Hunter vision ports
I just finished replacing the windows on my vision 32. I can tell you what I did and hope its useful. I researched this on these forums, as well as spoke to a couple people who paid yards to do it for them. I also got recommendations from Eddie Breeden at hunter..
1. I removed the old windows due to crazing and bluing.. No leaks, but looked really bad. I bought an oscillating saw from Harbor Freight for $15. I used the smooth edge blade most resembling a putty knife. This electric putty knife cuts into the old caulk like a hot butter knife. For the areas I couldn't reach with this oscillating saw, the 40 lb test line pulling thru the caulk from inside to out actually works pretty good.
2. Tape up the window and hope for no rain while I took the old window to a plastics company to use as a mold to make the new window. One company said it was gone to be expensive and about 8 hours of labor to make each window. I just cringed at what his estimate was going to be; he never returned my call. The next company came highly recommended because they had made boat windows for others in the local area. Unfortunately, they didn't have the material anywhere in Texas so I was going to be charge shipping to have it come from the west coast, $800 plus dollars not including fabricating my window. The third and last company locally made the window, cut out the opening for my Beckson port and charged $200. They refused to drill the wholes for the mounting screws but told me to use a standard bit, tape the plexiglass on both sides, and drill it with minimal force and low speed. I did and it worked perfect without chipping.
3. Upon installation, dry fit the window and tape all edges where the Dow Corning is going to ooze out of. Remove the window and prep it by sanding the edges that will be in contact with the new caulk. Wipe clean with acetone and set aside. Prep the fiberglass as well in the same Manner. Again, the the oscillating saw/putty knife takes the old caulk off with minimal effort. Then sand the area that is going to be in contact with 180 or so sand paper, wipe clean with acetone. All the old caulk must be removed before applying the new.
4. There were two areas of fiberglass that have a large overlap of the window. In the center part where no caulk will come into contact with it, I simply spray painted the area black so that there would not be an area of white showing through the window once installed. Just follow along where the old was, it will be clear to you once the window is out.
5. Liberally apply the caulk to the edges of the "frame" on the boat fiberglass surface then use a putty knife to spread it out leaving no gaps or air pockets in the caulk. Remember, what your trying to achieve is a solid water proof barrier from inner window to outer edge so that when you press the window into place, the caulk will ooze out both on the inner and outer edges. This assures that you have a solid field of thick caulk. Replace the screw to hold the window in place but DO NOT tighten the screws. If you do, you will squeeze out all the caulk between the two surfaces and will suffer from a poor bond.
6. Let this dray for 24 hours. Then with a razor blade, go around the edge trimming off the caulk that oozed out and remove the painters tape you applied earlier that abutts the window edge. Leave the screws in place and come back and tighten days latter after the caulk has set up. Presto, new windows that look good, don't leak, didn't break the bank getting them done.
On my '95 H336, the fixed ports through the hull sides (oval shaped, roughly 4" x 16") show two holes filled with caulk where they obviously used screws to attach the ports, and then removed them and caulked the holes. The fixed ports along the cabin top show no holes, which tells me they bedded them in caulk and just held them in place until the caulk cured. My "windshield," or the large port forward of the mast, has screws about every 12" all around the perimeter of the acrylic. Through the acrylic, not the adjacent fiberglass. Hunter put them there. They're black, sit flush, and don't bother me, so the only thing I've ever thought of doing was seeing if I could remove one and then use it to hold a button fastener. Because I thing that would work a lot better than drilling another set of holes around the outside of the port. Since the screws are located about 3/4" from the edges of the acrylic, I figure it shouldn't be too hard to make a Sunbrella suncover with one inch folded seams at the edges.
