Seismic Shift: A 27-foot Hallett gets new sticks from Latham Marine.

Anyone who spends even a few minutes performance boating on the West Coast will quickly see how boaters take customization to a higher level. Color matching is important but it also has to look good and be functional.

So when the Johnston family from Glendale, Calif., purchased a used 270 Hallett, one of the first things they looked to change was the throttle and shifter. The previous owner, in an effort to save money, went with sticks that had an add-on trim switch. For a boat that is going to spend plenty of time on Lake Mead outside of Las Vegas, the add-on unit with an exposed wire wasn't going to do.

The family selected a throttle and shifter from Latham Marine and we watched as Teague Custom Marine in Valencia, Calif., did the installation. The job was surprisingly simple and anyone with basic mechanical knowledge could probably complete it. But having participated in other throttle installs, rarely do they go this easy.

The old sticks were located in a gunwale extension on the starboard side. Teague Custom Marine's Joe Blankenship started by removing the Phillips screws from the base of the old throttle and lifting up the unit. He tried to remove the cables that connected to the engine but there was not enough slack.

That meant removing a large panel to get access, a task that normally adds an hour or so onto a project. But thankfully the custom builder made it a snap to remove the panel, which provided ample access underneath the gunwale extension.

With room to work, Blankenship clipped the trim and neutral kill switch wires. He then quickly disconnected the cables and sent the old throttle and shifter to the metal scrapheap.

Sizing up the new throttle and shifter with red handles from Latham Marine, Blankenship knew it would not fit in the existing hole. The new unit was longer than the old one and required removing some of the console. To know how much he would need to cut, Blankenship measured the base of the new Latham unit.

With those measurements, he marked the length on the console and needed to cut less than a half-inch of fiberglass and gelcoat. With a pneumatic saw and a vacuum to suck up the dust, Blankenship made small vertical cuts on the existing hole. Once the cuts were done, he did the horizontal cuts to finish the enlargement. Although Blankenship took great pains to make sure the cuts were straight and clean, the hole was going to be covered by a plate.

He then put the throttle and shifter in the spot, eyeing it to make sure there was enough room between it and the gunwale. Once he was satisfied with the placement, Blankenship used a grease pen to mark the holes for drilling.

To keep the drill from sliding on the white gelcoat, he made starter holes. With all four holes drilled, he then countersunk the holes so the screws wouldn't chip the gelcoat.

The messy work complete, it was time to install the new unit. Blankenship had to determine whether the cables were "pushed" or "pulled" by the unit, and in this case the cables from the Mercury Racing HP500EFI engine were being pulled.

Blankenship replaced the fasteners at the end of the cables so they could connect to the Latham unit. There is no standardized system so that's why the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., company included the fasteners.

They also marked the plates at the bottom of the unit so the installer knew where to connect the cables. Blankenship connected the outer cable first, which took some eye-finger coordination to get it done.

With the cables in place, Blankenship wasn't worried about cable adjustments - yet. That work would be done at the engine because it is much easier to do under the hatch.

Making sure the wires were properly fed through, he put the Latham piece in place. Blankenship then screwed the unit down making sure the screws were carefully aligned.

It was then time to reconnect the trim and neutral kill switch wires. Hallett had left plenty of extra wire, helping speed up the process. Earlier in the install, Blankenship took time to tie-wrap the wires to keep it neatly organized.

A few minutes later, Blankenship had the panel back in place and was off to the engine compartment to make the adjustments. Moving the throttle and shifter back and forth, he made minor adjustments to the cables at the engine.

Blankenship went a step further and hooked up the drive to a hose so he could check to see if it went in and out of gear properly. He also wanted to confirm that there was no play in the throttle linkage.

With that work done and new gauges, the 27-footer had a revitalized helm that upholds the proud West Coast custom tradition. Anyone looking for an add-on trim switch might check the local marine scrapyard.

Click to enlarge.