1998 263 Chase deck repair

Welcome aboard!

First thing to be aware of... a general rule of thumb is the rot is most likely 3x as big as you think it is. So be ready

I don't understand this sentence: "How much of the old deck do I need to bond the new piece to it around the edges? 1 1/2""?

The center deck is a separate piece so I don't see a need to remove it - other than if you need it for access.

DennisG01 said:

I don't understand this sentence: "How much of the old deck do I need to bond the new piece to it around the edges? 1 1/2""?

Click to expand...

He means how wide is he going to grind to be able to tab back together.


Generally you want 3" on both sides but there is no room on some edges. The wider you go, the smoother(less noticable) the faired finish can be.
You are going to cut the top glass off and not go thru to the bottom glass.
You can try to save the glass but its such a small piece you are going to make a bump trying to fair it. So just use one patch of new glass over the whole thing
Obviously, you don't want to get into, or too close to, the radiused edge of the hatch opening.
There is a vertical door at top of picture and a radiused edge there also.
Sometimes a vertical edge is your friend. you can hide the fairing line right where the 90 angle up is...

Sometimes you can make a smaller cut and "dig out" around one edge and tuck the new wood in.

You can take drillings to find the extent of mushy wood.

Its a 1998. I would pull up that hatch and look at the tank and stringers and hoses.
I'm pretty sure the stringer is going to be between the deck hatch and the area you want to fix. So that doesn't get you access to the bottom.


Are you going to paint or gelcoat? The whole deck? or try to match (hahahaha)?

Loaded by noon said:

Thanks,
That's what i thought about the stringer. Just going to gelcoat the repair. I'm not too worried about what it looks like, just don't want to have to do it again.
Just cutting the top glass off is helpful. epoxy new wood in and glass over.

Click to expand...

If you are going to gelcoat, use polyester resin or otherwise you have to prime with an epoxy primer before gelcoat.

That worked out well... thanks for typing the brunt of the response, Skunk!

I would start by "skinning" the top glass layer about twice as big as you circled. Yes, stay away from corners/edges so you don't have to rebuild them. Given how thin the top glass layer is, you'll realistically only be able to bevel about an inch or so on either side.

Have you thought about making your non-skid area a different color? And possibly "re-newing" the non-skid and making it MORE "non-skid"? Paint is an easy way to cover up the repair and accomplish those other things, as well.

i have a soft spot in the same spot on the starboard side. im interested to see how this goes. please post pics.