360EC Hardtop Cracks

JimGuy341

Looked at a 2013 360 EC last weekend and noticed cracks in the hardtop near the transition between the top and the vertical sides.  One crack on each side (port and starbd), about 4 inches long running horizontally.  Salesman said it was probably from moisture getting behind the hardtop fiberglass and freezing.  He said there was probably a leak around some of the hardware on top of the hardtop. 

Should we run away or is this purely cosmetic and an opportunity to negotiate a better price?

LaRea

Some early 342s, including mine, suffered freeze damage at the base of the radar arch because they lacked drain holes.  That was a cosmetic issue for sure. 

How would water collect up at the top of a hardtop?  This is the first time I've heard of it.  

Dream_Inn

I've never seen it happen on a hardtop before, but those newer 360 hardtops are very similar to the old radar arches as LaRea mentioned.  But on the arches, the cracks were at the bottom of the arches because, as mentioned, water did not drain and stayed in the bottom and froze.  

If you have a picture, it may better help.  Is it in an area that water could actually stay and freeze?

Oh, and welcome to the forum!  We are a friendly bunch here that's ready to help out.  Rinker makes some beautiful boats.

JimGuy341

It was the first thing I noticed when we got on board.  Wish I had taken a picture.

LaRea

I can't imagine it's freeze damage.  Hardtops are designed to drain when they leak.  I guess it could be from overloading the hardtop, but that would not be easy either.  

If there's a place you can see inside the base of the hardtop, look for evidence of a leak (moisture, drip trail, etc.) ... and find out where that water would have ended up.

In any case, if it's really just gelcoat cracks, it's not a huge concern.  Negotiate for the cost of gelcoat repair.  

JimGuy341

shawnmjr said:

What marina do you stay at @JimGuy341? I live in Wyandotte as well. 

We're at Motor City Marina.

jbschmalz23

Sharp boat if it is the one in MI, like @shawnmjr mentioned. It has the right options! The private forward berth, axius, vessel view etc. The hard tops are not fiberglass more like a heavier aluminum, if I’m correct. I would say if anything,  it’s stress cracks in the paint or coating. I think the hard tops are painted with a thick paint/coat, almost like what they use on airplanes. 

JimGuy341

Thanks for the comments.  I asked the salesman to take a couple pictures for me.  I'll post as soon as I get them.

bry1429

As @jbschmalz23 stated the actual hardtop section on the 2013 360EC is painted aluminum, it would have to be some serious stress if the aluminum has stress cracks in it. The paint on the hardtop doesn't appear to be thick enough to have cracks develope. 

Michael T

Yes, Bryan andJBS are 100% correct. The HT is aluminum as fiberglass would be faaar too heavy. BTW the aluminum tops have plenty of areas to drain, so I doubt the "freeze theory". I have seen salt water 360s that had small paint chips/cracks that got corrosion under them and spread, but as Bryan said - matching cracks both sides bad, real bad. I'm guessing if they are matching stress cracks - the boat was run hard in big seas to do that. Regardless, I'd have it checked by a pro as those HTs are factory installed at 6K+ so an R&R would kill.....along with any related abuse issues.

JimGuy341

Dream_Inn

Holly crap!  (sorry, my first thought)  Does that crack actually go thru (have some 3rd dimension to it?)  ok, now looking again, it looks like the one is just zoomed in a bit.  Still, they look pretty severe.  I think the boat was rode pretty hard for something like that to happen.  Or something is not structurally right.  I'd definitely get the full stats on how hard the motors were ran.  I've not seen anything like that on the newer hard tops.

JimGuy341

The first two photos are the port side crack.  The third photo is the stbd side crack.

Handymans342

I think that's paint cracks

Cableguy Greg

Handymans342 said:

I think that's paint cracks

That is what it looks like to me. If I were considering purchasing that boat, I would chip the paint back to see if there is a crack in the aluminum.

LaRea

If it was me, any offer would have to be contingent on having the owner remove the paint around the crack so a professional surveyor (hired by you) can inspect the metal.   Make the owner assume all risk.  

What's mounted on top of the hardtop?  

aero3113

If you can find a qualified NDT technician around, that can be checked for cracks without removing any paint.

Michael T

Take something thin, like a piece of paper, if it slides into the hole you have a crack. I'd use an led light to look at the crack and maybe probe it with a needle. The Aluminum HTs of - at least - the 2013 years are quite thick aluminum that, if cracked, imo, would mean the boat had been run hard, shipped hard or subjected to abuse. Even if it looked only like a paint crack the advice on here to sand it back to look for damage underneath is good advice as imo there should be no cracks of any kind there.