www.iFourWinns.com

I ordered a fourwinns cockpit cover for my funship and was thinking about installing it myself. What is involved? How difficult is it? I can get it installed for free but I want to get my boat to the marina as fast as I can
Thanks for the help

By "cockpit cover" do you mean the canvas cover that snaps on to cover the winshield and complete cockpit, when the boat is not in use ... such as on the trailer?

Like this?



If so, you will already have all of the snaps installed on the boat, you just snap the cover in place.

If this is not what you meant ..... try to describe the cover.

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Gordon Arnold
New Hampshire

2003 268 Vista ..................................................................Prior: 97 245 Sundowner

Thanks. That is the type of cover i was talking about. I currently have a camper cover. The current snaps on the boat will line up with the snaps on the canvas? I that is true I will only need to install snaps on the winsheild?
Thanks

Yes, the hull should have all of the snaps. If there are no snaps along the lower windshield frame, then yes you'll have to install them. There are two or three different sizes depending on the width of the slots in the frame. The snaps just clip into the frame.

Bear in mind your new canvas won't have snaps on it so you will have to install those. It probably makes sense to get the proper tool for doing that. I have not had luck with those cheapy $13 ones. I bought one that looks like vice grips and cost $50.

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Former owner of:
1996 Four Winns Horizon 200 5.8L VP
2006 Four Winns Horizon 260 8.1L VP
2007 Sea Ray 290 Sundancer

Current boat
2004 Sea Ray 290 Sun Sport Twin 350 Mags

Hmm..... the Cover from FW won't have the snaps installed? Never would have thought that. Well, if this is the ase, yes, you have another step ... installing the snaps on the canvas. Shoot, in the end, it may be just as well to have the dealer do the initial install, if it's free.

I took a look at the windshield frame snaps on the 03 268V and they are different than I described above (as on our 97 245 Sundowner and the 95 Chris Craft before that). These are a single post type that spreads (like a molly, sort of) as the screw in the center is tightened.

Snaps on 03 268V:




Here's the type that I has perviously described:

The canvas will come from the factory without snaps, when the boats are built at the factory people hand install all the snaps on the hull. This means that snap locations on hulls will vary from boat to boat. They are close, but not exactly the same. If they sent the canvas with snaps they wouldn't fit every boat. Your also going to have to install the windshield snaps which are not bad to install but your not going to have the snaps to line it up to on the canvas, you would have to decide the spacing yourself. As others have already mentioned, you would also want to definently invest in a nice snap tool. The ones we use make it very easy to put the snaps on and they are tight. The cheap ones will not always secure the top and bottom of the snaps well and they will start to pull apart in time. If your dealer offered to install the canvas for free I would take up that offer in a heartbeat! If it doesn't come out right then they are responsible for fixing it and canvas isn't cheap. We can spend a considerable amount of time installing new canvas, and we do it all the time. If you already had a cockpit cover on the boat with all the snaps on the boat and you were just replacing it because it was old, then that would be easier since you have the old canvas and the snaps on the boats as templates. Although, even if that was the case it can still be a pain in the neck.

Bear in mind that canvas stretches with heat. You want to avoid installing it when it's too hot or cold. If you install it cold then it'll end up puckering a little when it expands. Too hot and you'll never be able to get it snapped on when it's cool.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

I just re-watched the Four Winns marketing DVD (2005) and they make specific note that each canvas set is hand installed on each boat. So, as noted above....... you'd have to install the snaps on the canvas to match the snaps on the boat.

Shoot .... let the dealer do it.

Thanks for all the advice!
Ed

Unless you can get a "deal" from your dealer, I would shop it around at a few canvas shops, which is probably what your dealer might do anyway. You will find a wide variety of pricing this way. Often cheaper than at a dealer, as many dealers do not have a canvas shop.

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One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy