1998 245 Explorer Cockpit Deck Paint

[flycaster1]

Sorry for the delay in posting these pictures but a lot of work had to be done prepping for another wonderful Connecticut Winter and getting her all covered up and ready  
The front deck cover is not nearly as bad as the rear.
The hairline cracks are quite visible.

Thanks in advance for your replies and advice.





I plan on replacing the deck plates or at least the O-Ring seal along with some 5200 into all the screw holes.

[gran398]

Thanks for the pics.

Gosh, taking a close look, its more cosmetic than anything, and the actual deck looks great.....

I'd say wait 'til you are going to do the whole deck, if at all.

Just my 1 cent

[flycaster1]

Thanks for the pics.

Gosh, taking a close look, its more cosmetic than anything, and the actual deck looks great.....

I'd say wait 'til you are going to do the whole deck, if at all.

Just my 1 cent

These cracks are not allowing water ( salt water) to penetrate and get below deck to the area of the aluminum fuel tank?
I am paranoid about having to replace the tank.

[RickK]

You could pull out the pie and frame, then using a 90 degree drill attachment and a short drill bit drill small holes into the wood along the edge horizontally from inside the pie hole and inject epoxy into the wood to seal it up.  Then if water does get into the cracks it won't hurt anything.  The cracking along the seam edge looks worse but still seem superficial. I thought my 230 had all kinds of cracks in the floor too and then I put on my glasses and saw it was just hair from my dog    

[gran398]

Ah ha! The hair of the dog!!

Fly, these cracks are as Bruce mentioned in the gelcoat only, and may not even go through the gel. Beneath the gel is fiberglass, and that for certain isn't compromised. No worries on the tank getting wet, at least not due to this. All good, but as Rick suggests, check the wood core around the pie-plates when you pull 'em.

[wingtime]

Those cracks look like the ones on my 245. Yours are a tad worse though. As far as I can tell and what roadasprin told me is the gel coat was applied too thick in those areas. Your pics now confirm his diagnosis. The cracks are not structural. I can tell you there is no coring in the recessed flange area where the pie plates are mounted in. So you don't have to worry about the coring getting wet from the screw holes or the edge of the cut out. (Aquasport did a good job here) Cleaning the deck thoroughly helps reduce the appearance of the cracks. Using some bleach and oxilic acid (NOT AT THE SAME TIME! ) will really brighten it up. If you like you can replace the pie plates with new ones. Rabud made the originals and they are reasonably priced.