Bristol head liner

[movinaway]

I just looked at a Bristol 35.5 78 and the fiberglass headliner was delamanated from the deck above. Is this a structual problem that could be taken care of at a later date? I talked to someone with a Catalina that had that problem and the company sent the glue and instruct. and he fixed it. The deck feels solid. Would you consider this a "no go" on buying this boat? Is this common with Bristols?

[Dcneuro]

I have had no such problem on mine. Anything is fixable provided you wish to spend the time and material. It would seem to me that the status of the deck is what is important. was it checked for soft spots, i.e. delamination?

[Ogrenaut]

Here's a neat site chronicling a Bristol 29 restoration. He goes into details about the headliner (scroll down the right side to "headliner"). I've seen another restoration on a larger Bristol where they also replaced the headliner with removable panels, but I can't find the site right now.

Based on what I've read, the headliner is not structural, but I can't confirm this.

[FloridaWriter]

The headliner is indeed not structural and merely floats about 1/4 or so below the underside of the cabintop. It is attached in areas such as the hatch openings and along the edge of the undersides of the side decks.

Good luck,

David