Core thickness of deck on 78 MA
 

I wanted to see if anyone could tell me the thickness of the core material used on the deck of a 78 Master Angler? I've already re-cored the deck lid over the fuel tank and used 1/2" Penske board with a full cover of 1708 on bottom and top, and it seemed to fit perfectly, but I don't want to assume the rest of the deck is the same. I'll be using Penske or Coosa and would like to pick up my materials before cutting off the deck skin. Any help is appreciated.

I actually have a 78 MA and can check if you would like. The deck is out already but there should be some edges I can measure to make sure on the dims.

That would be great if you check. I'm replacing the deck in front of console, down both gunnels and the small area forward of the fish box, right under the anchor locker. Thanks!

I looked at the hull today. The previous owner cut the floor out all the way to the drain troughs so it is really hard to tell now at this point. There is one spot that looks like you can tell where the top and bottom layers were and it looked to be 1/2" gap between them. If they left a little more of the old floor lip I could tell you better.

May or may not be relevant; the hatches on my 76/77 23 are 1/2" core but the deck is 3/8" core (mix of plywood and balsa for some reason that I haven't figured out yet - the carpenter ants destroyed too much of the evidence).

[QUOTE=FLexpat;255270] but the deck is 3/8" core (mix of plywood and balsa for some reason that I haven't figured out yet -QUOTE]

It could very will be 3/8" if not half, mine was cut back so aggressive they didn't leave much to look at.

Funny you say about the mixture of ply and balsa. I was looking at the transom boxes that were cut out and some of the floor boxes and they had a mixture of balsa and ply also. At first I thought the ply may of been added latter on during a repair but it could of had a mixture when originally built. They may of been just using up ply scraps during original construction?

I appreciate the information. I'm going to go with a 1/2 Penske or Coosa core sandwiched between a top and bottom layer of 1708. I'll be scarfing the original deck skin back on and can make up for a 1/16th or so in height rise if that ends up being the case. I'd rather have it a bit higher.