I am planning to redo the pad / hatch on my 1986 242LS. It looks to be original but I can't tell it it has been modified or not. The motorized lifter is mounted on the port side. I assume they did this on single IO. The fiberglass part of the hatch as markings for the lifter to be in the center. I believe this was done for twins, however a centered lifter puts much less stress on the assembly. When dismantled, I have the fiberglass base, a 1/8th aluminum sheet then the individual vinyl covered boards that form a 5 stripe pattern. I do not think the aluminum sheet was always there. Was it wood? Was nothing there? The fiberglass base only has screw holes along the perimeter for the aluminum trim. I would like to make it as close to original as possible. The aluminum sheet traps water and allows no breathing. I doubt that was OEM.

How are your sun pads assembled?

The sunpad on my 1989 223LS did not have an aluminum sheet and the hatch actuator was mounted off to the port side and was connected to a “U” shaped bar that contacted the bottom of the Fiberglass backing. This allowed you to still open the hatch if the actuator was faulty. The U shaped bar acted as a spread to lift the hatch by more than one contact point.

I reused my vinyl but replaced the foam and wood. I used the old wood to make a template for the new Marine grade plywood, drilled a couple 1/2” holes across the board (to allow for draining) and coated them resin. Once the resin was dry, applied the foam with spray adhesive then wrapped it in the vinyl ensuring not to pull too tight.

The boards were then screwed to the fiberglass backing from the bottom (predrilling of course) and also putting sealant on the threads of the screws.

the screws were located around the perimeter of the fiberglass hatch but also under the mirrors running perpendicular to the boat. I believe there were two screw sizes, but not certain.

I hope this helps! I had about two weekends in this project.

I updated mine with solid piece of vinyl to reduce the water traps. And, I used a sheet of HDPE instead of plywood so no more rot. HDPE takes screws and staples very well, but you can not glue it. Might have been able to use LDPE to save weight, but don't know how it would work. BTW, I have twins, with centered lift.

Thank You both for the feedback. I have it all torn down and on saw horses. I think I will stick with resin coated plywood. By the time it rots the vinyl will need to be redone anyways. I like the idea of using 1 sheet of plywood vs each stripe being its own wrapped section. I would like to keep the pattern, but I can cheat and use french seams to keep the look close to original.

I have a 1988 223SS, and the hatch lifter is in the middle, at least since I bought it in 1990. Looks original to me