Introduction
Let me start off by saying that I ordered the mahogany wood classic Boston Whaler interior from Bob Latourelle. in Massachusetts. Bob does great work and for the price it is a great deal. In this article we will take you through the process of installing the super sport wooden mahogany interior. On a side note, take a look at the video where I varnish the mahogany interior. You’ll have to finish the mahogany before installing it. The installation may seem intimidating to some but is actually not a hard process at all. Lets get started by taking you through the process step by step. That way, if you run into any issues like I did, you will know how to overcome the obstacles.
Preparing to Install the Boston Whaler Interior
Prep for the install by making sure you have all the hardware and tools on hand. Lay out all the wood out and make sure that everything is accounted for. It’s time consuming to run back and forth grabbing tools if you do not have them on hand. Not to mention that is is also frustrating and somewhat of a pain. If your Boston Whaler Interior kit did not come with any screws, you’ll want to make sure you get the correct ones ahead of time.
Make sure you have the right stainless screws on hand. Sharx or Simpson marine grade screws are excellent options. I’ll put some links at the end of the article to some. Both are made from 316 stainless steel and have self drilling and excellent gripping capabilities. You’ll also want a tube of silicone. You’ll also want a tube of a good quality marine grade silicone. There are many that prefer 3M 4200 or 5200 polyurethane sealants. I prefer Silicone as it is an excellent sealant and bonding agent.
Pre-Fit the Super Sport Interior
You may also want to pre-fit everything before actually installing any parts of the Boston Whaler Interior. To give you an idea why, I had to move mine forward about five inches. This was so that the storage compartment on the super sport interior would fit correctly. I’ll give you a bit more detail on that later. This also made more room for the battery box as well as giving easy access to the fuel tank.
Starting the Boston Whaler Interior installation
To start, we will have to mark out where to drill the holes in the side rails (also called clamps). I drilled the holes about a half inch from the bottom of the clamps. This sets the screw right in the middle of the wall of the step you’ll find on Boston Whaler 13’s. I drilled five holes on each clamp. I drilled these holes in the locations on the following diagram.
Getting the Storage Compartment Ready
After test fitting, I found that the bottom of the storage compartment was resetting on the beveled floor edges of the whaler. This had the effect of lifting it up and out of place. I solved this by moving the entire interior about 5 inches forward . Additionally, I also cut about an inch and a half off the bottom of the rear storage compartment panel. All of the pieces of the rear storage compartment are made from a fine grade of marine plywood. Before proceeding, I also painted the plywood of the storage area with two coats of epoxy primer. Once that was done, I added two coats of two part polyurethane. This made the storage compartment as waterproof as possible.
Assembling the Storage Compartment for the Boston Whaler Interior
The storage compartment is made up of four pieces, not counting the lid. There is one piece about four inches long that is screwed into the back of the seat. The bottom of the storage compartment is connected to that piece. Next, the back is connected to the bottom. The final piece is the mahogany that goes along the top of the back piece. This rests on the steps of the sides of the Boston Whaler interior. This last piece helps hold the weight of the storage compartment and also serves as a rest for the lid.
All of the pieces are connected with smaller one inch 316 stainless screws. The holes in the storage compartment are predrilled in this kit. All we needed to do was to attach it with the supplied screws. The storage compartment is attached to the rear seat so you have to partially assemble before fully installing the rear bench. Please Note that the Storage compartment is unique to the Super Sport Interior. Otherwise, everything in this installation is about the same.
The video highlightsthis this part of the installation
Installing the Side Rails and Backrest
In the next section of the install you will want to place the side clamps where they will ultimately rest. Placement is based on where the benches will be. The cutouts in the clamps hold the benches in place. One important thing to note is to not tighten up the side clamps after installing them. First check that everything is lined up where you want it and measured correctly. After loosely attaching the side rails you will want to install the rear backrest. You will have to lay the backrest into place and measure to ensure a correct fitment.
Make sure to pre-drill the holes on the backrest. In my case, I had to open up the holes a little to make it easier to assemble. This gave me some leeway in being able to move the backrest up or down as needed. The slightly larger hole was covered up by the decorative stainless washer. Once the backrest was installed the next step was to install the lid on the storage compartment.
Once the back is attached and you are satisfied with where everything fits. You can firmly attach the side clamps. I used five screws in total. An important note is to fill the holes with silicone or polyurethane sealant when seating the screws in.
Installing the lid
When we initially test fit everything, we noticed that the lids would not fit flush. We ended up solving this when we moved the entire Boston Whaler Interior forward about five inches. There was still a bit of a problem so we disassembled the storage compartment. We then cut a half inch off the top of it. That resolved the problem and the lid fit perfectly after that. This is why it is important to loosely attach everything before full assembly so if you run into a problem like we did this will make correcting the problem easier.
Before attaching the lid, I installed the Mahogany bar the went across the top of the rear wall on the storage compartment. This bar adds structural integrity to the storage area. It also serves as a rest for the lid. When installing the lid, you want to space the lid about an eighth of an inch from the backrest. This will insure that there is plenty of space for it to swing open. I used a piece of cardboard for this as it was the perfect measurement for this.
Installing the Lid Hinges
To install the hinges I measured from the outside to where I wanted the hinges on both sides to be. This made the placement symmetrical. I then measured to the exact center for the middle hinge. Installing the hinges after that was as simple as screwing them in place with the provided screws. Once you have finished with mounting the lid with the hinges and screws the storage compartment is complete!
Installing the console
To start, I preassembled the console. I also did all the wiring and attached the steering helm to the console as to make the installation of the console easier. I’ll have more articles on those activities shortly. There are only five screws that hold the console in. Two at the bottom, that screw into the floor. Two on top, that screw into the top of the starboard clamp. The fifth one is on the front of the console and screws into another cleat on the side clamp.
The front backrest was already attached to the console. The entire console was pre-assembled before being shipped to me. There are an additional two screws that attached the backrest to the forward cleat on the clamp. With the addition of those two screws, there are actually a total of seven screws attaching the console to the boat.
First, I placed the console in position. Next, I attached the screw on the console side. The second set of screws I attached were the two on top. Finally, I attached the screws on the bottom to the floor. I did these last so that the placement of the console was dictated by the attachments on top. On a side note it was more difficult to do the two screws at the bottom as there isn’t very much working room.
Once you have all of the console screws installed you should congratulate yourself. You have finished the install! The console is not hard to assemble I recommend that you do the wiring and installing of other components before installing the console as this will make everything going forward a lot easier.
Conclusion
I highly recommend that you check out our YouTube video on this article. It will better depict how I did the install and how I overcame the issues I had while installing the interior. Overall its not a difficult install but you might face some challenges while doing the install. In my particular case the challenge was fitting the storage compartment. That was easily solved by modifying the compartment and moving the interior forward. I hope this article was of use to you, if you have any questions please feel free to shoot me an email or comment on the YouTube video and I will respond as fast as possible.
Make sure to check out the entire Classic Boston Whaler 13 restoration series here 1966 Boston Whaler 13 Restoration. Also, make sure and check out the video here Boston Whaler Restoration Video
