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Cockpit hard top

Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2020 5:10 pm
by louism58
Anyone on here ever made their own hardtop frame?

I have a 32" express right now has a bimi top covering the cockpit which is good for now but was considering replacing at some point.

Was just wondering how practical it would be to make an aluminum frame with 1" tubing would be stronger than the Bimini than on there now and then just have a custom cover and sides made.

OK I am board and making up projects :-)

But would be interesting to see if anyone else had done this

THanks

Re: Cockpit hard top

Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2020 6:31 am
by Fastjeff
I made mine out of plywood. Butt-ugly but very effective: Lots of shade and indestructible in winter storage (snow load).

I'd post a few photos but that would be just too embarrassing!

Jeff

Re: Cockpit hard top

Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2020 7:25 am
by bcassedy
There was a member who was out of Louisville, Ky who used a scrapped roof from a 32' to fabricate a cockpit hardtop. I've looked for him on the site but he's not turning up. The end result was beautiful and amazingly functional - it had a slide for the kids on that section to it was plenty sturdy.
Anyone know him? His name was Joe Knockle..... (Don't remember full last name - apologies Joe.... :oops: )

Bill

Re: Cockpit hard top

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2020 1:47 pm
by shade2u2
I wanted to put one on mine. I found a 37 being scrapped in DE and was trying to get the roof off of it to fabricate and connect to my roof over the cockpit. It appeared that I could use the former wall structure to support the extension.
Ended up not having the time for such a project and gave up.
This part...
DE Marinette roof cropped.jpg

Re: Cockpit hard top

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2020 3:22 pm
by balthaus
The gentleman in Louisville KY is Joe Knockwafel. There are several pics on the fb group, including some “work in progress” pics. He has a beautiful M.

Re: Cockpit hard top

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2020 12:43 pm
by louism58
Looked at Joe's boat pictures, great work!

This might be doable, I have a 37" aft cabin I am scrapping. I could cut the aft deck off and then fit it to the new boat. Have to do some measuring I am sure it is wide enough need to check the length.

Nice winter project.