Had the same problem. I just cut a hole in the back under the seat, very neat and clean, about a foot square. This gave good access to the front of motor for work. Then take 1/2 inch plastic sheet and cut to fit hole plus a couple of inches all around. Then mounted the piece from the seatback to the plastic. Glue and wood screws ss from the plastic to the cutout then put sealer around the joint of the two pieces and let dry, not too much sealer, just enough to seal when you bolt the plastic piece from the engine compartment to the back and to help fill the gap from the saw and stop any vapors. I used the t-nuts and 1/4-20 ss bolts. Bolts with ss washers from storage to t-nuts on outside of plastic in engine compartment.
From the engine compartment it's hard to see because of the overhang of the seat and the storage compartment has 4 bolts and washers. The cutout is white and the white sealant filled most of the gap so not bad for a 20 year old boat.



http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...3&blockType=G3

T-Nuts