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Hardtops-a-building for Looking Glass

Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 11:14 pm
by LookingGlass
I'm currently building a flybridge hardtop and aft deck hardtop for Looking Glass. The material is Nidacore 1.5" honeycomb with glass skins of 1708 biax fabric and polyester resin. This is my 4th boat hardtop.

The flybridge top is 12' wide and 14' long, which will give more sun protection and a mounting surface for (4) 300 watt solar panels. The aft top is 12' wide x 8' long, which will shade the aft deck and companionway. The upper hardtop is supported on 4 fiberglass supports, also of Nidacore and glass, with some carbon fiber for added stiffness. The lower deck ties into the aft supports of the upper deck, as well as two aluminum columns on the aft steps.

The 5 lb/ cu ft honeycomb core is the major expense, at $107 per 4'x8' sheet from Merritt Supply in Pompano Beach, FL. 11 sheets will provide core for both tops and 4 supports. The Glass and resin cost about half that.

The 4 upright supports are finished and attached to the house. The tops will be built over a curved form of 1x6's to give 5" of curvature over the 12' width. Weight of the larger top should be just about 200 lbs.

I've tried to attach a photo, but get an error message that the file is too large. I don't know how to make the photo file smaller on my IPhone.

Re: Hardtops-a-building for Looking Glass

Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2017 11:20 pm
by LookingGlass
Correction. The Nidacore honeycomb is $106 for each 4'x7' sheet, 1.5" thick. Don't know why they make them only 7' long.

Re: Hardtops-a-building for Looking Glass

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2018 11:32 am
by Expatriate
Mark,

What ever happened with this? I am considering adding a hard top. I did it on my sailboat, a Morgan 384, and I loved it. No maintenance, storm proof, and a great place of solar panels. I would love to see pictures of your progress. Thanks.

Tim

Re: Hardtops-a-building for Looking Glass

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2018 4:00 pm
by Gusto
Has anybody looked into or tried the "Hard-to-top" product? They custom build it to your specs. It attaches to your bimini bows and weighs just over 100 pounds and I think would cost us less that $1500. A little over twice the replacement cost of my tired bimini but would be permanent.

Bob MacNeill
Gusto 2006 34' #83

Re: Hardtops-a-building for Looking Glass

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2018 7:36 pm
by Corkboulder
There are at least 2 MV PDQs with hard top Biminis, an MV34 out of Punta Gorda and my 2001 MV32, hull 004 (new to me). It has two solar panels and in the 2 years I’ve owned it I haven’t seen a bridge yet (throughout south Florida) that I would have only cleared with a folding Bimini. Happy to have it and having dealt with folding canvas highly recommend.

Re: Hardtops-a-building for Looking Glass

Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2018 8:47 pm
by Expatriate
pictures are a pain. Thank you for the dimensions. Does the flybridge hardtop go back to the radar mast? How did you handle flybridge access through the aft hardtop? Thanks.

Re: Hardtops-a-building for Looking Glass

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 8:16 am
by Corkboulder
On mine the hardtop is notched to accommodate the mast. Here's a picture for anyone interested. (I've since removed the satellite receiver and replaced the digital antenna with one mounted on the mast).

Re: Hardtops-a-building for Looking Glass

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 1:24 pm
by duetto
did the hardtop company make the support structure in addition to the hardtop?

Re: Hardtops-a-building for Looking Glass

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 4:45 pm
by Corkboulder
In my case I would expect so, there’s a label on the uprights indicating it was made by “Atlantic” (per my notes), if you want I’ll see what else is on the label tomorrow and post that here. Sorry but I don’t know if this was done out of of the factory or commissioned by the PO.

Re: Hardtops-a-building for Looking Glass

Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2018 8:22 am
by Corkboulder
To follow up, my tower is labeled as made by Atlantic Towers out of Bayville, NJ. They have a robust web site at http://www.atlantictowers.com. Their database indicates they’ve also built one for a 2003 PDQ 34 (no pictures however).