Replacing Fencing Panels

MrBoo

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Hello everyone. New to the forum but not new to Bennington. It was the best value in 2000 when I researched new boats and appears to still be the best value today. I have a 2000 Bennington fs22, or something like that. It's the 22 ft fishing model from that year. Anyway, boat still performs wonderfully but is starting to get a few cosmetic issues. One being, some dented up panels and scratched graphics. I viewed the Restoration thread on the 1999, so I know replacing all the fencing is an option. My main question is, can the panels be removed/replaced from the existing fencing? I'm looking at that no dent vinal here: http://www.restorepontoon.com/pontoon/pc/Vinyl-Fence-Paneling-14p79.htm I am guessing this stuff is similar to the no dent material Bennington tried so I am guessing this stuff wouldn't hold traditional graphics? If this is possible, does anyone have some best practices I should follow?
 
"can the panels be removed/replaced from the existing fencing?"

Im sure they can I think the question you want to ask is Can they be removed with out taking the whole boat apart. I was asking myself the same question about our boat. We have 2 panels that have some dents and are scratched and I was wondering if the panels could be bent out from the stock rails???

BTW I saw a new Bennington on the showroom floor the other day I could have sworn the panels were made of plastic instead of thin Aluminum. They felt synthetic and when I tapped on them they sounded like plastic ( a very dead not tinny sound) Are they using plastic these days???
 
I will try to answer your questions but I could be wrong on both. It is my understanding that the Q series is the only model that has the dentless (not aluminum) panels. Also, I have heard that when you replace the panels they will need to screwed on. This is because it's nearly impossible to get the replacements in the grooves that the panels sit in.
 
I will try to answer your questions but I could be wrong on both. It is my understanding that the Q series is the only model that has the dentless (not aluminum) panels. Also, I have heard that when you replace the panels they will need to screwed on. This is because it's nearly impossible to get the replacements in the grooves that the panels sit in.
Boomers dad is right about the panel replacement. There was a thread on this subject in one of the other forums several months ago (can't find it now but think it was on PontoonForums.com or PontoonStuff.com). The description of trying to do it indicated it was really difficult to get the replacement panels into the existing groves of the top, bottom, and sides of the fencing frame. It basically involved bending two sides of the metal frame outward to get the panels in place and then bending the sides back in without doing too much damage in the process. In the end it sounded like the person accepted a small amount of frame damage to correct a worse looking panel damage.
 
Thanks to all that chimed in. Did I read it right that Bennington can supply replacement rails? I can't imagine that screwing or riviotting a skin over the existing panels would look good at all.
 
You might want to check over on the iboat forum. Alot of guys over there have done restorations. You would probably have to check with a dealer to see if you can buy replacement rails with the panels in them.
 
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