building a hard top

[N II Deep]

on my last trip of the year it became a very long day for reasons I won't discuss here.

anyway after being very tired we get the boat on the trailer and start heading home from Whitehall about midnight (we started in Muskegon at 6am). I forgot to take down the soft top. the next morning I look out at the boat and think where did the top go???

all I had left was a couple of the frame tubes.

so, I'm thinking of adding a hardtop to the boat and hooking it into the rocket launcher that I built last winter.

anybody else every do this?

looking for ideas and suggestions.

[Priority1]

Terry's former boat the old Dirty Dog had a homemade hard top on it. I don't think he built it but may be able to point you in the right direction. My rig has a factory hardtop. I would think that one could be fabricated rather easily. Maybe a pickup topper would be a good start. There are lots of them available at reasonable prices. Being able to TIG weld or knowing someone that does would be a plus. Fiberglass skills would also be nice.

[N II Deep]

Terry's former boat the old Dirty Dog had a homemade hard top on it. I don't think he built it but may be able to point you in the right direction. My rig has a factory hardtop. I would think that one could be fabricated rather easily. Maybe a pickup topper would be a good start. There are lots of them available at reasonable prices. Being able to TIG weld or knowing someone that does would be a plus. Fiberglass skills would also be nice.

thanks frank,

I do ok with fiberglass, and can cut the alum, and have resource for TIG.

I'm thinking of build a wood top frame, then attaching 2" alum tube to that. the shell will be 1/8' plywood top and bottom, plan to fill the inner space with foam for sound. then glass the whole thing.

what is going to be tricky is attaching to rocket launcher but I have a few ideas.

[KJ pluggin]

Jon, the hardtop on our boat was custom made before we bought it and we have been pretty happy with it so far. The frame is made of aluminum tubing and has a skin of plexiglass on top and then a layer of fiberglass. The inside has just a layer of plywood. This may be different than what you had in mind but if you would like to see some more detailed pictures let me know and I will see what I can do.

[Priority1]

Kyle, Nice looking boat and hardtop. The hardtop looks factory made.

[N II Deep]

Kyle, very nice setup it looks like you have solid glass on three sides and a soft curtian in the back.

I plan on having curtians all the way around.

looking in the gallery I want to do some thing similar to this

also plan to add the following

A 4 switch power box to control 2 LED floods to light up back of boat,

LED deck light for under the top, a remote flood / spot for the front additional running lights red/green/white.

[KJ pluggin]

Kyle, very nice setup it looks like you have solid glass on three sides and a soft curtian in the back.

I plan on having curtians all the way around.

Yea I figured that's what you were going for just thought I would give you some more to think about.

[medic]

Jon,

Take a look at www.towersunlimited.com and look at their custom top photos on their site. Lots of pics and may give you some ideas.. Good luck!

[OldCool]

on my last trip of the year it became a very long day for reasons I won't discuss here.

anyway after being very tired we get the boat on the trailer and start heading home from Whitehall about midnight (we started in Muskegon at 6am). I forgot to take down the soft top. the next morning I look out at the boat and think where did the top go???

all I had left was a couple of the frame tubes.

so, I'm thinking of adding a hardtop to the boat and hooking it into the rocket launcher that I built last winter.

anybody else every do this?

looking for ideas and suggestions.

What ever happened with this I wonder?

[N II Deep]

Just finished up the hard top a couple weeks ago, I'm very happy with it.

now I just need to get it back the the canvas shop for new side curtians.

[Eliminator]

Looks great Jon!!

[OldCool]

That looks real nice. thanks for the picture.

[Boss Hawg]

So how did you end putting it together? Just like you said previously? I have really been considering doing this for my trophy W/A Im jsut not sure how to construct the actual hard top.

[Justtrollin]

Looks nice. How r u going to get to those 3 front rod holders now? I'm assuming they will be moved, but might be good fire extra rod storage. You can never have to many rods.

[KJ pluggin]

Looking good Jon!

[N II Deep]

So how did you end putting it together? Just like you said previously? I have really been considering doing this for my trophy W/A Im jsut not sure how to construct the actual hard top.

I used 1x4" 6 foot boards to make a rafter. I cut from center to end of board down to 1 inch. this allows a nice taper form center to each side.

attached 1/8 osb after primer was applied.

framed it in, then one coat of expoy, expoy & glass, then two more coats of expoy, two coats of primer, the two coats of paint.

my gargae is still a dust bowl....

on the bottom side I used what I call white board pannel like what you would hang around a bathroom shower.

the frame was custom cut and tack welded on the boat. then removed. finished weld, prime then paint.

I really like how it turned out. still need to drop it off at Ann's Canvas shop to get the new curtians made for the from and sides.

made for a nice winter project.

[N II Deep]

Looks nice. How r u going to get to those 3 front rod holders now? I'm assuming they will be moved, but might be good fire extra rod storage. You can never have to many rods.

I use those for storage only. spare net and extra poles.

the rocket launcher is for storage as well, mostly when running or when I stay out for a full weekend. that way I don't have to keep moving rods around down below when we need to go to sleep.

[medic]

Nice job, Jon!! Looks great!