the cabin headliner ; my 1981 doesnt have one , what options ?

[hockeyfool]

I am second owner of this 81' which doesnt have anything on the cabin ceiling, looks like something was removed.
what are my best options for finishing this area ? If I buy the hutchins aftermarket fiberglass beaded board , how do the thru deck
fasteners have access ? one  should check them for rusty hardware or signs of leaks , right ?

[ciswindell]

I have a 1980 CP23 and I just refinished the interior.  I removed all of the the deck hardware, painted the ceiling with Kilz and glossy white acrylic latex exterior paint, and am going to rebed all of the hardware this weekend with butyl tape.  The painted ceiling looks awesome and sounds like it would be much easier to install and maintain than the beaded board.

[brackish]

My Columbia 8.7 came from the factory with foam backed, perforated vinyl that was adhesively attached to the cabin ceiling.  after a few years the foam disintegrated and the liner fell.  Not wanting to go back with that, I purchased a whole roll of non-woven fabric from a mill in New England and redid all headliners and side panels that had been perforated foam.  used 3M's most aggressive spray adhesive to attach.  Where the screws/nuts came through, since they were essentially lined up, I used several teak batten strips that had counterbores for the screw head/nut heads.  Turned out looking great and during my 16 years of ownership I had enough fabric to do my boat twice, then give the next owner enough to do it a third time. 

Ironically it is exactly the same material that Com-Pac uses today for the forepeak headliner and the headliner under the side decks on the 23.  I still have enough left to do my 23 when it next needs it.

When I bought it (mid eighties) I could get it by the yard for about ten bucks per from a boat manufacturer or buy a whole roll from the mill for about two bucks a yard plus motor freight.  I chose the latter and have been using it ever since.

[millsy]

I have the early model C-23 also.  There was no headliner fitted at the factory; the underside of the cabin top was just roughly faired and spackle-coated.  What I did on mine was fair the surface again, using a long squeegee to bridge the low areas, and painted the area with awlgrip with some flattening agent added. 

I think that fitting this FRP beaded panel is going to be a chore.  You can refasten the handrails and companionway runners but will have to make sure that there is a good layer of thickened epoxy between the original surface of the cabin top and new panel so it does not leak around the fasteners.  You should abrade the surface of the cabin top to make sure that the epoxy (or other adhesive) adheres... then you have to secure/wedge the panel from below while the epoxy cures... and later trim around the cabin trunk.... hmmm

Chris
C-23 Dolce