Sun Pads

[Wayne162]

Thanks Viper,
I plan to shop around a bit before I make any decisions. A lot will depend on the craftsmanship between the numerous shops near the marina and their willingness to work with me on the project.

[Viper]

If it's anything like up my way where you are, do it soon as the guys that specialize in marine fabs get booked up pretty quick approaching Spring time. Hey, did I just say Spring time?

[jmm48m60]

I'm working on closing on a 2002 Carver 356....Part of the inventory was SunPads but were missing. Thanks for the discussion it helped me with the approximate value and where to get them.

[Wayne162]

I had searched for bow sunpads for my 1997 405. I found that carver still makes them. Their price was estimated at around $1000 for the pair.

[carvermdo]

[buster53]

Ok, someone tell me this can't be done...
Any local upholstery shop can easily make the pads for a couple hundred dollars, right?
The problem is the snaps and locating them on the pads.
Why can't the boatowner just make a template of the bow snaps and give it to the upholsterer?
Am I missing something here?

[Viper]

Couple of hundred?? Must be that American dollar

If there are snaps already on the deck, it's best to fabricate the pad then lay it in place and mark the position of the snaps. Usually something they can do on sight. Besides, if they measure for the snaps and they don't lineup, it's on them, if you provide a template and they don't line up, it's on you. There's no substitute for having the actual pad there to mark the snap locations.

[Lyndon670]

Any local upholstery shop can easily make the pads for a couple hundred dollars, right?

Nobody is even going to walk near their machine for a couple of hundred dollars on this. I bet a pair of pads the correct size will cost $600-750US.

[Viper]

That's about right Lyndon. A client priced one out recently at $1K CND. Mind you, that's using marine rated materials, big difference.

[buster53]

Qr Bbpost Couple of hundred?? Must be that American dollar

If there are snaps already on the deck, it's best to fabricate the pad then lay it in place and mark the position of the snaps. Usually something they can do on sight. Besides, if they measure for the snaps and they don't lineup, it's on them, if you provide a template and they don't line up, it's on you. There's no substitute for having the actual pad there to mark the snap locations.

Ok, not a couple hundred, but considerably less than what Carver wants.
To have someone do snaps onsite, either the boatowner has to do it and find the equipment to do it, or hires someone to do it for them, probably negating any savings from buying from someone other than Carver.
Personally, I feel confident that I can come up with a very accurate template, something I'm sure more than a few boatowners are able to do.