How to attach top to boat?

[Toad64]

I have a 73 newman and need to attach the top back to the boat. It looks like it was attached using a peanut butter but i would like to be able to take the top back off if I needed to. Are there any suggestions on how i could do this? It may have been attached using the Peanut butter type substance so that when it got hard it would be for support but it seams like it would make it impossible to get back apart with out tearing smething up. like the transom i just rebuilt. I have attached pics for the first time i hope they show?

 

[oops!]

Re: How to attach top to boat?

hi toad,

at this time the attachments dont work.

it is difficult to visualize what you are saying, because peanut butter is the wrong thing to use for attaching the cap.

we will need to see pics just to be certain

 

[Toad64]

Re: How to attach top to boat?

They where working i will have to figure out how to get them back on there. Bare with me while i try to get them back up.

 

[Toad64]

Re: How to attach top to boat?

Just seen where the attachments are not working right now. Guess have to wait till they come back.

 

[Toad64]

Re: How to attach top to boat?

Ok the pics at the top are working now. the first pic is the one of my transom, the second and third are of the back of the splashwell that will meet the transom (the top is upside down). The back of the splashwell looks like "I have a 73 newman and need to attach the top back to the boat. It looks like it was attached using a peanut butter but i would like to be able to take the top back off if I needed to. Are there any suggestions on how i could do this? It may have been attached using the Peanut butter type substance so that when it got hard it would be for support but it seams like it would make it impossible to get back apart with out tearing smething up. like the transom i just rebuilt. I have attached pics for the first time i hope they show?" Anyone have any ideas or do you need more info here are some more pics
http://s1166.photobucket.com/albums/q614/toad647/

 

[robert graham]

Re: How to attach top to boat?

Maybe some of that black foam rubber self-sticking weatherstripping to seal out the rain(like on a truck bed cover), and a few stainless steel screws, front, back and sides?...that way, you could just remove the screws and take off the top when needed.

 

[kfa4303]

Re: How to attach top to boat?

yeah I think stainless steel screws along with a bead of some 3M 5200, or a similar product, may be your best bet at having a (semi) removable top.

 

[robert graham]

Re: How to attach top to boat?

yeah I think stainless steel screws along with a bead of some 3M 5200, or a similar product, may be your best bet at having a (semi) removable top.

But isn't that 3M 5200 pretty sticky/permanent?...maybe it'll glue his top so he can't remove it?...

 

[kfa4303]

Re: How to attach top to boat?

5200 is definitely sticky and has very strong adhesive properties, but it can be removed, albeit with some effort, and is soluble in acetone. After all, they were never designed to be "removable", and you certainly don't want it rattling around on you. Some caps even perform a structural role, which seems to be the case more often with f'glass boats then their tin boat cousins. You also want to make sure that the cap forms a watertight barrier with the hull, which is exactly the sort of thing 5200 does best. It dries firm, yet remains flexible to allow for the inevitable twisting and bouncing that the hull will endure out on the water. 3M also makes a product called 4200, which I believe has slightly less adhesive properties and may be more easy to remove in the future, if need be.

 

[idonthaveaname]

Re: How to attach top to boat?

I think you will find that most will recommend 5200...at least that's my experience. I can't imagine removing the cap again after doing what needs to be done. Well...I can imagine it, I just wouldn't want to. ;-)

 

[andgott]

Re: How to attach top to boat?

If you ever want to remove it, Use 4200 rather than 5200, though most people aren't going to plan on ever removing the cap again... 5200 creates a VERY strong bond between two surfaces- In most cases stronger than the material itself.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: How to attach top to boat?

Two things, I'm wondering why you are worried about removing the cap again. When you are finished with the restore you will not be removing the cap again. Most Caps on fiberglass hulls ARE structural and they must be attached rather firmly in order to provide the structural support required. The forum rules and guidelines recommend that you keep all of your posts concerning your project in one thread. YOu can contact a MOD via a PM to have them combine them.

 

[Toad64]

Re: How to attach top to boat?

Thanks wood after this post i will stick to the voids in transom thread. I have no idea why i would need to take the top off again but thought that if i had to i would be nice not to have to mess up anything more than i have to. guess PB is the way to go if it will be a structural thing.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: How to attach top to boat?

Might as well just stick to this thread on the cap issue..

It was just the splash well that was gooped right and not all the way around the hull/deck joint ?

I am going to assume the filler was there so you dont crush your splash well when bolting on your motor.

You would probably want to make that well/transom solid like it was before.

This is speculative on my part in describing something you have not confermed though ..

YD.

 

[Toad64]

Re: How to attach top to boat?

I do know that when i took the top off it was stuck to the transom and we had to do some cutting with a cutting wheel and prying between the splash well and the transom but it did come off fairly easy.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: How to attach top to boat?

Like YD Says if the Splashwell extends down onto the interior side of the transom then yes you need to use PB to adhere it again to ensure the motor will mount properly.