I have a 2000 sea ray 37 express cruiser, i am looking for a factory hard top, for my boat, boats were built in florida, 1997 to year 2000 will work, if anyone knows of one sitting somewhere or has any leads on where i can find one i will pay a finders fee, any info would be greatly appreciated, thank you nick
hard top wanted
aquaholic
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103 Posts
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- new jersey
I have a 2000 sea ray 37 express cruiser, i am looking for a factory hard top, for my boat, boats were built in florida, 1997 to year 2000 will work, if anyone knows of one sitting somewhere or has any leads on where i can find one i will pay a finders fee, any info would be greatly appreciated, thank you nick
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8,298 Posts
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- West Michigan
Confusing. You have one or want one?
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103 Posts
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- new jersey
im looking for a hardtop, for my 37 express
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286 Posts
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- Lake Lanier, GA
How many times have you posted this on the board?
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3,518 Posts
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- Covington, LA
Contact Scott, the owner of Swim Platforms, Inc. www.swimplatforms.com. For a while they were looking at producing hardtops along with platforms. I don't know where that project ended up but he may still have molds.
Shawn
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103 Posts
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thank you i will look into it
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103 Posts
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how many times have you read it, is this a trick question
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3,518 Posts
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I couldn't remember it earlier but Scott's last name is Samuelson. He is a Sea Ray guy....
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12,226 Posts
I can't see why an aftermarket company would build molds and set up production for an item with extremely limited application and demand.
There was a 370EC owner in our marina that ordered the last hard top Sea Ray produced before destroying the mold. The cost was about $15K installed. Where is the payback, other than you just want one, because adding $15K to a 20 year old boat, usually doesn't increase the market value anywhere near that much.
The other factor is that for a swim platform, the platform is added to only one surface on the boat so there are no fit issues. A hard top is a different animal because it must fit between the side walls of the cockpit. The boat mentioned above is an example.....the hard top was added in 2001 to a 1998 model boat and the top came no where slose to fitting. Perhaps the boat had relaxed, but there was a huge gap on each side of the hard top that had to be filled to get a decent fit.
I thnk your best bet is to continue searching for a salvageable used hard top because sourcing a new one is going to burn up time and won't yield a new top.
There was a 370EC owner in our marina that ordered the last hard top Sea Ray produced before destroying the mold. The cost was about $15K installed. Where is the payback, other than you just want one, because adding $15K to a 20 year old boat, usually doesn't increase the market value anywhere near that much.
The other factor is that for a swim platform, the platform is added to only one surface on the boat so there are no fit issues. A hard top is a different animal because it must fit between the side walls of the cockpit. The boat mentioned above is an example.....the hard top was added in 2001 to a 1998 model boat and the top came no where slose to fitting. Perhaps the boat had relaxed, but there was a huge gap on each side of the hard top that had to be filled to get a decent fit.
I thnk your best bet is to continue searching for a salvageable used hard top because sourcing a new one is going to burn up time and won't yield a new top.
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3,518 Posts
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Frank, I know/knew Scott Samuelson. My old '89 340da was his originally and he ordered it when he was still a factory Sea Ray employee. When I was last in his shop and getting a tour Scott showed me several projects they were working on and one was hardtops.
Look at all the boat models they make platforms for. They don't have a mold for each one. They have several molds for the platforms and the molds accept an additional mold that matches the transom of each model of boat. If you ordered a platform for your 1996 450da they would pull the mold for that size boat, attach the mold for the '96 450da and make your platform. They were looking to do a similar type of fabrication for hardtops. As I said, I don't know if they dropped it or not. My guess is they did as there is nothing on their website but, maybe they still have the capability to do one....if someone is willing to pay.
Now, that said, I agree with you about putting a hardtop on a boat of the OP's vintage. I can think of other things to spend $15-20k on a 20-year old boat.
Shawn
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103 Posts
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well to answer your question, i have upgraded alot on this boat, it has two low hour 3126 engines, this boat regularly goes to the canyon, for day trips and over nighters , a hard top would provide me with a platform to mount rear faceing rod holders and lights high enough to illuminate the deck while fishing at night. also front u zips would no longer drip water while being sprayed in 5 foot tight chop, and to buy a 37 to 40 used foot sport fish express would cost me upwards of 200k and then a complete electronics package, as most of you know the 33 and 37 wide body searay was built for more than just wine and cheese, and i have been looking for a used one for a while now, i know their is a used one sitting somewhere just cant seem to find it yet, my fear of building one is that fit will not be acceptable, unless someone does the research to copy's a original, which i got the impression that scott could do, he seemed very confident, thank you sea-ray members
Have you thought about looking into having something custom made for you through Atlantic Towers (they're in NJ)? They do much more than just aluminum arches. I'm not trying to sway you away from Scott S - just offering another choice. I'm not sure if Atlantic would be able to produce an "original" hard top, but for your purposes maybe you want something more custom? I have a "regular" hardtop from them on my Grady, but I've seen some of their high end work and it looks very nice/upscale.
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6,232 Posts
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- Long island , NY
I'd love a hard top too but, they would have to raise my arch at the same time or build over it because I would just keep smashing my head on it!! Lol
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103 Posts
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do you smash your head on your arch ?
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6,113 Posts
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- Oakville and Georgian Bay, Ontario
I saw one for sale with a tower. That gave it a hard top of sorts. Looked like a nice setup.
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103 Posts
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- new jersey
the whole boat or just the tower and hardtop
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10,193 Posts
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- N. Wisconsin/Lk Superior
Do you have any good metal fabrication shops nearby? Maybe a car custom/restoration shop? If they're equiped for shaping it wouldn't be a very complicated job. Some boat arches/tops are painted aluminum.
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6,232 Posts
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The headroom clearance on my model 330 is not great. I'm 5'9" & have to stand to the left of the helm when running otherwise my head hits the bimini top!
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6,113 Posts
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Yup. Common complaint on our gen of 330 with the raised helm deck and low arch. Not a biggy for me. I run seated most of the time.
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6,113 Posts
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Whole boat. Google and you will see. There are a few of them. Actually looks like a great offshore set up for someone that is not a die-hard.
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