Thinking about replacing teak bow strips with stainless/aluminum

D

Denaally

New Member
Oct 20, 2012
10
Ontario Canada
Boat Info
1987 Weekender 268
Engines
5.7 Mercruiser Alpha 1
Hello everyone, Newbie here, proud new owner of a 1987 268 Weekender, really looking forward to enjoying this boat in the spring. From what I've read here picked a good one.
I'm considering changing the teak bow strips over to aluminum or stainless.
Possibly eliminating the pulpit as well. :huh:
The cockpit and cabin teak is in good condition, and really makes the interior, but in my opinion, the outside teak makes it look dated, and mine is in rather rough condition.
Just wondered if anyone had looked into or done this. Seems to me there are a lot of very wise and informed people on this forum, any guidance or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. :grin: Thanks!!
 
It's just my two penny's worth, the older classic SeaRays look better with the teak. I know it's a pain to clean and maintain but it's worth it....
 
New are not cheap ,custom made only.Try boat salvage yards thats where i got my stainless ones,Unfortunately for some there may be some around soon due to sandy.
 
1956olds said:
New are not cheap ,custom made only.Try boat salvage yards thats where i got my stainless ones,Unfortunately for some there may be some around soon due to sandy.
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1956Olds,
Any idea what boat/year yours came off of so I can reference it? Were they an exact fit? Could you add a close picture? Thanks.
 
We owned a 1986 30 WEr bought new in '86. In '91 we re-fit the boat completely and got rid of the teak deck rails as a part of the project. The teak was replaced with stainless that was salvaged from a similar sized boat and was in the inventory of the marina I stored with at the time. The install looked factory original and was not expensive. I wondered how the headliner would look after the old rails were removed and new bolts were installed to hold the new rails. The yard use a knife to make a slit in the headliner to gain access to the underside of the new rails. Coring was sealed with 4200 to prevent water intrusion and once the bolts were tightened the head liner was re-glued and was invisible to the eye except for the new bolts. These were hidden with bits of headliner material that was trimmed from inside a locker that was also invisible to the eye. The liner material was a fluffy fabric and glued in place over the bolt heads. It was well done and made the bolts go away. I really liked the outcome because it made the boat look like later model SRs which had stainless rails in place of the teak. If memory serves, the project cost around $500.
 
There is a 26 I think abandoned in the yard, I will go down tomorrow and see what she has. If she has s/s I will send you the measurements
 
I own a 87 SR cuddy cabin and I just restored my teak and replaced some teak through out my boat (23ft) and it looks real sharp. Personally I would not put any stainless on your rails as it takes away the classic look. I also just installed my pulpit out of teak so the rails on the bow flow nice to the pulpit. Just thought I would give you my two cents worth anyway. What ever you decide to do hope it works out. I will be posting pictures of my restoration job soon.
 
I appreciate any and all input, as this boat is new to me. My main concern is that it looks like the PO tried to use a varnish or sealer on them, and they go from areas that are bare and gray, to areas with orange colored blobs. I'll probably have to sand the hell out of them to get them back to where I can use Cetol to make them look decent. If I don't have any luck finding anything suitable, I guess that will be my only option. Saw a pic of a 268 without the pulpit, really prefer the look without, so it'll be coming off.
 
I went to the boat yard today, sorry, the old boat has the same teak rails. Teak is easy to work with, with mine, I pulled the teak and sanded it back to good wood. Hand rubbed it with tung oil (many times) and placed it back....it's worth the time and effort, but I do understand
 
Thanks for trying dwna1a, can't win 'em all. Thinking now I'll remove and redo the strips, but the pulpit is definitely going.
 
Denaally said:
Thanks for trying dwna1a, can't win 'em all. Thinking now I'll remove and redo the strips, but the pulpit is definitely going.
Click to expand...

I'm sure Lucky could help you with that. Another option, use blue tape and mask off the deck area very well, hand sand them in place and resealed them. I did all my teak using tung oil. It may take longer but it gives it a warm wood glow.
 
Mine were off a sister boat (300we) in fla. salvage yard .I am thinking joes marine but not positive .I will look for some pics.I had to epoxy the screw holes then grind a little out and gel them with repair kit sand and polish then make a temlate with the new rails lay it out drill through the top deckand cut a small flap from the headliner(monkey fur),i then used a 1" hole saw to drill through the coring from inside and not through the deck.5200 the stancions stick through deck 5200 insides ,double stainless washers then back fill with 5200 where i drilled the coring out and smoothed with a small putty knife.I then glued the flaps of headliner back down.I do repiar auto interiors so i kinda knew that part ,i was also shipped the deck sections on the used rails i foundso i knew how they were originally attached.I have been told they also came through bolted with a plastic dome cap on the exposed threads but could not find any,it will depend on the parts you get as to installation also because of the bolt length.
 
cmount1 said:
We had a cover made to go over the rails/strips.
Click to expand...

A cover? So like a cap of sorts? Is it aluminum or stainless? Attached by screws through the side I assume? Do you have any pics?
This sounds like a great idea. Could you please give me a few more details? Thanks!!
 
Have thought about changing mine to SS hand rails (instead of flat) on my AJ.

just posting to subscibe to hopefully get some ideas.
 
On my 1985 340, the PO took them off and it looked great...many people wondered what looked different on it and when they realized they were gone commented on how great it looked. Even the surveyor had to to do a double take and once he realized what was missing he really liked the smooth surface. I have to say it looked fantastic without anything up there!
 
Yeah i went one season without also but only because the first set sent to me were for a 330 and newer style oval ,couldnt make em work so i waited for the correct ones and another winter to put them back on.I have to admit washing was easier without them and i didnt stub my toes ,but i like to have something to hold onto when securing the anchor chain in rough water.
 
Denaally,

Sorry for the confusion, I had a canvas cover made to protect the rails when I wasn't using the boat. Going into year 7 and haven't had to redo the teak as of yet. I don't really like the snaps down the side but, I'd rather not have to redo the teak every couple of years.
 
Gotcha cmount1, makes sense. Think I might do what HavnFunYet did, it would probably look fine since I'm gonna get rid of the pulpit anyway.
 
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