Finishing the Dashboard

It’s easier to populate the dash and do preliminary wiring on the bench than in the boat.  I’m all about easier!
It’s easier to populate the dash and do preliminary wiring on the bench than in the boat. I’m all about easier!

We talked about patching some rotten wood in the dashboard of a 1949 Chris Craft 17 ft. Deluxe Runabout in an earlier post here.  Once we got the staining done, the next step was to lay on a bunch of varnish.  In our case, it took about 5 coats of Interlux Schooner 96 to seal in the stain.  Then we added about 8 coats of AwlWood MA urethane on top of that to get a really nice, deep gloss.  This is the scheme I plan to use for finishing the topsides of the boat as well.  The AwlWood is a new product for the U.S.  It’s been available in New Zealand for a few seasons, and has held up well there. Continue reading “Finishing the Dashboard”