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I've seen a few Outrages that have the fiberglass gunwales. Can I convert them to wood? If so, is it an easy job?

One is a 1987 18'
The other is a 1991 22'

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Roger,

Yes it is very do-able however, the difficult task is not the replacement but the fabricating of the new teak ones.

To do the swap you would need to remove the rub rail, then remove the mounting screws holding the gunwales to the hull. Fairly easy.

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Thanks again Jeff. I'm going to have my teak gunwales one way or another.
I bet the teak is expensive.

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Arthur,

The fiberglass gunnel caps are easily removed.

The stainless steel rub strakes conceal the counterunk screws that anchor the fiberglass caps to the hull. The rub rail does not need to come off to remove the fiberglass caps, as I learned while repairing the rotted plywood backing of the port side cap. Once the connection screws are removed, the cap can slide towards the boats centerline about 1/2" and then it is free to lift off the boat.

If I remember correctly there is a screw at the forward end of the vertical leg of the cap that must be removed and the Marinium rub rail anchor at the stern end of the gunnel cap must also be removed. I believe there is also a screw on the vertical leg at the aft end of the gunnel cap as well.

The rub rail probably does need to come off to install new wood gunnel caps though.

I think fabricating new teak caps would be fun to do. I may do this one of these days.

Doug

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Depending on where you buy the teak it's between 14 and 20 dollars a board foot.

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Check out Diamond Tropical hardwoods on ebay. They sell teak in various board foot packages, and you should be able to find some that will work. it is expensive, and hard to find in smaller lots. Search "teak lumber" and some of Diamond's listing should come up. I got 2 separate lots from them to replace some bad teak on my 18 Outrage. Teak can be pithy, so your best bet may be to call them and have them put together a pack for you dimensioned (roughly) and with good grain. Good luck and post some pics if you get a chance.
Dave

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Any up close and detailed pics of the two styles of gunnells? I always thought they just laid the teak over the fiberglass.

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Bob,

The fiberglass were installed just like the teak version. The only obvious difference was the teak was solid wood and the fiberglass version was covered plywood. Both built basically identical otherwise.

Everyone might want to take a look at this article on refinishing teak gunwales.
http://www.whalercentral.com/readarti...icle_id=31

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ok I see how it is now. So even the fiberglass gunnnells have a bolt on fiberglass top piece? How slick do those teak pieces get when coated with multiple layers of varnish or 2 part poly?

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Bob,

I don't know how slick the teak would get as my teak is oiled... The fiberglass has the non-skid surface on top....

The last person that stepped on my teak gunwales is no longer with us as I made him walk-the-plank in shark infested waters............. :D

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lmao!! I told my buddies the exact same thing. I plan on using 3/4" Ipe with many coats of Bristol finish 2 part urethane on the top gunnell caps of my 21 project. I might have some grooves cut into it so it will still retain some wet weather traction for the goobs that don't know any better.