SHIP'S LOG:
Wires removed! Welding job set up. And that's about it. True, it did take most of the day as both were more complicated that you would think, but both got down and basically . . . . that's it. Didn't get to the polishing as I can save that for next week, but basically it's done.
If I have the energy and the inclination I may actually do another wire trace, following and marking all of the wires for the various gauges on the engine panel. Right now, none are marked and the best guess is that "they were installed using the right color wire!" One a boat, the colors of wires mean certain things, basically that the wire is being used for a particular application and that it should not be being used for anything else. this helps immensely when you have a problem or need to work on a specific piece of equipment. At least you know you are dealing with the right wire. Most wires on boats are under floors, in walls, and above hatches. Tracing them to find and correct problems can be a real task so it is a good thing that a wire of a particular color that goes in here is the same wire that comes out over there. This means you don't always have to dismantle everything to find the truth. Most electrical problems take place at connections, not along the length of wire in between, so knowing that the pink wire leaving "the whatis" is the same one that slipped off the bus-bar under the settee will, when reconnected, get the "whatis" working again. Then again, yard workers have been known to grab any piece of wire of any color to make a fix. Color then is no guarantee but it is at least a place to start. But like I said, I will need energy and the inclination to trace, label and tag each piece of wire, and with launch day looming, I might not be able to find or summon up either!