New camper top

Howie o

Howie o

New Member
Mar 30, 2019
17
Maryland
Boat Info
1987 340 Sea Ray express
Engines
twin 350 mercruiser direct drive
I have just had a new camper top made for my 340 express .it looks great he went under the radar arch n connected the camper to the Bimini .im thinking I should have gotten him to attach to radar arch . What do u think
 

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Little late now,, when I did mine I slid the front bimini bows forward on the side window frame which moved the front tube forward enough make the front eisenglass stand up a little higher, and more vertical, giving more head room at the helm and a straighter view thru the eisen. Also attached front and rear bimini to the arch gives more space inside enclosure, with more head clearance.
 
Sublimetime said:
Little late now,, when I did mine I slid the front bimini bows forward on the side window frame which moved the front tube forward enough make the front eisenglass stand up a little higher, and more vertical, giving more head room at the helm and a straighter view thru the eisen. Also attached front and rear bimini to the arch gives more space inside enclosure, with more head clearance.
Click to expand...
 
He put a window under the radar arch for my lights under my arch to shine through but its not bright enough now inside cockpit . Just trying to think of suggestions
 
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I had custom canvas done over the winter on my 400. Very good fabricator. For both the front and rear bimini tops they have one piece that slides through the channel on the radar arch, about 3" wide, and that zips to the main bimini fabric. The zippers are covered with a velcro flap to seal them. This design makes it so that you can just unzip and fold the bimini back of you need to get to the arch, and also makes it much easier to take down and put up because you arent threading the whole cover through the arch channel.

You might be able to retrofit yours with a similar design.

Edit:
It is hard to see with the black on black, but this is how our canvas is set up. At first I didnt understand why they did it this way, but the first time I had to get to the radar arch it made so much sense.
 
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I just checked on my boat it's been raining overnight it looks like all my seams r leaking.Is this like a new tent where is leaks the first rain or 2 .
 
Ugh hopefully he will fix this problem .them tops r not cheap
 
Im thinking if I get him to get my tops to mount to arch I think that would help out it will allow water to run off faster
 
It will but the slide in tracks that come factory on newer SR's a lot of canvas guys don't like to deal with them, so they sew in a bulb seal and tell you are good to go...…. Not so much on my 2001 280DA, thanks Central Florida canvas!!!! I'd rather keep it under the arch in that year SR.
 
Thank u guys for ur info that will help me decide what to do
 
My last boat had the canvas attached to the radar arch is worked fine. Problem I have now is my latest boat where the PO had canvas which is only 2 years old added under the arch. It's going to cost me a pretty penny, but I want it attached to the arch to be able to use the cockpit lights, other than installing some type of lights in the radar arch
 
I call the guy that did my full camper top n Bimini. He is going to meet me at my boat n figure it out I want to attach both to arch cause now going under arch it puddles a little under the arch
 
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yobub said:
View attachment 69227 View attachment 69227 View attachment 69228 I had custom canvas done over the winter on my 400. Very good fabricator. For both the front and rear bimini tops they have one piece that slides through the channel on the radar arch, about 3" wide, and that zips to the main bimini fabric. The zippers are covered with a velcro flap to seal them. This design makes it so that you can just unzip and fold the bimini back of you need to get to the arch, and also makes it much easier to take down and put up because you arent threading the whole cover through the arch channel.

You might be able to retrofit yours with a similar design.

Edit:
It is hard to see with the black on black, but this is how our canvas is set up. At first I didnt understand why they did it this way, but the first time I had to get to the radar arch it made so much sense.
Click to expand...
yobub said:
View attachment 69227 View attachment 69227 View attachment 69228 I had custom canvas done over the winter on my 400. Very good fabricator. For both the front and rear bimini tops they have one piece that slides through the channel on the radar arch, about 3" wide, and that zips to the main bimini fabric. The zippers are covered with a velcro flap to seal them. This design makes it so that you can just unzip and fold the bimini back of you need to get to the arch, and also makes it much easier to take down and put up because you arent threading the whole cover through the arch channel.

You might be able to retrofit yours with a similar design.

Edit:
It is hard to see with the black on black, but this is how our canvas is set up. At first I didnt understand why they did it this way, but the first time I had to get to the radar arch it made so much sense.
Click to expand...
That looks much clearer very nice
 
QT1 said:
My last boat had the canvas attached to the radar arch is worked fine. Problem I have now is my latest boat where the PO had canvas which is only 2 years old added under the arch. It's going to cost me a pretty penny, but I want it attached to the arch to be able to use the cockpit lights, other than installing some type of lights in the radar arch
Click to expand...
 
I have seen many boats now that the camper is attached to the arch .I talked to the canvas guy n he said it would be expensive to make mine to attach to arch I personally think he doesn't want to do that
 
New Sunbrella does leak. It takes a few weeks for the sunbrella to gather dust and debris and plug the holes. Remember it’s canvas not fiberglass. I replaced mine a few years ago. Canvas Innovations in Holland Mi told me to give it a couple of weeks. They were correct. My canvas initially leaked. After a few weeks it was water tight.

As for attaching to arch: all it takes is a little more Kedder. It sounds like he doesn’t want to do it
 
Howie o said:
I have seen many boats now that the camper is attached to the arch .I talked to the canvas guy n he said it would be expensive to make mine to attach to arch I personally think he doesn't want to do that
Click to expand...
I agree. Many tops are attached to the arch.
 
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