Yeah I actually replied to that thread with the same solution I mentioned here.
Spent a couple hours last night trying to find a faucet that could be substituted in but no luck there.
The recess is a paltry 3.5” H x 8” wide - not much space to work with. It might be possible to open up the hole to accommodate a newer style cold water faucet but at this point I think that is overkill given the limited practical application of this setup anyway.
You can still get those same original faucets, I found them for sale. They are made by jabsco (big pump company) but are sold as kits that come with their own separate water pump, which would duplicate the pump that is already part of the existing plumbing of the boat. There aren’t a lot of them floating around but they are still out there.
Easier just to leave it as-is and replace the old rotted box.
This was the first year of this hull design, and there are a few quirks I have noticed which don’t make a lot of sense.
for instance the boarding ladder is located opposite of the transom door. Later models moved it to the same location.
The storage tub at the rear is sort of a waste of space, later models deleted this and provide a storage locker instead.
The washdown location was moved to beneath the gunnel on later models to accommodate the storage locker at the aft location.
Deck drains have difficult locations for access to replacing the components at the rear of the boat. My deck drains are white plastic and look like they will need replacement soon. I mean - they are pushing 30 years old now. This year also used plastic through hulls. I already replaced all of mine with SS ones that really make the boat shine much better. That was a bear getting those replaced - Im lucky I have long arms and a wife willing to help because they cant be replaced without a 2nd person involved!
The rest of the design is pretty good overall. I will say the transom design is beefy - a metal bracket glassed in with wood reinforcement, with several ‘knees’ to provide further strength. The thing is a tank. I guess on later models the stepped rear transom was eliminated providing a better ride, although the topside looks pretty much the same. Plus the motor shouldnt have to be mounted so high. Mine is at the top hole. Initially I had it at 2 holes up and it porpoised badly - max height fixed this problem and made a big difference in ride and max RPM.
I can see how this would help with buoyancy and less porpoising - provides another 2-3’ of running surface.
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