This is actually the third time I have stripped this platform down. This time it was more of a rebuild though. I had some cracking and some gaps I wanted to address. With all the work I put into the trunk last winter, the platform got kinda neglected. It looked 13 years old. 
This rebuild included all new screws, trimming of the corners, re-finishing the brackets and new FAE hardware. First thing to do was rebuild it. I started at the transom side of the platform and pulled the top board off. All the screws were really deep and a couple had poked out the top side. I decided to replace all the #8 1 1/2" screws with #10 1 1/4". The original screw holes had swelled around the old screw heads. This meant pulling them out would require enlarging the holes. I ran a 3/8 bit in reverse in all of the holes and then carefully pulled the old screws out. I then reset the board with my new screws. I the pulled the next two top boards off. With both those boards off, I was able to clamp the second board as tight as possible to the first and then ran the new screws into it. I repeated this for every board. It ended up shrinking the overall depth of the platform by nearly half an inch and closed (mostly) all the gaps.
This rebuild included all new screws, trimming of the corners, re-finishing the brackets and new FAE hardware. First thing to do was rebuild it. I started at the transom side of the platform and pulled the top board off. All the screws were really deep and a couple had poked out the top side. I decided to replace all the #8 1 1/2" screws with #10 1 1/4". The original screw holes had swelled around the old screw heads. This meant pulling them out would require enlarging the holes. I ran a 3/8 bit in reverse in all of the holes and then carefully pulled the old screws out. I then reset the board with my new screws. I the pulled the next two top boards off. With both those boards off, I was able to clamp the second board as tight as possible to the first and then ran the new screws into it. I repeated this for every board. It ended up shrinking the overall depth of the platform by nearly half an inch and closed (mostly) all the gaps.
I also took a few minutes to make a poor man's plug for a couple of blown out holes. Once they get wet, the plug pieces should swell and completely fill the hole. It will require some touch up but, no big deal. From there it was on to sanding the rest down and applying the edge details and finish.
Only one thing left to do before ordering a new set of heads from Larry Mann, drill and tap. What a B. That's now done and I can move forward with mounting everything back up so that I can cut some sleeves for the new bolts. Should look nice when its done.
Comment