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I'm in the home stretch on the (much longer than anticipated) restoration of my '76 13 footer. The only original piece I've kept - aside from the hull - is the bow locker hatch, as it just needed refinishing. Being a '76, it's the wide, skinnier hatch... seems to be solid mahogany, with a finger hole in it. A few questions:

1. When I got it, there was some cheap rubber stripping inside the groove in the locker - seemed to be used to cushion the hatch from rattling around, as well as provide some measure of sealing against water flowing in. What should I use to replace it?

2. I don't much like the finger hole - I was thinking of covering it with a flush-mounted popup stainless handle... thoughts?

3. There was a saddle eye strap, something like this: http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/woeimages/00001537.jpg - mounted on the underside of the hatch, and in the bottom of the locker... neither were in use, but I'm wondering if there was some kind of attachment between the two to serve as a retainer for the hatch... should I replace these, and if so what do I do with them?

Thanks!