I thought I would share our winter project; last fall we had an Atlantic Tower custom radar arch installed to out V248 and over the winter I have been constructing a new dashboard for the boat.
The original black plastic could not be reused do to the difference in the chart plotters size to the original Garmin GPS so a new panel was needed. I looked into several material options ranging from a similar plastic panel to Lexan to wood and found several problems with each chose.
In the end we decided to use a marine finish grade plywood called Okoume it had good reviews, a nice look, easy to machine but very expensive at about $100 for a ¼” 4’x8’ sheet. I found a supplier that would sell a half sheet for $55 so that is what I used.
I have tried to match the plastic wood grain panel with a Walnut stain and several coats of marine varnish and I think it looks better then the original black panel.
I have attached a few photos and my plan is to head down o the boat today to complete the install. Hooking up the radar will wait for another day. I will try to take photos of the complete installation and post them tonight.
The original installed panel
Old Ver New
