front deck handrails

[Danny S]

Wanted to do the same thing with my 25ft 1985 sundancer because refinishing these bow pieces every 1/2 years would be a real mess and to do it right and make it look good you would have to remove bungs and take the teak off. Instead of stainless I removed the teak and instead of new rails I put stainless snaps in the orig wood screw holes. I had a thin long bow cushion made and this just snaps into place, and with the number of snaps installed in the orig holes it never moves even while under way. The wife loves it and I have gotten more than a few complements on it. Its really simple and functional. Even if the cushion is stored away the boat looks much cleaner without the teak. Got rid of quite a bit of the old 80's stripes too. This also gave the boat a much cleaner look

 

[CAGE RATTLER]

Wanted to do the same thing with my 25ft 1985 sundancer because refinishing these bow pieces every 1/2 years would be a real mess and to do it right and make it look good you would have to remove bungs and take the teak off. Instead of stainless I removed the teak and instead of new rails I put stainless snaps in the orig wood screw holes. I had a thin long bow cushion made and this just snaps into place, and with the number of snaps installed in the orig holes it never moves even while under way. The wife loves it and I have gotten more than a few complements on it. Its really simple and functional. Even if the cushion is stored away the boat looks much cleaner without the teak. Got rid of quite a bit of the old 80's stripes too. This also gave the boat a much cleaner look

Would love to see pics of your setup. Im wanting to modernize the look of my 85 as well.
I thought about a bow cushion but i only have one hatch and its dead center of the bow between the two teak rails.

 

[OldSkool]

Wanted to do the same thing with my 25ft 1985 sundancer because refinishing these bow pieces every 1/2 years would be a real mess and to do it right and make it look good you would have to remove bungs and take the teak off. Instead of stainless I removed the teak and instead of new rails I put stainless snaps in the orig wood screw holes. I had a thin long bow cushion made and this just snaps into place, and with the number of snaps installed in the orig holes it never moves even while under way. The wife loves it and I have gotten more than a few complements on it. Its really simple and functional. Even if the cushion is stored away the boat looks much cleaner without the teak. Got rid of quite a bit of the old 80's stripes too. This also gave the boat a much cleaner look

If you'll notice my signature picture, I kept the teak rails cause I like them and added vinyl to the anchor and cuddy hatches. Now I don't slip on the deck when I set or weigh the anchor and the admiral likes the extra cush on the tush when sun bathing. :grin::grin:

 

[skibum]

On my 1981 sundancer I have 7 pieces of teak rail so stainless is not an option, and I think teak looks better on a classic when it is restored. menards or a woodshop might have hole bungs.I know menard had wood hole filler bungs but I do not think they are teak,I might make my own with a hole drill and a piece of teak,last year I went without covering screws,but I had bought stainless and 3M 5200 the screw holes and had no leaks :grin:

Replacing the bungs (we call 'em "plugs" in the woodowrking world) is a lot easier than you think. All you need is a drill press, a scrap of teak, and a set of plug cutters. You can get the plug cutters and a scrap of teak at a Woodcraft store if there is one near your house. If you don't have a drill press, most Woodcraft stores have a fully functional wood shop in the back that they use for demonstrations and classes and I am sure that they would let you borrow theirs to cut your plugs before you leave the store.

Here is a link to a description of plug cutters. Super easy. they come out tapered so that when you tap them in the hole, they fit very snug. Glue them in, use a small hand saw to cut them off proud by about 1/16", and then use a sanding block to make them flush (unless you have a small block plane and a cabinet scraper, which is faster).

 

[lee@simmtechs.com]

Wanted to do the same thing with my 25ft 1985 sundancer because refinishing these bow pieces every 1/2 years would be a real mess and to do it right and make it look good you would have to remove bungs and take the teak off. Instead of stainless I removed the teak and instead of new rails I put stainless snaps in the orig wood screw holes. I had a thin long bow cushion made and this just snaps into place, and with the number of snaps installed in the orig holes it never moves even while under way. The wife loves it and I have gotten more than a few complements on it. Its really simple and functional. Even if the cushion is stored away the boat looks much cleaner without the teak. Got rid of quite a bit of the old 80's stripes too. This also gave the boat a much cleaner look

Do you have a picture of this mod that you did on the site

 

[sbw1]

I replaced the teak with stainless rails on a 1986 week ender. Our local marina did it and we also took all of the teak off the taft rail and filled the holes with matching gel coat. We replaced the transom door with a piece of heavy lexan that was painted with awlgrip to match the gel. We rebuilt the transom seat to remove all the teak. We also changed the vinyl on the dash to black and painted the gel to match and added new radar, an LC90 Navigator and a new radio. I had the Tiara vendor build me an anodized radar arch ($1,500 installed) because we did not care for the stock SR arch and never bought one. The arch and radar were the most expensive part of the project This was in 1990. The rails were really cheap although I don't remember what they cost. All of this made the boat show much better. Forgot to mention we changed the canvas and stripes to black. When done, the boat looked white instead of brownish in color. (the color was called Sand by SR) The job was a head turner. I paid $52,000 for the boat in 1986 and I believe it sold for $42,000. The refit was maybe $6,000. Also added white carpet for around $400.

 

[JVM225]

My 87 Sundancer has Stainless rails up on the bow. So, you might be able to get a set that would be a direct replacement if you found a slightly newer boat that was being parted out.
I have the teak rails back in the cockpit. I hated them until I re-did them and finished them with the Cetol Natural Teak. Now they look fantastic.
If you can't find the stainless, you might want to consider stripping down the teak ones and finishing them with the Cetol. You can probably get a couple of seasons out of it before you need to just lightly sand it and apply a fresh coat.

 

[1956olds]

Well i asked my marina if they knew a welder to build the stainless rails,they said yes we have a guy here.I asked for a quote,she said teusday .On teusday she called and said"we have a company from down state that will do the job for 357.00 they will need your old rails,thats each side .I said Thats nuts what happened to your guy on site? No answer.Ok forget it I'll get a local guy myself.So the search is on for a welder in baycity mi.In the meentime im sanding down the old ones .

 

[joenofish]

You teak purists might no be on board with this but I'm sending my teak forward deck rails to a company called Plasteak, they will duplicate my rails in a wood grained plastic (looks like wood, same as composite decking). The inserts in our swim platform were made by these guys, they look super and need next to nothing, spray them off once in a while. I also have their teak and holly flooring throughout the cabin, looks really nice.

http://plasteak.com/osc/product_info.php?cPath=1_79&products_id=396

Good Luck!

Joe

 

[lee@simmtechs.com]

You teak purists might no be on board with this but I'm sending my teak forward deck rails to a company called Plasteak, they will duplicate my rails in a wood grained plastic (looks like wood, same as composite decking). The inserts in our swim platform were made by these guys, they look super and need next to nothing, spray them off once in a while. I also have their teak and holly flooring throughout the cabin, looks really nice.

http://plasteak.com/osc/product_info.php?cPath=1_79&products_id=396

Good Luck!

Joe

Are these Deck Rails total decorative or do they serve some purpose

 

[joenofish]

Are these Deck Rails total decorative or do they serve some purpose

They do serve the same purpose as the teak variety. The company will duplicate my rails and I'll install them using the same method the originals are mounted.
If I think of it I'll snap a close up pic the swim platform this weekend and send in the pic. The stuff really does look nice and it's really solid.

Some of the guys at our marina are swapping their teak for this stuff.

 

[1956olds]

JMV225 , do you have any pictures of the stainless rails on your sundancer?Are they screwed down to the deck or through bolted?

 

[lee@simmtechs.com]

They do serve the same purpose as the teak variety. The company will duplicate my rails and I'll install them using the same method the originals are mounted.
If I think of it I'll snap a close up pic the swim platform this weekend and send in the pic. The stuff really does look nice and it's really solid.

Some of the guys at our marina are swapping their teak for this stuff.

And what is that pupose

 

[1956olds]

Ive seen inflateables tied to them,while they were cruising.Keeps the hotties from fallin overboard.Something to grab when a jack### goes by and your trying to pull anchor.????Oh they are great for toe stubbing!

 

[joenofish]

I agree with 1956OLDS, the rails design intent was a toe stubbibg device, that is how we use them.