Thanks guys... leave it to me to find a mungrul... By the way... what you see in this last pic is the entire bottom of the windshield... wide open... no base plate... I have been looking at gasket material... I like Grandad's foam gasket but I think that something with a little more body is in order... I have a very cheap garage door bottom seal made of a very soft foam rubber... since I already own it I am going to try my best to make it work(with a great deal of customizing)... but I am open to suggestions... I think that if I fill the void between the inner and outer bottom rails with a little hanging out the inside, toward the dash, and squish it firmly that I will have a seal and a solid mounting solution... I hope to enjoy this Holiday(Independance day) working on my latest dream... This 1974 Starcraft Holiday... I would like to hear from you all on colors... at presant she is red outside with white gunwales, bow top and under the bow, with red pannels and red vinyl in the side storeage area's in the main deck area, along with a red dash... I will be fishing with this boat and feel queer running a dark bottom fishing boat... to me it is like wearing a black coverall trying to sneek up on an elk in the snow in an open area 5 miles square... I am leaning towards all white bottom, all white bow and gunwhales, splashwell area... the dash and pannels are red with red pockets and likely to stay that way... the panels look near new... the dash is a mess and I will likely jump into that but I have read what it takes to remove the verticle face dash and it is very unlikely that I will attack that... but intend to do what I can to purdy it up... also I have decided to go with 2 sheets of 1/4 inch diamond plate aluminum... My cost delivered $570.00 I will start the rear plate 24 inches forward of the transom... the forward end of the second sheet will end up under the bow about 16 inches or so...(each sheet is 48x96 inches I will cut each sheet to 48"x601/2", from the drop I will cut two 48"x4" and use them for the edges to make up the 1/2 inch hieght, the remaining 48x27 plus inches will cover with plenty extra the two beams that run up the center(each side) of the boat, then rivet the hell out of it... I will complete the rear under the splashwell with new 1/2 inch plywood(24"X601/2"), This is under the spashwell which will be closed in and I may use thicker plywood to accept 2, 80LB batteries and one 12 gallon fuel tank, I am thinking of covering it completely with Ice and Water shield... and use the piece that came from the bow after cutting nearly half of it(the rotted section below the helmsman's seat) away... is this insane or what... I figure that I will end up with what I want for the least amount of MOOOLAAA(the exposed area of the boat done in diamond plate and needing no maintainance but replacing the carpet or vinyl covering) and two very small pieces of plywood that can easily be replaced, and are not exposed(important to longevity) very seviceable with no worries on the maine deck... I have put alot of thought into this but if I have learned anything in my life two or more heads(idea's) are always better than one... so please fell free to comment in any fashion that you have a mind to... Thanks for listening and offering advise(that is sorely needed)... All my best... Just a dumb farmer from Maine... Bill