Diy fiberglass swim platform.
 

I have just finished my platform. Finally got rid of the teak. I will try to walk everyone threw the process. It was built with basic tool. Skill saw, router, sander, and drill. I used frp as the core or the platform.

Fist thing i did was get a template of the back of the boat. Made out of 1/8 inch panel board.

Next I made the bottom layer of the platform. It is the same shape as the teak one just wider and deeper off the back of the boat. I then cut the squares out of it to lighten it up a bit.

Next I cut a peace slightly bigger than the bottom peice. And screwed and glued it ot the bottom layer. All holes were pre drilled and counter sunk. Then I took a the router with the flush bit and ran around the platform making the top and bottom pieces the same size.

Then switching to a 3/4 round over bit I went around the front and sides of the platform. The back I rounded over very slightly so it would tuck up to the boat nice. Then you must seal all exposed wood on the frp with fiberglass mat. And also in all the screw holes. You don't want any water getting to the wood.

Then the real fun begins. Sanding and body filler. I sanded all the fiberglass smooth into the frp. Then I mixed up some bondo and put a layer on over the fiberglass and into the frp. Then sanded it all smooth.

Next up primer. I used automotive paint and primer. And then clear coat and buff. Use a good filler primer and then sand it to get rid of and imperfections you may have missed.

This picture shows the size and shape compared to the teak.

Last part of the paint process is red and clear. Then wet sand and buff.

For the traction on top I went with agenda surf. It is a heavy brushed dark grey. I bought the biggest sheet they sell. I then had to make a template and hand cut the pieces. I used a straight edge for the straights. Then not wanting the hard cut edge I sanded all the edges of the traction with 100 grit to give it a nice rounded edge much like the pre cut pads you would get.

Top view. I will get some better picture once it is out of the garage.

The bottom was finished with a couple coats of this stuff.

Close up of the agenda pad. And how I sanded the edge.

Nice work, great write-up.

Wow seriously impressed. Nice job.

Looks awesome!

Nice work!

Nice work! Looks like you really thought it out and then put the work in that was necessary for a great finished project. Enjoy!

looks great

what did you do with the old teak swimstep?

That looks great! Awesome job!!

Still have the teak. And would love to sell it. Let's make a deal.

It looks great. no question. Interesting that you'd going with a bigger platform when there's a ton of us that are making our custom platforms smaller (for surfing).

I'm curious why you went to so much work making it out of fiberglass instead of just using HDPE like some of us have? (aside from the fact that it's shiny!) Was that just the look you were going for? Seems like it'd be a TON more work than building my custom platform.

For mine, I used 3/4" HDPE, and then put a pair of SS grab handles on it and finished the top with Hydroturf. You can see a pic here when I was playing around with my ghetto gate:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-E...324_141407.jpg

Ya , I cut my teak swimstep down. Took 3" off each side, it was dragging while surfing and caused a double lip.

It was more work for sure. And I mean no disrespect But I was wanting it to be as close to a factory one as possible. The idea for me was for it to look better than the teak that was on it. This is my first inboard vdrive and I did make sure the platform was smooth on the bottom so the water would flow well for surfing. I have not yet surfed although I will be this summer. For me I wanted it to look and function for my family. And the small teak was not somthing we enjoyed. I guess we will see how it effects the wave but for me it will be worth it. Also this is the boat it is on.

This is the underside and the factory brackets i reused. From what I have heard on the centerion page. It is important for it not to have a lip for surfing. Witch it does not. Well see how it does. Any questions or constructive criticism is great. I will try to answer as best as I can

You're dead on balls about not wanting that lip.

However, a lot of us have not only smoothed out the bottom of our custom platforms to eliminate the lip, but we've also trimmed area off the corners. I'll give you that yours does look more polished than mine. I know I could have made mine a bit more aesthetically pleasing by doing a sectional approach to the traction instead of just one big sheet across the top. However, what I found out is that even with my first iteration where I trimmed off the corners, it wasn't enough so I had to go in and round them to their current configuration because a corner of the platform was still in the wave.

I had the advantage that I was able to weight and surf my boat and get a really good idea of just how wide would be too wide. and even then ended up having to trim more off.

I suspect yours might be too wide to be completely out of the wave like mine, but if push comes to shove you could take some of yours off at the rear corners and then re-glass it back to the polished look you have now.

Sounds cool. I wasn't saying yours didn't look good. And I have no intentions of modifying this one I just built to make a wake a little better. Iike I said my priority is not as much on getting the perfect wave as some of you hard core surf guys. It's about a boat that works and functions well for my whole family.

I like both of those platforms. The Fiberglass one is awesome finished product. Question on that one, did you paint that one or take it in to get painted at a Body shop?

On the HDPE, where did you source that material? In talking with a couple of companies that sell the HDPE, they are telling me that there would be no way to Hydroturf onto the HDPE, how is the Hydroturf holding up?

There's places on ebay that have HDPE for pretty reasonable prices shipped. I went with a local source.

Derek Couch
Inside Sales
Professional Plastics, Inc.
19801 SW 95th Ave
Tualatin, OR 97062
PH: 503-612-1661 x 1204
Website: www.professionalplastics.com

Hydroturf adheres JUST FINE with HDPE, despite all the same comments to the contrary that I got. Use the DAP gel contact cement, available on Amazon.com

Mine's held for a year now and it's still going strong with no signs of delamination. The HDPE I used was smooth, not textured. I don't know if that would help or hurt. But like I said, it's on there and isn't going anywhere.

I'm always impressed by the DIY projects on this site. I cringe sometimes at some of the projects, but the end results are consistently impressive.

just cut down my teak platform to keep it out of the face of the wave. hopefully yours won't be an issue, although you could always cut down the side closest to the transom without a lot of fanfare I wouldn't think

Looks great though!

I did every aspect myself. I'm a painter. Then I clear bra the edge to protect it from getting scratched up.