cabindoor "header"shift on 1979 H27

[fnuttersny]

I found the overhead support for main cabin door pulled loose on stbd side on 79 H27. It hangs down about one inch inway of celling radius fare stbd side and gap tappers closed in direction towards compresion post. Port side is snug fit. It looks like cross piece holding door no longer square with compression post. Something shifted or racked. Area is dry all around and post is solid. The result is door pinches on opening all the way. Should I fix wood work or plane bottom of door or is this not unusual on 30 year old boat? No sign of stress on fiberglass headliner. Previous owner made core repair to cabin top but to what extent is unknown. Anyone encounter same? cheers ......frank










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[gmeyerga]

cockeyed bulkhead

i have the same problem on my 1982 h27. the reason is that
water turned the balsa in the floor under the compression to mush.
as the post moved down the header board followed, but mostly on
stbd because on port it rests on the door frame.
for a temporary fix i jacked up the header board on stbd and supported it with a 1x6 board resting on top of the stbd shelf.
over time the header board has deformed and the door track
bowed. it has about the same height at both ends but is noticeably
lower in the middle behind the compression post. all this motion
was accompanied by all manner of noise in high winds.
i have given up on squaring the bulkhead, BUT
i have cut open the floor in the head and built a new support for
the post resting solidly on the hull and not on the old flimsy stringer
under the floor. the support is higher than the crushed floor but not
high enough to square all angles. the snap, crackle and pop was too
much to bear to keep jacking up the roof any higher, even though all stays were loose. i also
adjusted the height of the support on the sbdb end of the header
board. the door runs freely now although the track is still (slightly)
bowed. i'll be listening next time there is some wind!
i DO NOT recommend simply refitting the door. the post is moving
in your boat and will continue until you stop it (or - horrors - it can go no further).

 

[fnuttersny]

thanks gmeyerga I would not have suspected post sitting on oatmeal. Why in the world would the mast support be designed so foolishly? flat bildge is hard to keep dry so any water down there will soak into wood. Iguess loose veneer on bulkhead bottom might have been clue of something not good. I had a feeling but boat fever caught me pluse boat was cheap nearby and easy purchase. fortunatly your repair does not sound to bad since mast can stay inplace......thanks again..cheers frank..PS still like boat.

 

[Nereussailor]

Why in the world would the mast support be designed so foolishly?

It might not have been the designer. Do you not remember the 70's? The guy building it was probably higher than a kite from the fiberglass or other things

 

[gmeyerga]

cockeyed bulkhead

addendum: water probably got into the balsa, both on deck and in the floor of the head, through the hole for wires under the mast. i had water stains along the whole compression post. hunter just cut a
hole in the deck and in the floor and never seemed to have sealed
anything properly. probably saved themselves ten bucks or so.
my fix: while the mast was off i cleaned the rotten wood in the
cabin top under the mast as best as i could and then sealed the hole completely with fiberglass. the wires (steaming, anchor and grounding) now exit the mast about a foot above deck and are led to a through-hull back into the cabin. i expect no more water coming in from above.

and yes, i wouldn't have done this if i did not like the boat. i hope the feeling is mutual.

 

[Manny]

Hey Frank,

I think this is a common problem with the 27's. Mine has it also to a degree but I don't need to shave the door down. My compression post rests on a stringer that has compressed slightly. Also I don't know if you have a teak sole or not but when I removed my compression post I found that the sole had compressed a bit at the post base (made it real easy to put it back exactly in the same place). I made aluminum shims to fill the compressed sole area back to level which helped a little.

Manny

BTW - did you bring the boat home?

Manny

 

[fnuttersny]

Hi Manny, brought boat home last Sat. My son took train from Buff and we met in NYC and started steaming up the Hudson on the tail end of out going tide. It was slow going for the first 3 hours against a 3+ tide and head wind. But once the tide shifted made good time. 60 miles in 11 hours. I am glade I mounted my 6hp Toh. I ran desel at 2/3 throttle and outboard at almost full. On desel alone it would have taken a lot longer. pics to follow. Dispite finding some repair issues I find the H27 to be a "proper yacht" solid overall and certainly not tender. she is "eye sweet and fair" handles chop like a larger boat and is also very responive to rudder in close quarters. I didn't pay much for boat so got a lot for investment . I will restore and make improvments as outlined by members to whom I give my thanks . Your quick response to my concerns provided reasurance that I made a good choice. My wife loves the boat and no longer worries about tipping when wind pipes up and club members ....."hay you got a real boat" pretty much covers it....cheers frank

 

[dakno]

MY 1981 h27 door between saloon and head pinches at bottom when fully closed. I replaced the rollers at top, door still binds when fully closed. It appears door is 1/4" too tall. The effort to remove it is siginfant, so I oiled ( old english or liquid gold ) it and used it ( back and forth sliding ) , so its ok now,.