posted 07-18-2006 04:42 PM ET (US)        

I hope this thread will be a place where you can ask questions and I can answer them with my experiences on my project.

As is outlined in the reference article written by Jeff Rohlfing (jeffs22outrage), I can attest that the most important thing you can do when buying a used classic Outrage is to take a tube of sealant and an electric drill and back out any screws that are in the deck (console, seating, and even the deck screws themselves) and add sealant to the hole, then reinstall them.

Your deck plates should also be suspect – I’d remove them and inspect the exposed core and reinstall with sealant.

Either the factory failed to use sealant on these holes in the first place, or the original sealant is likely deteriorated to a point where this is or will soon be necessary – I’d do it as part of your preventive maintenance routine.

My deck was soft – beyond what I wanted to deal with in terms of recoring and repair.

Upon reflection, I may have chosen to re-core the deck – the route I chose did not necessarily save me a lot of work, beyond the excavation and removal of the rotten core material and prep of the non-skid.

In any event, let me also take a moment to clarify that while I truly constructed a new deck that consists of ¼ inch teak decking and black rubber inlay, I did not fabricate it in the true sense of the word. I’ll elaborate in a moment.

Part of the project was to “class” up the boat a little more. I’m not the purist that many here may think I am – I like things to look good and to fit together (congruence), but I’m not obsessed with having an OEM boat. I had seen a teak deck here on the Web site (Mike Pape had constructed it, but never finished the project and later listed the unfinished project boat for sale here), and I really liked how it looked. I contacted Mike about his project and got some basic information which I would use almost a year later in my project.

Originally, I had two batteries and a 3-gallon oil tank in my console. Many of you with a similar setup know that the oil spills everywhere, mixes with dirt and creates quite a mess on the floor under the console.

When I realized what a mess I had on my hands, I began to think about deck replacement, but while I still had the oil reservoir inside the console, that idea was simply a pipe dream – no way was I going to have that oily mess on a teak deck!

When I made the decision to repower with clean-burning and oil-resevoir-on-the-powerhead E-TEC engines, I decided to go “all the way” and replace the deck, fuel tank hoses, etc.

I went to my e-mail archives and found the e-mail I had received from Mike and began to truly cost out and plan the project.

So what’s this about constructing but not fabricating the deck?!

Well the deck (technically called a fuel tank cover, by Boston Whaler) is actually a pre-fabricated panel that I obtained from World Panel Products in Florida. For approximately the cost of a new (wrong gelcoat color) deck from Brunswick Commercial and Government Products Division, plus about $380 shipping, I received a 4’ X 10’ panel of ¼ inch thick teak decking with black rubber inlay, shipped flat on three pallets that were bonded together for rigidity.

This contraption barely fit into the back of a full-size Chevy pickup truck that I borrowed to transport it from the loading dock of the business where I had it shipped (to save money) to the storage barn where I keep and work on the boat.

After taking careful measurements, I trimmed this panel to fit into the opening in the floor of my 18’ Outrage and allow for a ¼ inch caulk line on all sides.

I then bonded voidless, marine-grade plywood to the back of the decking material, to form a subdeck for strength and proper fit. This subdeck was bonded to the teak with WEST system epoxy, after numerous dry fitting sessions to ensure a matched fit. Even so, I needed to cut the right angle out of the subdeck to ensure minimal gelcoat chafing and a snug fit.

The backside (underside) of this combined deck was then encased in WEST epoxy, and then further encased using WEST epoxy and fiberglass matting.

I then cut the deck plate holes, using the old decking as a template for locations, and used WEST system epoxy again to seal off the endgrain of the inside of each hole before installing the deckplates (again, using sealant on the screw holes).

The finished deck, while heavy, is actually somewhat lighter than the OEM fiberglass and plywood deck. While it is aesthetically pleasing, I have noticed that it is somewhat more slippery than the old deck when wet – not enough to be problematic, though.

The end result is a beautiful deck in the 18’ Outrage that compliments the other brightwork found on the boat gunwales and accents on the console.

It definitely draws comments at the dock, and I’d recommend it to anyone faced with a deck replacement anyway. While not any cheaper than the OEM decking, it certainly is a functional and worthwhile project.

A search for “Outrage Deck Replacement and Buckda” will reveal several really good threads that help follow this process. It will also give you an idea in terms of costs and other insights from forum members along the way.

One particular thread is this one:
http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/008511.html

Also – be prepared to find things you didn’t expect to deal with once you’ve pulled that cover:
http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/009990.html

posted 07-18-2006 09:31 PM ET (US)            

The deck is unfinished - for now..and will likely remain so.

posted 07-24-2006 09:45 AM ET (US)            

The deck looks great.

See:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Buckda/Memorial%20Day%202005/ MemorialDay2006-GrandHaven010.jpg

Glad you kept yours - I'm sure you'll be happy with it when you're finished!

posted 10-02-2006 10:48 PM ET (US)            

I ended up adding a finish to the deck this past weekend. I used AMAZON's Teak Oil and it looks great:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Buckda/Teak%20Modifications/ Oct-1.jpg