Strataglass Replacement Question

[jojo]

Customer has side, fore and aft panels for a large fishing boats. He wants the rigid plastic (cloudy and in bad shape) replaced with a 30 or 40 gauge clear vinyl so he can store the panels rolled up.
In the past, when replacing clear vinyl, I would sew the new stuff on top of the old and cut out the old. But it seems like this rigid plastic is too stiff. Can I do it this way, or do I have to rip the stitches and take it out?
Thanks,
Jo

[Mike]

ive never had to try this but no way you could cut out macrolon like that and if you take out the stitched first your going to loose the window shape so you would have to pattern the window shape first . id rather make all new  panels. in fack it would be cheaper then fudging around removing the hard stuff nit fast just cutting it out. my price time wise would be more time to try and save the trim then to buy and make new 

[regalman190]

I'm with Mike. I would make them new. Much less work and they will look better.
Also, if he wants to store them rolled, they're probably Strataglass. And, I don't think you can get Makrolon in 40ga. I think you can only get 60ga.

[JuneC]

 I'm in agreement with Mike and Regal. 

June

[baileyuph]

I have seen the sew it in and cut out the old close to the seam on auto tops and it just isn't the way to go.  A replacement window is not that expensive either.

Which echoes what has been said - remake instead.

Doyle

[Old sailmaker]

If you try and cut the stitches out and try and replace it that way , it will be very tough to get it to fit right. Been there and tried that. When i have sewed over top and then cut out the old one, i will normally try and sew new facing if the rest of the curtain is in decent shape, if its ratty i just let it go. Strataglass recommends not leaving rolled up as the plastic will "pool", meaning it gets some weird looking swirls in it and the cheaper plastics are even worse. If they must roll them though definitely not your problem, lol. In hot weather 40ga will roll fine. Cold climate it does not. Where I live with both extremes i use 40 on larger boats and 30 on smaller rigs. In fact, most of the large boats I fish on, we prefer to not roll ot at all but just pull it up and snap it to the inside of the top. I know you didnt ask for all that, sorry, lol

[jojo]

Yeah, I was afraid I'd lose the shape. They're pretty much rectangles, though. The problem is I don't have access to the boat. They were brought in by someone local, but they belong to his brother in a neighboring state.

[Eric]

If its cloudy it is probably not makrolon. You can cut out and sew in new makrolon. If it is ridgid, and not vinyl that has lost its plasticizers, then it may be lexan, which will yellow. It could be old beat up acrylic, in which case you can buff it out. Lastly I recommend o'sea for scratch resistant glass over strataglass. 1- o'sea can handle suntan lotion, 2- strataglass has crap customer service when it comes to warranty on its product, and its quality control seems to have dropped.
Eric