www.iFourWinns.com

Hi All,

First time poster! Thanks for letting me join Scott.

A couple years ago we sold our 96 Bayliner after owning it for almost 20 years. We decided we didn't want to go another summer without a boat so we've been looking for the last few months. Found a pretty good deal on a 2012 H180. Low hours, nicely equipped and the interior and exterior are in really nice shape. It comes with the 4.3 mercruiser TKS, it has a Roswell tower with racks an integrated Bimini top.

There are really only 3 issues that I want to address.

1) The cover that the Bimini folds and zips into is pretty beat up and ripped. I had to tie it up with string and bungies to keep it from flapping and ripping further when driving the trailer home on the highway. The Bimini itself isn't perfect but will probably last a couple more years. It just has a few small holes in it. Maybe I could bring it to an upholstery place to have it fixed.

2) There is a rear view mirror attached by a heavy duty bracket to the Roswell Wake Tower, but the bracket doesn't stay in place and there is a lot of black plastic residue being left on the tower. It looks like there is a plastic insert inside the "collar ?" that attaches the bracket to the tower.

3) The seat for the rear bench is not attached. It has the sport seating and the large sun pad over the engine compartment. Everything else works well just the seat on the bench needs to be reattached.

So my questions are;
Was the Roswell tower an option directly through Four Winns or was it after market?
Where is the best place to look for the Bimini covers and the collar inserts for the tower?

Also, for anyone who has boat with the same rear seat, could you tell me how it attaches? It has a white piece of wood on the bottom of the seat in the middle pointing towards the stern. It looks like it might insert into a bracket on the bottom of the backrest but there isn't anything there. On the front it looks like maybe just velcro straps but I don't know if that would be enough to keep it from sliding forward.

Any insights would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Berk

From Abbotsford BC Canada

Welcome!

I don't have any direct answers for you, but I might be able to offer some suggestions. With regard to the tower bracket for the mirror, maybe try to get in touch with Roswell Towers and see if that setup is one of their options, or, if not, do they have something better that would provide a more secure attachment of the mirror.

On the Bimini cover, Your quickest bet is probably to go to an upholstery shop (or one that specializes in boat work) and see if they can just make you one. As for the current holes in the bimini top, I've used a product called Performix VLP (https://www.amazon.com/Performix-61Z09-Liquid-Vinyl-Repair/dp/B000PS6N4E) before and it works very well as a temporary fix on both vinyl and fabrics. That should work to buy you some time before a final replacement cover is needed.

_________________

1999 180 Horizon OB Fisherman Pkg
San Antonio, TX

Choice of tow vehicle:
'93 Explorer 4x4 (sold)
'05 Grand Cherokee 4x4 w/ 5.7 Hemi (member of the 240k+ mile club!)

Thanks for the advice. I will look into the Performix VLP.

I found a tag on the bimini which had the model number and name of the original manufacturer for Four Winns. Its a company called Great Lakes Boat Top Co. I emailed them for a price quote on a new Bimini top and zippered boot. Just a little under US $1100 not including shipping. They use the original patterns and guarantee the fit.

I also figured out the mirror attachment to the tower. The previous owner was nice enough to leave a brand new collar insert in the boat and it worked great. I just had to spend about an hour scraping off all the old plastic residue.

So, the only thing I have to figure out still is how the rear seat cushion attaches to the base and or backrest. If anyone has a picture of theirs I would appreciate it. Or if someone could point me to a parts manual online that has diagrams. That would be great!

Thanks,
Berk