Hydro: Junk yard Steering

We are trying to keep the cost of the hydro in check so we are fabricating the steering system out of found parts.  (Found in our garage)
To date we have spent about $400 out of pocket on the boat.
Of this, $330 was on glass and epoxy
The balance was on the steering wheel, seat and deck parts at Oriental Consignment.
We are using a cable system to turn the motor.
It is comprised of the wheel, a shaft. a bearing plate, a cable drum and 4 blocks to lead the cable back to the port and starboard sides of the motor.
The shaft is a 5/16ths steel tube we had.  The bearing plate is a front spring strut cap out of my son's 1984 Porsche 944!  He replaced the front struts with Bielsteins and he is happy about that, willing to let the old parts go.
The cable drum is a 4 inch hole saw bit.  This was welded onto the shaft at the appropriate position.
Not only will this provide pulling force on the motor, it also provides a useful backing plate to bolt the steering wheel to.
Today we screwed the bearing plate to the front bulkhead. We added a bit of Starboard behind it to prevent wear through.  We also added a cross strut of mahogany 1x3 that will support the wheel end of the assembly...

The Porsche strut cap is our shaft bearing on the front side.

Here is the hole saw which will allow us to roll stainless steel cable in 2 directions to  both  sides of the motor.

The shaft is about 2 feet long.

Here is the mahogany strut to support the front of the assembly.

A front bearing is still needed.  It could be as simple as a piece of wood with a  snug hole in it.

Good Hydro water!!