201 Pro Elite dash mount graph quest

[NateT]

I know there are a few of these boats still kicking around with the curved fake wood grain plastic dash.
I am not a fan of this so I have tried finding aftermarket replacement dash panels but all I can find is for the bow.
I also tried finding instructions for how to safely remove the dash to remove the gauges and old Lowrance X65 sonar.

All of my searches came up empty so I am going to try to document what I am going through to hopefully help someone in the future with their 201 Pro Elite (1997 - 1999?)

First, I removed the wind screen to get access to the screws that fasten the plastic dash to the fiberglass cap.
Once I had the wind screen off, I gently popped of the button caps for the Philips screws holding the das together. You also need to remove the screws for the ignition module.
If you want, you could remove the hydraulic steering assembly to remove the dash completely, and if I was doing a major resto, or update I would probably do this. That said, I did not
and rode the struggle bus for a bit trying to remove the brass nuts holding the gauge brackets in place.
TAKE PICTURES OF EVERYTHING AND LABEL EVERYTHING.

I had just enough room for my mitts to get in behind the cluster and undo what I needed to to free the woodgrain dash panel to use as a template. It broke, but I can piece it together no problem.
I also removed the panel that is above the steering wheel for the fuel and smart gauge to make a new one.
I bought some 1/4" starboard in matte black to make my new panels.


This is where I have stopped at the moment to get the new panels cut and think about the brace I am going to make as I eventually intend on running a 9 and 12 HDS or a single 16

[JimFromTN]

I was wanting to do the exact same thing on my renegade 18. The problem is my dash panel is not nearly large enough. I was thinking about just replacing the upper panel that has the larger gauges, ie tach, speedometer, and flasher. I only use the tach. Amazon sells some carbon fiber sheets that look just like the panel I want to remove. My thought was to remove the panel and just cut the single hole for the tach and then use a dash mount bracket for the graph.