Shorten Bimini top width??

I have a bimini top in great condition that I saved off another boat

The frame (where it mounts to the boat) is 74 inches wide

The boat it is going on is only 54 inches wide

So I need to lose 20 inches give or take

I have an upholstry lady who can do the canvas, she says piece of cake to rip out the middle seam, remove the material required and then resew it.

I'm thinking about cutting the middle out and removing some, then reattaching the two pieces. There are 3 roof "supports" to this bimini that will have to be shortened.

I can weld, but no aluminum setup currently ($$), so welding this frame is out unless I take it somewhere. I also thought about using those splices used to run conduit, or possibly PVC slip ons and glue.

Just throwing this out there to see if there are any suggestions I might not have thought about

I am going to be doing this today and hopefully will have the frame on the boat by this evening

Dave

Re: Shorten Bimini top width??

Dave I would try to get a piece of aluminum pipe large enough to go over your current top bars then cut down the top and slip the pieces of tubing over it and either epoxy it together or drill and bolt the new pieces in place.


Rick

Re: Shorten Bimini top width??

I did just that to make the bimini on the MFG Niagara. Here is a photo showing the original frame, cut down frame, the sections removed and the pipe bender I rented for the afternoon (for about $10 from the local rental store).




The pipe bender is important because the bends needed to be made tighter to make it fit right.

The top bows also were actually 3 pieces. Once the vinyl was removed, the rivets holding the assembly together were visible. The sections were held together by a smaller section of tube that fit inside, and both outside pieces were riveted or screwed to it. I disassembled at the joins, cut down and reassembled.

See the whole project here: http://www.shareaproject.com/pages/projectTut,p,103,00.html

Re: Shorten Bimini top width??

I thought about the aluminum slipovers, but don't know if I can find something JUST big enough to fit over the old frame, but not have too much slop

Mark, as usual, Nice job on the homemade bimini frame.
Is there anything you can't do
I have one of those benders already....used it when we ran conduit in buildings when I used to own my company.

When I retired in 2005 I saved that little tool for future use