Softening of hardtop

[CaptRandy]

My hardtop seems to have softened and now sags when I get on it. I think it is glass over wood core. Is there any way to stiffen it up, either another coat of glass or maybe a sheet of pvc board?

[jawz12]

My hardtop seems to have softened and now sags when I get on it. I think it is glass over wood core. Is there any way to stiffen it up, either another coat of glass or maybe a sheet of pvc board?

if it's soft,and it's sagging,there's a problem in the core,adding more glass will do nothing...you need to find out why the core is bad-as in what's installed and not sealed properly ?? then repair what you've got...

i've ran into a few parkers with rotted hard tops-they're a balsa core,and the spreader lites,as well as the grab rails were not sealed properly...

[crispy167]

noticed quite a bit more sway to the hardtop last summer as well as brown water coming out the weep hole underneath the hardtop, sounds like rot to me from poorly sealed antenna/all around light mounts ... I'm considering separating the 'sandwich' by removing the top, using a circular saw to cut only the underside, grind/chiseling out the rotten wood, replacing plywood and epoxying the whole thing back together. Unfortunatetly, I'm thinking anything else is just a bandaid if the core is rotten ...

[CaptRandy]

Jawz12,
Thanks for the reply, think I will remove and see how I can get into core, may use a multi-tool to remove one layer and replace center.

[crispy167]

I pulled the hardtop off my boat Sunday and found a mess ...
as you can see from the rest of the pics I didn't just have a soft 'spot' I had an entire top that was soft ... as soon as I cut the underside it separated from the wood and upper section. The circular saw worked well for the long straight cuts and the dremel with fiber disc did the trick on the radius' corners. The wood was soaked and had separated throughout the top, only took me about 5 min to scrape all the remains out with a putty knife. I'm not familiar with how your top is connected but i think i counted 18 thru bolts and 6 other holes for either gps/vhf/all around light screws and wiring on mine. I'm planning to redo with plywood enclosed in resin like original ... and i'll be sure to COMPLETELY seal all the holes ... hope this helps