1993 Carver 380 AC - Fabricated Corner Extrusion

[DD2]

Hi everyone, I'm a new CYO member with my first Carver, a 1993 380 AC. LOVE this boat!

Bought it in Oct 2019 in Port Clinton, OH on Lake Erie. Took two full months to find a facility and to get on their schedule to remove the arch and hardtop, as well as, pull all the running gear out. Just a really bad time of year given that all the marinas were pulling and winterizing their customers. Finally, it was transported via tractor trailer and delivered in Dec 2019 on Friday the 13th... seamed a fitting date given the saga. There was absolutely no damage and all the connections were well marked. Now she's all put back together in the Pittsburgh, PA area.

She was missing the port side corner extrusion on the aft deck; from what I saw online, this is a common issue. Fortunately I have about 25 years experience managing fabrication and manufacturing facilities, and was able to reverse engineer the port side corner from the existing starboard side corner. Now I have drawings of both the starboard and port corners.

I had it fabricated from aluminum sheet and then powder coated. It turned out great! The small piece of acrylic that goes from the port corner to the swim deck ladder was also missing, so I made a new one. Having that corner properly closed up feels good and it looks great!

I wanted to share my purchase and disassembly experience in the event that someone needs help in the Port Clinton / Marble Head, OH area. Also, if anyone needs a new corner for their aft deck, I can help.

[chpsk8]

That's pretty cool to be able to do. Do you have any pictures? The corner on my '95 355 was missing also. I had it 3D printed by a slip neighbor.He had to do it in 4 pieces. I need to do some bodywork to smooth them all down now and then paint them. You are right though, does make a difference to have the corners all tied up.
Nice job!

[km1125]

Excellent story, but where are the pics??? WE LOVE PICS!!

[Midnightsun]

Welcome to CYO. Pics or it did not happen

[Viper]

Welcome aboard DD2

[g36]

welcome. there may be some interest from others with later carver aft cabins for the corners although i suspect they wont be the same deminisions. is that also a possibility once you had some measurements?

[DD2]

So I gather that I should post some pics... here you go!

I’ve already made another port corner for a guy with a 1994 AC, fit perfect. As for other years, I’m sure the radius of the corners are consistent. From a cost of manufacturing standpoint, it makes sense that Carver would only use one style of extrusion die. To me, the only variable is the length of the corner and that is determined by the height of the side panels.

The radius was formed on a 100 ton press brake and the formed Z channels were plug welded on for the side panels to slip into. Really solid fit! The one pictured here was my prototype; the finalized design look even better.

[km1125]

Wow.. Even the prototype looks awesome!!

[DD2]

Here's a few pics; one of the hardtop being put back on, and after reassembly was complete.

The paint on the arch and posts was in rough shape, so I took them to a local shop and had them sandblasted and powder coated. Turned out really nice; so glad I took the extra time and effort, but this was in April and the first shop I took it to shut down because they had a couple cases of COVID-19. After a few weeks, I had to go rescue the parts and take them to another powder coater.

[g36]

Really looks good. I'm away from my boat right now. I don't need a corner fo myself but I'm gonna give a closer inspection to it. Seems like on the later like 96 97s 355 and 405s theres more of a slant than just a straight even edge on the curve