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Thank you all for your input, but I feel resposible for clarifying a few things. First off, I cant ask my wife's opinion about the wood seat because the boat is a surprise for her. She is on a road trip with the kids and has no idea this will be here for her when she returns. Second, my friend/ painter/ fishing buddy is not trying to bully me, nor is he interested in making a "Frakenboat". He is trying to offer low cost, low maintenace solutions to get this boat in an attractive, functional, space saving state. He is pointing out deck areas that will have waterskis, tubes, fins, etc. There is no original wood left on the console, the door and the compartment have been previously replaced with black plexi. so he figures just starboard everything, including the bow hatch. Today, I bought a factory leaning post (RPS) out of a '96 Montauk, and I will install it and place my original one for sale. I will have a wood hatch made forward, and have wood doors made for the console, as well as a wood bench aft. I will relocate battery forward to console, and have a clean look. My painter has restored many classic Challenger flats boats, and has redone about everything that floats under 40 feet. He is very familiar with classic looks,teak spray rails, and nothing looks better than teak or mohagony that he West systems and coats with Imron high solids clear. My 13 whaler benches look terrific, 3 years later! I want to thank eveyone again for all of the input, and I feel I am on the right coarse. I would love to post a before pic, but I just dont know how yet. There will be afters in about 10 days! Mini season starts in two days, and that is like a national holiday. Thank you all again