Windshield snap clips replacement

Repair or modification of Boston Whaler boats, their engines, trailers, and gear
cwkaiser
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Oct 20, 2015 10:15 pm

Windshield snap clips replacement

Postby cwkaiser » Thu Oct 19, 2017 10:01 am

I need to replace the sliding windshield clips on my 1988 Temptation 2500 that have lost their male snap attachment for the mooring cover. Do I have to remove the windshield to do that or can I just force the edges of the clip into the grooves? Thanks

Jefecinco
Posts: 1592
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 6:35 pm
Location: Gulf Shores, AL

Re: Windshield snap clips replacement

Postby Jefecinco » Thu Oct 19, 2017 11:09 am

On a previous SeaRay we owned with sliding snap plates around the windshield I was able to install some replacements with the help of a flat blade painters wall putty spreader. There was enough flexibility in the plates to allow them to be slightly deformed and return to the original shape.
Butch

jimh
Posts: 11672
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 12:25 pm
Location: Michigan, Lower Peninsula
Contact:

Re: Windshield snap clips replacement

Postby jimh » Thu Oct 19, 2017 3:04 pm

Are you asking about a windshield clip that looks like the one illustrated below?

windshieldClipSmall.jpg
Windshield clip
windshieldClipSmall.jpg (3.64 KiB) Viewed 4229 times

cwkaiser
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Oct 20, 2015 10:15 pm

Re: Windshield snap clips replacement

Postby cwkaiser » Mon Apr 23, 2018 10:28 pm

Hi Jim--yes, the illustration you provided is what I am asking about. I am also unclear as to what size I should order. Thanks--CW

jimh
Posts: 11672
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 12:25 pm
Location: Michigan, Lower Peninsula
Contact:

Re: Windshield snap clips replacement

Postby jimh » Wed Apr 25, 2018 10:41 am

cwkaiser wrote:Do I have to remove the windshield ...or can I just force the edges of the clip into the grooves?


The snap clips I showed above in an image can easily be installed into the windshield frame. On the windshield frame there should be two grooves spaced apart the same distance as the ears of the snap clamp. The ears of the snap clamp have some elasticity, and they will temporarily deform as you push them into the two grooves. Once placed in the grooves, the snaps hold themselves in place very well. I have never had one of them pull out; the canvas snap always lets go first, as you would anticipate.

cwkaiser wrote:I am also unclear as to what size I should order.


Inasmuch as I have no idea what the size of the snap fittings used on your canvas might be, I cannot offer any advice about what size you need for the mating fitting.

The male snap fitting must be sized to be appropriate to mate with the female snap fittings on your existing canvas. In my experience there seems to be only one size of canvas snap fitting; it is more or less a universal size.

It should be fairly straightforward to figure this out. If you find the snap-in windshield fittings are available with different sizes of canvas snaps, I suggest you buy one in each size, take them to the boat, and test with your canvas. Or, maybe take a small section of the canvas with you to the marine store and test the fit there. When I wanted a replacement, I just removed one of the existing snap-in fittings, took it with me to the marine hardware store, and bought replacements of similar size.

The width of the groove on your windshield will also affect what snap-in fitting to get, but, again, I think these are more or less universal. On my Boston Whaler boat the windshield uses these same snap-in fittings, and it was no problem to find ones of similar size.

cwkaiser
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Oct 20, 2015 10:15 pm

Re: Windshield snap clips replacement

Postby cwkaiser » Sun May 06, 2018 11:58 am

Thank you, this is useful information.