'60 Crestliner Wooden Bench Seats

[Patti]

Looking for advice on replacing the 3 wooden bench seats on my '60 Crestliner. The rest of the boat is in great shape. Original paint job and all.

Unfortunately they've split so they need to be replaced.

If I don't want the expense of marine plywood, what should I use instead? I've heard some say green-treated plywood, others say oak if I want something really hard. I plan on repainting/staining them the original redwood color and adding back on the white pinstriping.

[Jim Almquist]

Green treat and aluminum will cause problems and I think when you price a piece of oak you will find that it can be kinda pricey. Is it possible to glue the old seats and refinish them ? There is some very good glues that would do the job and last a long time as long as the boat can avoid direct sunlight.

[Patti]

I hadn't thought about glueing them. I guess I'll find out if there's anything to glue when I try to take them off...unless I should try to glue them without taking them off?

[Jim Almquist]

I think it might be better to glue them when they are out but I am not sure how Crestliner mount there seats but with my old Lund it was just a matter of removing a couple of screws and pushing them out. If you can get glue in and clamp them while they are mounted do it and save yourself some time.

[blarkey]

you could try cedar

[dkf]

I'd steer clear of treated wood. Treated wood usually has a high moisture content and twists up like a pretzel over time. If your current seats are not too far along use some clear epoxy on the cracks, sand them and give them several coats of spar varnish.

[sparcebag]

Post some pics. You may be able to complete the split--Break it off then reglue for more glue surface contact,maybe a dowel or three also.TiteBondIII is excellent wood glue with all the holding,water proofing and accepting stains unlike some other glues.

Sometimes if ya cant get glue in the split you'll glue the open part and later the split will reopen down the split where glue hase'nt been applied especially around lots of moisture.

If you would replace them use mahogany,its naturally water rot resisant,I'd guess the seats are Mahogany now anyway.

[Pikeslayer]

I used cedar when I rebuilt my old 1959 Nadin,When I bought it the seats and wooden bow were gone except for the main cross board on the bow!Cedar is nice to work with and it lasts a long time!