How to mount/screw bimini top to aluminum framed windshield?

[bumblebeeamigo]

The roof caved in at the storage facility we kept our boat at, and it crushed the windshield of our boat. We store it about 2000 miles from where we are at now.

No biggie, the shop replaced it and life was good, until I realized they didn't remount the bimini top.

So I order the brackets that go on the aluminum windshield frame to hold the bimini top hinges (1 on each side). The bracked did NOT include the screws.

There's two vertical screw holes in the brackets, but I can't even guess what kind or what length of screws to use? How far does the "Glass" typically go into those aluminum windshield frames? Are they solid aluminum or hollow? Do I have to tap screw holes or just drill them? What size screws do I get? I don't want to shatter the windshield glass, nor do I want the bimini to fly off while driving. I can't imagine a screw actually holding something like this into flimsy aluminum at all.

We haven't boated much this year because of the lack of the bimini top... so I'm getting frustrated that I can't find any information on how they work. All the "how tos" seem to be mounting ti a deck of fiberglass frame, not the windshield.

Any help much appreciated!

(The attached pictures are not my actual boat, but from a friend of mine- mustangboy429- that lives near me to show where the bimini top mounts. He sold this boat a few years ago so no longer has it, but I wanted to source the photos and also explain why I don't just go remove his screws and look!)

Boat is a Tahoe Q3 I/O

Thanks!

 

[Rick Stephens]

Probably a Taylor Marine windshield. They have dozens of different extrusions and inserts to hold the glazing. Inserts are a vinyl extrusion which surrounds and grips the glazing inside the aluminum extrusion channel. Something like this:


Not a lot of room for a screw, but enough. You should choose sheetmetal screws that will have full bite into the aluminum yet are short as possible so they don't push all the way through the vinyl into the glazing. You can pilot drill though the frame and you will feel the drill when it reaches glass. Before withdrawing the drill bit, mark it with a sharpie and that will give you a max depth. Add the frame depth to the bimini mount thickness and that give you maximum length for the screw.

I don't know any other way to do this yourself.

 

[bumblebeeamigo]

Probably a Taylor Marine windshield. They have dozens of different extrusions and inserts to hold the glazing. Inserts are a vinyl extrusion which surrounds and grips the glazing inside the aluminum extrusion channel. Something like this:


Not a lot of room for a screw, but enough. You should choose sheetmetal screws that will have full bite into the aluminum yet are short as possible so they don't push all the way through the vinyl into the glazing. You can pilot drill though the frame and you will feel the drill when it reaches glass. Before withdrawing the drill bit, mark it with a sharpie and that will give you a max depth. Add the frame depth to the bimini mount thickness and that give you maximum length for the screw.

I don't know any other way to do this yourself.

It is a Taylor Marine Windshield.

This is VERY helpful. I didn't know it had a vinyl insert like that in there,so thats really helpful. That tells me I don't actually have to tap solid aluminum, and that I need a real short stainless sheet metal screw.

That is precisely what I needed to know, and now I have confidence to approach it. Thank you!

 

[Rick Stephens]

Good luck! I bet you have no issues.

Rick