Tatty Spray Cover

[motornovice]

I recently purchased a Shetland Blackhawk as my first venture into boating. Everthing on the craft is in good condition remembering it is 20 years old. The only part I am not happy with currently is the sprayhood. It is not torn or damaged but has worn with the weather. I tried to clean it but it is still not looking the best. It is made from a shiny vinyl. My question is is there a way of painting this, or it not, who would make me one for cheaper than the £600 quoted by shetland.

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[Col]

If you fill in your profile it may give us a clue as to where you are.
Tell us where you are based, I'm sure someone here can point you in the right direction for someone locally to make one.

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[Col]

Hi Fergal. Welcome to the mad house. I know a few cover makers based in the Solent area which would be no good to you at all.
Anyone help with cover makers in Northern Ireland?
Good luck with your boat, I quite like the Blackhawk. What engine does yours have? I saw one once with a 175hp Suzuki!!!

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[tcm]

i have a fairly shiny vinylish bimini, sort of fabric underneath. I very successfully cleaned it with petrol, and then quickly whipped off the petrol with another brush slooshing from a bucket of fairly strong fairy liquid +water and then hose off. I used a soft yellow brush made of polystyrene or whatever, anyway the brush went solid and hence useless by the folliwng morning. It might be a good idea to try a small area first. Consequently, i didn't. But fortunately it worked anyway. Note that since you are down to the last few options, you may as well try anything, be honest.

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[Gordonmc]

I resurrected a sprayhood last year by painting and it is certainly worth the effort. It came from a skip, complete with aluminium frame and although whole and untorn it needed thorough cleaning. Some areas of vinyl had worn down to the canvas and there were black areas, caused I think by UV damage.
I made a jig for the frame in the garage and cleaned using thinners. Don't let the thinners puddle on the material... it will eventually melt through!
I used specialist paint called Flexicote, two coats. A google search will find a supplier. Luckily the red is a reasonable match for the original colour.
One year on and the sprayhood needs some touching up where there had been some rope abrasion, but I held some back for this eventuality.
If you do decide to have a new hood made up, why not send the old one away to use as a template? You might be able to save a few bob. Try Martex.

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[Dave_Knowles]

Hi Col,

Can you recomend anyone who could put some zips in my canvas cover at a reasonable price. At the moment it has two windows and I would like to be able to unzip them so I can see out without having to look through the widscreen at night.

I used a company in the past at Chichester but was not very happy with the service from them.

<hr width=100% size=1>Dave
Southampton - uk

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[Dave_Knowles]

Hi Fergal,

As Col said welcome to the mad house. I was in our local motor shop yesterday and found this company <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.texautomotive.com/6_renovo/renovo_frameset.html>http://www.texautomotive.com/6_renovo/renovo_frameset.html</A> which maybe worth investigating.



<hr width=100% size=1>Dave
Southampton - uk

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.MyCleopatra.co.uk>The site for cleopatra boat owners</A>

 

[Col]

Try JB yacht services. Speak to Jim on 01489 572487 He covers (pun intended) the Southampton area.

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