Opinions wanted before I pull the trigger....UPDATE

[Fishtails]

I have taken the opportunity this season to fish off of friends boats, and have left mine at home for the season to give her some needed tlc. This break has finally given me a chance to do some major work and I am finally getting started on it.

Besides some small stuff, the power plants are fine, as the twin six's and outdrives have been replaced over the past couple years. Over all the boat is rock solid and has been our main tournament vessel the past 4 years. My main objective is to rewire, as the boat is 30 years old and the wiring is a bit of a mess. I have all the original wiring diagrams, so I think I am good to go an that, but any ideas or suggestions would be welcome.

But what I need opinions on is the flybridge. I want to remove it and go to a strait hard top. I don't use it, and the kids are growing up and don't go up there anymore. It adds weight, a lot of wind resistanse, lots of extra wiring and cables I want to clean up, etc, etc. I also want to raise the top a few inches, as it's only about 5'9" under the hardtop and we have all cracked our head numerous times.

I started the process, but found it's probably glued down, as I removed all the screws but it's not budging in the center. I can cut it, but that will be a point of no return, so I want to be really sure this is what I want to do.

Any opinions? Is it worth all the effort. I plan on keeping the boat for awhile yet, so I really am leaning towards doing this while I have her out of use for the season.

Here is what the bridge looks like (only pic I can find...wife moved them somewhere)

Here is the same boat as mine, but with a strait hardtop. This is what I am going after.

So what do ya think.....go for it? Or...get over it and leave it alone?

[ray koziatek]

Add a second bridge try to get it up to 20 to 30 ft so you can read the water better and be shure to slip it behind a 10 ft bridge clearance port,,,,specially when yer fishin against me so it will leavel the playing field a little ...

Thank You

Ray K.

Hope This Helps........................(me)

[Tim Bromund]

Rod,

you may want to try contacting Yvan. I believe he did that exact thing with the Sea Ray Flybridge he used to have a couple boats ago.

Tim

[ac holmes]

I have never done that specific job, but have done a lot of boat work. I bet the boat was put together structurally, as if it was a hard top with the flybridge added/fastened/glued on. Find that joint and cut the top of with a sawsall or whatever it takes to get it seperated. It should be quite easy to smooth things up with some "bondo" and put a couple of layers of class and resin, or perhaps a skin of high grade plywood first, and then glass and resin.

[lakebound88]

snip!!! get to her!! Picture by picture play back for us:)

[traveling man]

Rod, I think you should cut it off. How are you going to raise the hardtop?

[ray koziatek]

try walkin on yer knees then youll be my hight,,,

[ac holmes]

Hello again,

My earlier suggestions did not consider your idea for raising the top. That does add a little complication but can make the top removal less touchy.

Just cut it off with a sawsall, following the existing top as your guide. Bolt/screw/glue a band is 1/2 inch marine ply around the open pilot house as wide as you need for headroom plus the thickness of the roof beams. Then, drop beams (arched on the band saw or laminated to a form) into notches in the plywood (white oak, clear spruce or Douglas fir is also fine) and sheath with marine plywood and then glass, resin and paint. You might want to make the roof strong enough to support one person. Use screws and 3M 5200 and light weight, high quality lumber. Sounds like a fun project with a great results a sure thing.

[Iceman]

Suggest you skip using any wood, & go with foam & resin.

[Fishtails]

Thanks for the suggestions! I was thinking cutting it as well, so that sounds like the way I am leaning. I will probably just snap a chalk line and cut it. Making the new top should be fun and not to hard. To raise it, I was really hoping to not make it overly complicated. The aluminum window frame and the fiberglass top are bolted together. Right now I can't access the bolts, but I am thinking as I get into this job I should be able to access them from the top. I have not really thought this part through, but my gut feeling was to add a spacer between the window frame and the top.

Wouldn't that work? I measured it last night...there is about 5'10 under the hardtop. I would like to get 4 or more inches. I want this job to look good, so that is a big factor.

Thanks again for all the input...it's helping in the thought process.

I started the electrical yesterday....pulled the dash and all the gauges and ordered new ones. Half of them didn't work anymore. Good lord there are a lot of wires. With twins I have two sets of gauges. I am in no hurry though, so I can take the time to make it right

[Just Fishin']

Sounds like a fun project. Keep us informed with reports and photo's if you have a chance.

[rustyrat]

Rod cut it all off and put an arch and a soft top on her. Quick and easy. Lot less headache and cash. Lol. Good luck.

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[Big Dave]

sun roof???

[Knotlost]

If your careful and cut the bridge off without dammaging it, that would be worth something to some one looking to put one on. Take it off carefully and sell it, it will probably pay for the whole job.

The fly bridge/roof raising is the easyest job, I would go with aluminum as its easy to work with and lasts forever and is light. The only hard part is the transition from one to the other so it looks good or as good a possable.

[Fishtails]

Update...I finally plunged in and removed the top. There's no turning back now, seeing the top is in about 10 pieces

Saving the top was not an option, as it was glued down...not to mention it was about 300 plus pounds all intact. Nor did I want to be troubled to find that one person in the country that wants it. The trash man comes on Thursday and I can be done with it

I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I am already glad I did it. Here are a few pics of the process.

Next....I will be removing all the glass (half way there already) and adding a few inches to the top of the window frame. Lots of fab work to do to the top in the shop before putting it back on sometime next week.

[seasquirrel]

Nice. Did you keep the gauges? I am looking for an engine synchro gauge

[Fishtails]

Yes and no....I haven't thrown out the original gauges yet but it didn't have synchro gauges...sorry.

[borderline 350]

Dear FT,

Congrats on your project. The use of aluminum framing instead of wood will bring you right into the new century! As you might already know, a 39 tooth carbibe blade in your "Skil saw" and table saw will readily cut aluminum sheet and plate up to 1/2 inch thick with a bit of wax stick added to the blade before cutting. Raising the top in one of these Searays is a must for us trolling people. (I owned a 1979 Searay hardtop for two years and hit my head so many times, it was crazy!!) The boat will roll a lot less in a beam sea after removing the bridge, also.!! You should see better fuel mileage and about a 2 MPH increase in cruise speed also. And rewiring the boat will be a lot easier with only one staion. Keep up the good work and post some photos as you progress to completion.

.....Respectfully submitted...X-Jet Boat Bill

[Fishtails]

Just thought I'd update my progress....

Finally....I scrounged a few days to work on the roof and I got pretty far. Still a few long days of work yet till the top is done ,but at least it looks like a boat again. After lots of thought, I decided it would make the job too difficult to do in any medium except wood and fiberglass. Using aluminum would not have allowd me to raise it enough to make it worthwhile...at least not with my skill level. so in the end, I raised it 6.5" and now I have 6'3" of headspace in the back and 6'5"up by the helm

The very top is still unfinished, so that is next, but all in all I like the way it turned out. Hats off to those of you who have fiberglassed and built entire boats.....fiberglass work sure isn't fun, but in the end I know I'll be glad I did it.

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

Congrats Rod, that is really nice looking.

[spoonfed-1]

Looks good Rod.

Glen

[Pike Hunter]

Thats awesome project you re working on. Keep up with the excellent work!

[Knotlost]

cool it looks great.

[skipper19]

Nice job Rod! Looks professional

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[Fishtails]

Thanks guys ! Can't wait to get working on it again and finish it up. Thanks for all the encouragement

...I was a little afraid to cut it off, but now I am so glad I did! It was 40 hours well spent.