Tom, The rear corners on my 27 Express Cruiser have 2x6's under the fiberglass. I know because my fiberglass rear roof supports were cracked at the narrowest point when I bought the boat due to rot in the original 2x6's. I tore them out, put in new wood and re-glassed it. I've seen pictures of them with the headliner out and they have small fiberglass reinforcement beams across them, which is what the headliner rivets go into.
I haven't had the headliner off, but I did drill a hole in the top and put two 4x4 beams across the top of the boat. I then put additional 4x4's fore and aft underneath them to spread the load onto the outboard ends of the top. I put a one inch thick aluminum plate across the top of the first pair of 4x4's and used that to hoist my engine and transmission (together) out of the engine space. It didn't even creak. I have a Chrysler small block and the first time I did this I had a Borg-Warner 71C. Figure around 1100 pounds total. I've since re-built the engine and replaced the transmission with a Hurth 630A, so I've done this three times. I sure wouldn't worry about a few people. She's plenty strong. John --- On Mon, 5/25/09, tomdepot <[email protected]> wrote: From: tomdepot <[email protected]> Subject: [UnifliteWorld] flybridge support To: "UnifliteWorld" <[email protected]> Date: Monday, May 25, 2009, 1:51 PM Does anyone know what the structural support is for the hardtop/ flybridge floor of the 27/31 express cruiser? There are front windows, side windows, and the fiberglass that holds the front windows in place is too thin to be structural. That means that only four corners hold the hardtop up, and the question is, is there anything under that fiberglass? When I think of three adults on the flybridge in 3 foot seas, I think there must be 1000# or more intermittent loading on the hardtop with each impact, and I wonder what the potential for failure is. Has anyone removed the headliner? It is a thin fiberglass headliner that resembles cloth tacked up in a grid pattern, but is stiff, and I don't think I can remove it to see what is under it without damaging it. I might wish to reinforce the hardtop with stainless tubing or some such, but if someone knows firsthand that there is sufficient support in there, I won't worry so much. Thanks for any info. By the way, I have not experienced any flexing and have no real reason to worry, but the (very) thin fiberglass that the front windows are in has cracked completely through between the two front windows. I don't know why this has happened, but it is way to thin to be structural, and it has led me to other thoughts about the flybridge. Tom in Florida --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "UnifliteWorld" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/UnifliteWorld?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
