Company:
Marine Tops Unlimited

Project Details

Fabric 1

Marine Vinyl
Producer/Manufacturer: Keyston Bros.
Primary Use: Main Fabric

Fabric 2

Sunbrella
Producer/Manufacturer: Glen Raven Custom Fabrics LLC
Primary Use: Secondary Fabric

Fabric 3

StrataGlass
Producer/Manufacturer: Herculite Products Inc.
Primary Use: Window

Fabric 4

GatorsStep
Producer/Manufacturer: OTHER
Primary Use: OTHER

Fabric 5

Stainless Steel Tubing and Fittings
Producer/Manufacturer: Keyston Bros.
Primary Use: Hardware/Findings


Design Name
Carl Van Damme

Design Company
Marine Tops Unlimited

Fabrication Name
Kyle Van Damme

Fabrication Company
Marine Tops Unlimited

Installation Name
Todd Pusser

Installation Company
Marine Tops Unlimited


Please describe the project specifications

The customer brought their boat to us and wanted quotes for almost every type of projects we do at our shop including upholstery, marine flooring, canvas enclosures, and canvas cockpit covers. We ended up with a whole transformation project on this Baja .38 Special.

The boat has a very cool paint job that was recently done within the last couple years and the owner wanted to bring the cockpit upholstery out of the 90s and into a modern clean and sleek look. We worked with the customer extensively to change some lines and design something that would really look great.

The customer was also looking to have an enclosure made for this boat which would require all new frames for the bimini top and a cantilever frame setup for a small camper back as well. We spent a lot of time to make sure we created a functional enclosure while still maintaining the sporty lines of this performance boat.

We were also tasked with fabricating a new cockpit cover for this boat as well as some new flooring for the swim platform area and several steps leading up to the front of the boat.


What is unique or complex about the project?

What better for a transformation project then something like this where you complete projects that encompass almost everything you do at your shop. That, and the look of this boat from where it started when it came to us makes this a really look project for us to look at all the before and after pictures!

This one started right out of the gates with a bunch of fun for us. We discovered that this boat has a rotten wood structure for the entire sundeck and had to rebuild this entire sundeck from scratch using starboard instead of wood. This was by far the most complicated sundeck we have had to upholster, much less rebuild the base of. It has a lot of 3D shaping and several pieces that bolted together to make one sundeck. On top of that, we had to custom cut and shape a bunch of foam to replace a lot of the base cushions where the foam felt dead. We spent a lot of time to design a mostly white clean look and introduce the purple and silver carbon fiber materials as accents into places throughout the boat. There were also a couple accent panels on the sides that we gave a checkered flag look to by cutting small pieces of the materials and sewing together to give the elusion of a waving checkered flag. This part was a nice touch but very time consuming as well.

We also custom bent all the bows to design a new bimini top and cantilever camper back frame setup. The customer was very concerned with keeping the sporty look of this boat when the enclosure would be in use. Along with this we also had to create a new Sunbrella cockpit cover for the boat and pattern, design, and install several pieces of EVA flooring around the boat.


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