Ttop Canvas Replacement - ProTrim?

[Catch-All]

The ttop canvas on my POS is fianlly starting to shit the bed on me after 5 years in the brutal Fla sun. It's got rips in two places and pinhole leaks all over.

I have contemplated several alternatives. One is to replace the canvas with new Sunbrella or Stamoid. The canvas I have now is a Sunbrella equivalent that is no longer made. THe cheapest quotes I've had are $300 for Sunbrella and $350 for Stamoid, and I hve to uninstall then old crap, bring it to the shop for a template and then reinstall the new canvas. The two antenna mounts, two antenna wire holes, the all-around light and the two Lee outrigger pipe holes will be the biggest PITA there.

Another alternative I thought of and then had to reject was to use 1/4" Starboard but unfortunately it only comes in 48" widths. My ttop is 64-1/2" wide so I would've had to seam it and I don't think thats workable here.

Fish-N-Dude suggested I make a one-piece section of thin flexible fibreglass and he said it would only cost me maybe $150 in materials. But I would probably botch up the layup and make the thing look like an abortion. Plus, installing it with those angled outrigger pipes will probably make it unworkable too.

Then a friend suggested I see if ProTrim would work. THat's the company that has a long-running ad in Fla Sportsman Mag where they make biminis, flyline tamers, even hats out of this shit. Does anyone have any experience with this company and their ProTrim material? Thanks in advance for the help!

Catch

[DonK]

I had tried to contact them several time a few years back; but never recieved any communications from them....

[Catch-All]

Don - did you try to reach them by email or by phone? I emailed them this a.m. and I'll give it until tomorrow before I call.

Catch

[Catch-All]

UPDATE: 10 MINUTES LATER
I just got a very nice, polite email from Sandy at Alumarine/Protrim. She said unfortunately they don't carry the 64x96 one-piece section any longer. Now it's available in only one size, the 64" x 132" one-piece section.

Alumarine

She said it comes in white only and the cost is $166.30 + approx $25.00 shipping + 6.5% Pizzle Fo Shizzle County sales tax. Figure $200 approx.

I think I might just give it a whirl. It's cheaper than canvas, cheaper and better than the Starboard fiasco and only a little more costly than the hassle of making my own fibreglass top. The shit is 100% UV-stabilized and gah-rawn-teed for ten years. Trust me, I plan on being long gone from the TurdVee way before ten years is up.

It's still going to be a royal pain in the ass uninstalling the two antenna mounts, the all-around lite, yada yada yada. I'm not looking forward to that part.

Catch

[DonK]

Catch..keep us informed about your installation! I'll consider it again in a year or three when I gotta redo.

[Catch-All]

will do.

Catch

[CaptKen]

I did the pro trim route years ago, still lasting fine, picked it up from them in a warehouse in sw miami.

[Catch-All]

which route did you take installing it -
zip-tying it to the ttop framing, the old grommet & lace method or did you screw it right to the framing?

ProTrim recommends drilling small holes near the edge of the ProTrim then using black UV-resistant zip-ties to attach it to the ttop framing. It seems to me like a cheesy way to go. Wouldn't the zipties shit the bed on you after a while?

Catch

[CaptKen]

I used the gromet method, simple, hole punch you hit with a hammer type, then the gromet was 2 piece,one from top and one from bottom, another tool you bap it with a hammer to set it, done.
Used zip ties to center it up on the frame, 4 corners, a few out in the middle, sew it up like a canvas top.

Only catch to it is this, if your frame is bowed downward from front to back that is OK, but if it is bowed or bananna shaped also from side to side it makes it almost impossible to get the humps in the middle out of it, it will want to pile up somewhere in the middle, If your boat is not a show piece dont worry,its worth not ever changing out canvas again. If it were perfectly flat{which most t-tops are not}It would be a cake walk. If yours is banna shaped both ways and hump out in the middle bothers you, they said you can cut a slit in it out to the hump and let it over lap it self, then glue it, If you chose to do this, I would do the gromets last because it will change your spacing.
If you go with it,get me the number, I had a buddy look at mine yesterday and is going to do it to his.

[krisis7]

If your boat is not a show piece dont worry,its worth not ever changing out canvas again.





It is not called a TURD VEE for nothing....

Catch keeps his deck spotless

[Catch-All]

Originally Posted by krisis7

It is not called a TURD VEE for nothing....

Catch keeps his deck spotless

Hey, it's not my fault that TurdVee uses cheap, shitty gelcoat that absorbs stains like a sponge!

Catch