Beneteau Oceanis 381 instrument panel

aquaholic

aquaholic

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Looking to replace the old one in order to rejig the instruments and add a plotter etc but wondered which material would be best to make one from?
have found this site http://www.directplasticsonline.co.uk/ that seems to have a good range of plastics but I am afraid my knowledge on these matters is limited.....have attached a photo of the existing panel.
Thanks in advance.
 
aquaholic said:
Looking to replace the old one in order to rejig the instruments and add a plotter etc but wondered which material would be best to make one from?
have found this site http://www.directplasticsonline.co.uk/ that seems to have a good range of plastics but I am afraid my knowledge on these matters is limited.....have attached a photo of the existing panel.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Mine (381)came with the top cut open with a plastic (half inch?) floppy face screwed to it. then it had radar in let in to it with all the instruments inlet. It was that flimsy that if you leaned backwards holding the wheel, then the whole bit of the binnacle came back as well, there were stress cracks on the base. I obtained two all thread 16mm bars, drilled thro the front and back and locknutted them in place, this made the whole thing sturdy and then i got some half inch ply and cut holes in it and screwed this to the top. The screws only held the face in place instead of being structural and it is now as solid as a rock. The plastic is very floppy by the time you cut holes in it.
Stu
 
Thats very job I'm doing! Replacing a tired wooden facia on our sigma. I'm doing ours in carbon cloth and epoxy.The "committee" think the boat will go faster. Im laying it up on glass for a nice shiny surface and the other side will be mat which i'll do with a layer of peel ply.We can decide in the pub which face we want to use. It's just pressed up. That plastics company seem to be on the ball and they will even cut it for you. You can just radius the corners. colour matters? Explain it has to be jig sawed and screwed into. they'll keep you right. not that expensive. Nik
 
Ours was marine ply and it was only a matter of time before the varnish got very tired looking.Out in the sun all day.. True marine ply is not easy to get and needs to be looked after with varnish.But easy to work with. Our original wood panel looked scabby after five years. How thick can the panel be? 4mm/5mm? Tufnol is a "very fit and forget" material. Easy to jig saw and drill.i'm sure there are even more suitable materials. Nik
 
There seems to be loads of ABS suppliers on Google. Since your cutting large holes in it I'd not use anything less than 4mm.nik
 
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