Does anyone know what vinyl Chaparral Boats uses?

[JuneC]

I'm having trouble getting the info.  They provide skins (at a hefty price) so aren't too anxious to ante up the info on what vinyl they used.  I'm looking at some seat replacements on a 2005 that only needs a few panels replaced, not the whole thing.

June

[Mike]

[Grebo]

I found this June, hope it helps.  ;D
http://forum.chaparralboats.com/index.php?showtopic=40

I am not sure if it's a coating or the make of vinyl  ???

Suzi

[DBR1957]

I'm a big fan of getting factory skins if they are available. Strip, steam foam, re-staple and
get on to something else.

Not a big fan of just replacing panels. The boat has six year old vinyl which becomes the weak
link (especially the seams) when you sew the new panel in. If you just replace a panel and the
surrounding vinyl fails in a year or sooner, your customer won't be happy to have to do the job
over again. Now if he just wants to fix it up to sell it, that's another story.

You have to go through the process of stripping the skin and re-staple anyway so you might as
well educate the customer on the benefit replacing the complete skin. At least tell them you
can't warrant the surrounding material.

Did you get a price direct from the factory? Do you have a relationship with any Chapparal dealers
in your area?

[JuneC]

Tried the factory - they have a local distributor so wouldn't/couldn't sell to me directly.  As it turns out, it would have been a mistake anyway.  On the inside of one of the cushions I found one of the listing pulls made from the "white" exterior vinyl. It's Beluga Whitecap - actually a yellowish white or VERY pale yellow.  I'm going to use Beluga Off White for a better match.  Only the aft cushions need any work.  The rest (under the tops) is fine.  Had I gone with factory skins, the color would have been WAY off and the entire cockpit would have needed to be upholstered.  I've never seen vinyl change color so dramatically.  Guess 6 years of sun did it.

June 

[ahkahn]

June,

Send me a swatch (or a good digital pic) and I'll be happy to identify it for you.

Best regards,
Andrew

[JuneC]

Thanks, Andrew.  I appreciate the offer.  I'm quite sure it was Beluga.  Age, sun and scrubbing have made it smoother and changed the color, but the pull, other than being wet, was in good enough shape to identify.  The color change was remarkable.  Thread and softness of the vinyl was still fine where it was under the tops.  The aft pieces were badly sunburned, and the pale yellow had turned gray where it wasn't burned. 

June