Products for gunwales other than carpet

I am restoring my aluminum sylvan. The gunwales were carpeted but that has since expired. I was thinking of using spray Bedliner on them rather than carpet. Has anyone done this? Have the results lasted? Any other products I should consider?

Re: Products for gunwales other than carpet

Do you already have the carpet off of your gunwales? Got any pics with or without carpet?

Gunwales usually look pretty gnarly without a thicker covering, but yours may be different. Show us what they look like.

Re: Products for gunwales other than carpet



some portions are clear some are not. I plan to get them cleared after I finish up my floor and fill the down rigger holes and planer mast holes i dont plan to use again with rivets. I think a colored bedliner would look slick and provide a non-slip coating for me and the kiddos.

Re: Products for gunwales other than carpet

I've seen the gunwales cleaned up, holes filled and painted, vinyl or carpet over it or new sheets of aluminum over the top.

The colored bedliner idea is a new one for the gunwale, at least to me, your boat could be the first.

Re: Products for gunwales other than carpet

Many bedliner products are not UV stable, most truck beds are sprayed black & often a year later are a light charcoal color......

Colored bedliner could fade to strange colors. Tan bedliner might turn to a pale greenish yellow.......

I personally am not a fan of the rubberized or plasticized bedliner in boats. But I am clearly biased :facepalm:

My experience may be different then yours.

Re: Products for gunwales other than carpet

I had considered similar on mine until I got the carpet removed all the way and realized half the gunwales were one piece


and half were two piece


The two piece is fairly sloppy looking and would be difficult to cover and disguise...IMHO. Hence my choice for going with vinyl

Re: Products for gunwales other than carpet

What about this material from Seadek?


SeaDek Marine Products - Swim Platform Pads

Re: Products for gunwales other than carpet

I'd cut 1/4" plywood to fit inside the gunwale top:


Then apply bed liner/paint, then glue it down with PL and sock some rivets to it.

This should give you a fairly flush installation instead of having to 2 lips sticking up for a trip hazard.

Re: Products for gunwales other than carpet

Redneck punk I like that vinyl idea. Do you have any pics of your finished product? The 1/4 plywood idea is good also jig. I am going to vinyl the floor which coincidentally may leave enough for the wales without any additional expense. I hadn't considered the uv stability of Bedliner which is a great point as it is very difficult to remove if it doesn't work out.

Pouring my foam under the fresh floors today then the fun begins up top!

Re: Products for gunwales other than carpet

SylvanTroller said:

Pouring my foam under the fresh floors today then the fun begins up top!

Click to expand...

Tell us more about your expanding foam experience (we like pics too), it may help others that are going to pour their own foam.

Re: Products for gunwales other than carpet

SylvanTroller said:

Redneck punk I like that vinyl idea. Do you have any pics of your finished product? The 1/4 plywood idea is good also jig. I am going to vinyl the floor which coincidentally may leave enough for the wales without any additional expense. I hadn't considered the uv stability of Bedliner which is a great point as it is very difficult to remove if it doesn't work out.

Pouring my foam under the fresh floors today then the fun begins up top!

Click to expand...

havent done it yet, just finished first coat of sealer on the deck boards and ordering vinyl tonight or tomorrow

Re: Products for gunwales other than carpet

Been a while since I have updated this, the foam project went well. One thing I didnt do was dam up the areas under the stringer/deck supports well enough and subsequently ha leakage into the middle. I did the foam with the floors installed so after it expanded, there was no chance of getting the floors back up to clean out the overflow for drainage purposes. So I crawled through the rod locker and dug it out with a garden hoe. The amount that it contributes to strengthening the floors is amazing. I also added foam into the bow section, just for piece of mind.

Due to irregularities in the gunwales and cost I ended up using carpet which looks great and I hope it will hold up. A long way to go still, but hopefully after I get the consoles upholstered again progress will pick up. getting inspiration fro sutor's 86 Starcraft resto, that dude seems to get to put more time in then I can at the moment, man life isnt fair!