Need some opinions guys...

[75MillerJet]

I'm debating whether or not to bolt up a new windshield on my boat or not. It currently has no windshield, just 20 to 30 1/8" or 1/4" sized holes where the old windshield used to be mounted. Here's a couple pics of it with no windshield and one WITH a windshield. I'm thinking about just saving my money and getting some red stringer washers from rex or dana, and some stainless screws to dress up the holes. IMO it doesn't look bad without a windshield except for the holes. Opinions? Suggestions?
Pat
EDIT: ***DISREGARD THE FIRST PIC I UPLOADED THE WRONG ONE***

[75MillerJet]

here ya go

[Devilman]

I'm debating whether or not to bolt up a new windshield on my boat or not. It currently has no windshield, just 20 to 30 1/8" or 1/4" sized holes where the old windshield used to be mounted. Here's a couple pics of it with no windshield and one WITH a windshield. I'm thinking about just saving my money and getting some red stringer washers from rex or dana, and some stainless screws to dress up the holes. IMO it doesn't look bad without a windshield except for the holes. Opinions? Suggestions?
Pat
EDIT: ***DISREGARD THE FIRST PIC I UPLOADED THE WRONG ONE***
It doesn't look bad without the windshield. I dunno, if it was mine, I don't think I would put one on it. Just have to worry about it not getting leaned on & broken. :rollside: Trust me, I know all about that.....:D

[Wicked Performance Boats]

75millerjet, I had a Southwind mini daycruiser that I took the windshield off of. You can go to home depot and in their hardware dept, they make these plastic caps that you can put a screw thru and snap shut. Makes it look like a small button. Black or white only. Budlight

[centerhill condor]

http://www.***boat.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=22521&d=1169493007
I'm at the same point myself and am leaning towards no windshield. Part of the fun is bugs in your teeth..:)

[GasGuzzler]

I like it better with the tinted windshield, I think it looks better and sets the boat off.

[75MillerJet]

75millerjet, I had a Southwind mini daycruiser that I took the windshield off of. You can go to home depot and in their hardware dept, they make these plastic caps that you can put a screw thru and snap shut. Makes it look like a small button. Black or white only. Budlight
well my first idea was just those screw looking plastic things that have the fins so when you push them into the hole the fins grab and don't back out. and then i thought well i might as well make it look nice and not cheap so i figured some powder coated red washers would look nice around there. thinking about just getting some countersunk interior washers for like $0.30/5 pack and having them powder coated. decisions decisions...

[4trax]

I like it with windshield.

[Wicked Performance Boats]

Better looking with NO windshield. MHO Budlight

[El Prosecutor]

Better looking with NO windshield. MHO Budlight
I think it looks GREAT either way, but will vote with Budlight on this one, unless you have a problem getting splashed over the deck and would get use out of it that way.

[squirt'nmyload]

nice looking boat!!....i like it without the windshield

[Wicked Performance Boats]

It's like wearing colored sunglasses. Ok, if you're gay! j/k Budlight

[75MillerJet]

lol... ok well i think i'm gonna do the powdercoated washers and stainless screws. any more suggestions are welcomed. thanx guys.
pat

[atxwrangler]

looks good without,but,if you do put one on it,make it smoke ,not red.just my .02

[75MillerJet]

looks good without,but,if you do put one on it,make it smoke ,not red.just my .02
i agree with you 100%. if i do it it will definitely be as dark as i can get it. i'm going to send some pics to wayne earl and see if its possible to get a price quote. we'll go from there i guess.
Pat

[sanger rat]

How about one half as tall bent out of aluminum. Powder coat to match.:idea:

[SmokinLowriderSS]

IMO the boat looks better with the windshield, but it doesn't look bad without (unlike mine).

[supersoaker509]

My vote would be windshield.
Smoked dark and make it longer on the sides, it will fit the paint lines better
Something like the Daytona has. It looks great both ways.
IMHO :D

[sanger455]

i like it with out the windshield

[sleekcrafter]

My vote is no wind screen, they are about useless, and age rather quickly.
It looks very clean with out, nice ride you got there:cool:

[Nucking futs]

No windsheild,clean looking boat..I took mine off.
http://www.southwindjetboats.com/az/t3.JPG
http://www.southwindjetboats.com/az/t1.JPG

[dmontzsta]

I would vote no windshield as well. It doesnt look "dated" enough to have a windshield and looks cleaner without. Plus, you dont have to worry about drilling holes and having them start to spider crack.
BTW: Good looking boat.

[Mr. Crusader 83]

no windshield.

[75MillerJet]

you guys are killing me... i ordered some of those screw caps that wicked was talking about so i'm gonna try those out and if they look ridiculous i guess i'm gonna have to start savin'. I'll post some pics once i get them on so you guys can give me another score.
Pat

[SB]

No windshield. Makes it easier to climb out over the bow.
The only thing a windshield is good for is coming home in the rain. But your tiny one wouldn't help that anyway.

[78Southwind]

That boat has some really clean lines. I would leave the windshield off it takes away from how clean the boat looks.

[Classic Daycruiser]

Leave the windscreen off. Take the boat in for a touch-up and have the holes filled and those other problems touched up at the same time. It should not be hard to match the color.

[Sagabu]

I'm debating whether or not to bolt up a new windshield on my boat or not. It currently has no windshield, just 20 to 30 1/8" or 1/4" sized holes where the old windshield used to be mounted. Here's a couple pics of it with no windshield and one WITH a windshield. I'm thinking about just saving my money and getting some red stringer washers from rex or dana, and some stainless screws to dress up the holes. IMO it doesn't look bad without a windshield except for the holes. Opinions? Suggestions?
Pat
EDIT: ***DISREGARD THE FIRST PIC I UPLOADED THE WRONG ONE***
Windsheild!

[75MillerJet]

ok guys here is what it looks like now with the snap caps covering the holes from the windshield. I'm really happy with the way it turned out and I'm leaning towards keeping it this way instead of going with a windshield. I lucked out and found the snap caps in a pretty damn close color to my gel. What does everyone think? I also posted a pic of the left over scuffs from the old windshield. They have some black scuffs that don't look pretty like from rubber or whatever was in between the windshield and the gel. Anyone know how I can get rid of them or at least clean it up a bit?
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e151/dirtwizerd/windscreenbuttons002.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e151/dirtwizerd/windscreenbuttons001.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e151/dirtwizerd/windscreenbuttons006.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e151/dirtwizerd/windscreenbuttons010.jpg

[WVspeedfreak]

NO WINDSHIELD...looks sweet. The only thing a windshield does is slow you down....even if it is only by a fraction.

[75MillerJet]

NO WINDSHIELD...looks sweet. The only thing a windshield does is slow you down....even if it is only by a fraction.
lol i think i could've bet that you would say that, going by ur name :D

[Devilman]

Looks pretty damn good, in my opinion. They do match pretty well! Those smudge marks may come off with WD-40. I don't know if WD-40 will bother the gelcoat though, wouldn't think so......

[jetboat]

windshield as thats the way it came.

[Gayleen]

Your boat look great either way. But, if you have family, friend, pets or drunks on your boat, I would leave the windshield off. It would most likely get broken.

[75MillerJet]

Your boat look great either way. But, if you have family, friend, pets or drunks on your boat, I would leave the windshield off. It would most likely get broken.
I will friends that are drunks so I guess I'm leaving it off. :D

[4trax]

That looks really nice. Nice job!;)

[squirt'nmyload]

look good.....i had some scuff marks on my boat and they came out when i was wet sanding the boat.

[75MillerJet]

look good.....i had some scuff marks on my boat and they came out when i was wet sanding the boat.
wet sanding scares me

[atxwrangler]

looks good!

[squirt'nmyload]

wet sanding scares me
i hear ya on that....i felt the same way until i started on it, now it looks 1000 times better than it did..i've done it 2 times already and plan on doing it once more....i stayed with 1500 and it worked out good, but maybe try something finer than that......then it really shined up after buffing it.

[flat broke]

Normally I don't like winshields on boats. But your deck was tooled for one, and it looks a little odd with the recess there. Anyone who knows what they're looking at knows there should be some acrylic there. That being said, I think the best compromise would be to go DIY with some black .250" acrylic and make your own parts to fill in the gap. Make cardboard templates of each section (front left, front right, and each side) but let the templates stand just over the deck in the front, with the sides trailing back to become flush with the deck. Then go to a plastics supplier and purchase a sheet of acrylic big enough to cover the area of the 4 parts your going to need. If you don't have a good table saw/blade, you could actually have the acrylic supplier cut each of your pieces to exact size, leaving you to only have to do the final buffing on the edges. Then you lay a very thin film of 5200 on the recess and clamp each piece to the hull using a wood block to distribute the load and keep from scratching the acrylic. Once done, you'll have a nice black tiny winshield that looks like it belongs, doesn't have any hardware showing, and was waaaay cheaper than a replacement winshield for the one you used to have on there.
Chris

[75MillerJet]

Normally I don't like winshields on boats. But your deck was tooled for one, and it looks a little odd with the recess there. Anyone who knows what they're looking at knows there should be some acrylic there. That being said, I think the best compromise would be to go DIY with some black .250" acrylic and make your own parts to fill in the gap. Make cardboard templates of each section (front left, front right, and each side) but let the templates stand just over the deck in the front, with the sides trailing back to become flush with the deck. Then go to a plastics supplier and purchase a sheet of acrylic big enough to cover the area of the 4 parts your going to need. If you don't have a good table saw/blade, you could actually have the acrylic supplier cut each of your pieces to exact size, leaving you to only have to do the final buffing on the edges. Then you lay a very thin film of 5200 on the recess and clamp each piece to the hull using a wood block to distribute the load and keep from scratching the acrylic. Once done, you'll have a nice black tiny winshield that looks like it belongs, doesn't have any hardware showing, and was waaaay cheaper than a replacement winshield for the one you used to have on there.
Chris
a 3 piece windscreen? got any pics of this idea? sounds like it would look a little odd.

[OverKill]

Normally I don't like winshields on boats. But your deck was tooled for one, and it looks a little odd with the recess there. Anyone who knows what they're looking at knows there should be some acrylic there. That being said, I think the best compromise would be to go DIY with some black .250" acrylic and make your own parts to fill in the gap. Make cardboard templates of each section (front left, front right, and each side) but let the templates stand just over the deck in the front, with the sides trailing back to become flush with the deck. Then go to a plastics supplier and purchase a sheet of acrylic big enough to cover the area of the 4 parts your going to need. If you don't have a good table saw/blade, you could actually have the acrylic supplier cut each of your pieces to exact size, leaving you to only have to do the final buffing on the edges. Then you lay a very thin film of 5200 on the recess and clamp each piece to the hull using a wood block to distribute the load and keep from scratching the acrylic. Once done, you'll have a nice black tiny winshield that looks like it belongs, doesn't have any hardware showing, and was waaaay cheaper than a replacement winshield for the one you used to have on there.
Chris
He does'nt have any black on his boat so why tell him to put a black replacement? that alone would tell anyone there used to be a windshield there. I feel what he is trying to go after is there is an option of, windshield or no windshield.
If I were to fab. something I would make templates of all sides and fronts and fiberglass my template cut outs, gel coat the red or yellow witch ever he perfers.

[75MillerJet]

i hear ya on that....i felt the same way until i started on it, now it looks 1000 times better than it did..i've done it 2 times already and plan on doing it once more....i stayed with 1500 and it worked out good, but maybe try something finer than that......then it really shined up after buffing it.
so u just wet sanded with the 1500 and then went straight to polish? compound? what was ur method?

[squirt'nmyload]

so u just wet sanded with the 1500 and then went straight to polish? compound? what was ur method?
pretty much.......my gel was pretty bad and the metalflake was rough(felt like griptape), so i wet sanded till i got it smooth....then rinsed it off, then i buffed with meguiar's diamond cut compound 2.0, then i buffed using a foam pad with meguiar's marine-rv polish (blue bottle)......fyi, i was doing the whole boat to begin with, i wasn't doing just because of the scuffs, but they were gone after the wetsanding and buffing

[squirt'nmyload]

before
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k265/squirtnmyload/DSCF0308.jpg
after
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k265/squirtnmyload/DSCF0802.jpg
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k265/squirtnmyload/DSCF0804.jpg

[75MillerJet]

wow huge difference... still scared to try it tho! :eek:

[squirt'nmyload]

ha ha....i was scared too cause i never did it before but obviously it worked out good.....with a few tips from hotrod sprint:)

[boatgonewild]

I think I like it when my freinds can just slether on and off the deck. But I do like to 180 that boat more then I should ,, have swamped 2 CD decks
But my vote is NO NO a thousand times no

[flat broke]

a 3 piece windscreen? got any pics of this idea? sounds like it would look a little odd.
It would actually be 4 pieces. Two in the front, and one on each side. If you know what your doing with a saw, you're seams will be damn near invisible.
But you're right, it would probably look odd compared to a bunch of upholstery buttons sticking up off the recess where a windscreen used to be.
I'd upload a pic into the image center but it's not working, so I'll try to attach it to the post.
23401
http://www.***boat.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=23401&d=1170398457
Chris

[flat broke]

He does'nt have any black on his boat so why tell him to put a black replacement? that alone would tell anyone there used to be a windshield there. I feel what he is trying to go after is there is an option of, windshield or no windshield.
If I were to fab. something I would make templates of all sides and fronts and fiberglass my template cut outs, gel coat the red or yellow witch ever he perfers.
By the time he or someone pays for the labor and materials for that, he could just build up the whole area with mat and cloth, then reshoot the whole thing. :rolleyes: As far as windshield or no windshield, my vote is windshield, but smaller than the previous. I was trying to help the guy out with a way to do it on the cheap but still get professional looking results.
With regard to your comment about the black, there are plenty of boats running around with a black gelcoated area that resembles a windscreen, but is just black gel on the rise of the deck. To avoid using hardware which could crack the acrylic over time, the silicone mounting method I had mentioned would require an opaque acrilic. If you've seen straight red acrylic, you'd know it wont match his gel and as such, I suggested black.
Chris

[Jetdriver]

Pat,
I think you have done a great job with the buttons. But I still thinking a very small black windshield would look the best. But hey what do I know :D :D :D
Keep up the great work, glad the boat is getting some attention now.
Shawn

[75MillerJet]

Well I like the idea but a conern is still how it will hold up with people jumping in and out and such. Don't get me wrong if money was no issue I would just have one made and if it broke I would buy another one. I like the windscreen, but I'm just wondering if it will be worth it when (in mine and others opinions) it looks pretty good with the snap caps.