Coachroof Portlights

Status
Not open for further replies.
May 31, 2007
776
Hunter 37 cutter Blind River
Since my windows always leak and make a mess inside my 37C, not to mention they are the root of my wet deck core, I took the plunge and started removing them. I found that the linoleum scraper mounted on the Fein multimaster (great tool and worth the outrageous price) made the job go a lot faster. Also used a 1" putty knife sharpened like a razor on a random orbital sander.
What I found inside: two layers of glass (obviously) sandwiching what measured to be 7/8 in. very wet and composting plywood. I am assuming the original ply was 3/4 but it has swelled and delaminated, making it the 7/8ths. So much wood is either gone or mush that I think I need to peel off a complete layer of glass from the coachroof sides and then replace the wood. In some places the caulking was a full half inch thick. What a waste of very expensive filler!

Has anyone else done this job? Should the inside liner be cut out or the exterior skin? Fortunately I have enough glass experience this undertaking does not worry me. Just looking for everyone's valuable ideas, opinions and experience.

By the way, I rebedded everything on the coachroof last season.
 
Jun 8, 2004
1,066
C&C Frigate 36 St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia
Replacing windows (ports)

Quite a few 37C owners have tackled the job you are starting - check the archives. Here was my project:

http://hunter.sailboatowners.com/in...&cat_id=38&aid=7206&page=article&mn=37-cutter

I replaced the Gray windows with Beckson just because price & availability were better where I live. A lot of folks have gone to bronze or stainless, which would be my preferred option if cost was no object. Good luck!
 
Jun 2, 2004
5,802
Hunter 37-cutter, '79 41 23' 30"N 82 33' 20"W--------Huron, OH
I did not cut any skin, not inside nor outside. My wet core was limited fortunately. Where I had rotted core I just routed it out to an inch deep or so and glassed in some new 3/4" plywood. I made the mistake of purchasing 7x14 bronze NFM portlights to fill a 7x15 hole. So I actually had to glass plywood on both ends of the six big openers. The four 5x12s were OK.

That is an oversimplification. The core is actually thicker than 3/4" and the two skins are not parallel, probably 7/8" along the top of the hole and closer to 1 and 1/8" along the bottom. My portlights are bolt through and I had a terrible time getting the holes right and the bolts to line up with the bosses on the frame. Good luck with what, for me, turned into a long and agonizing project.
 
Dec 14, 2003
75
Hunter H37C, H23 Annapolis MD
I replaced all 11 of my portlights on the last refit. I replaced them with nfm stainless. I routed the wood out between the 2 layers of fiberglass....made a huge mess. Then I used epoxy inplace of the wood. Then used a template to route out the excess expoy. The template had the hole pattern for the through bolts so it all lined up once I was done. Turned out great and also addressed the delamination that was occuring on the coachroof sides around the portlights. If you want photos of the mess let me know.

Mark
 
Dec 29, 2008
18
2 33_77-83 Georgian Bay
Mark,

My portlights leak on the cushions when it rains heavily. I'm sure they're also the main contributors to the wet core. So I'll remove them one by one and address whatever can of worms comes out of it. I'm pretty sure it's going to involve the removal of rotten core and pouring of epoxy.

Anyway, I'd like to take a look at your photos, just to get an idea of what awaits me.

Thanks.
 
Dec 29, 2008
18
2 33_77-83 Georgian Bay
Thanks Ed. I've already gone through those. I can never get enough information before I start a project I've never done before :)
 
Dec 14, 2003
75
Hunter H37C, H23 Annapolis MD
I just uploaded 8 photos to my album of the portlight relacement. If a photo is worth a thousand words I've said enough.

Mark
 
May 31, 2007
776
Hunter 37 cutter Blind River
Thanks for the encouragement, folks. I ended up cutting away the interior liner. The old core was six inch squares of 3/4 ply. All was VERY wet. Cleaned up really easily. I replaced the core with balsa and laminated a layer of 1 1/2 oz. mat and a layer of 1808 stitchmat to the interior. The balsa was glued to the outside skin with poly, cabosil and milled fibres spread with a notched trowl. I think with the stitchmat it will be stronger than the 1/8th inside laminate of mat only.

I think that it is important to start at the top to find leaks and fix those first, then work down. No sense rebedding windows if the leaks elsewhere continue.

I will be posting a photo essay on the project (gotta love those digital cameras) as soon as I am out of the boatyard and have a little time and internet access.

Enovillo - we should rendezvous in the North Channel this summer. In fact, perhaps we could have a Cherubini meet-up! In a previous life I too had a H33.
 
Dec 29, 2008
18
2 33_77-83 Georgian Bay
I removed 2 leaky Beckson portlights yesterday. The previous owner installed them 2 years ago. They're not just badly sealed with some type of sillicone caulking, they're also smaller than the original hole. The big ones have a 1" gap on each side that was filled with caulking. The portlights were screwed to the caulking!

This is exactly the situation Jim Legere ran into when he replaced his ports (see here). I'll be following his procedure closely.

Jim filled the gap on the sides of the new Becksons with a small piece of mahogany that he "glassed in". Can I get a dumbed down explanation of how that is done? Given that the gap is so small, is it possible to just add the piece of wood and epoxy around it? Why does it have to be glassed in? Especially considering I can't really overlap the mat/tape/cloth (what should I use?) much with the existing glassed core without cutting out a section of hull liner around the port hole.

You can probably surmise from my questions that I have very limited experience with fiber glass and epoxy work :(
 
Jun 2, 2004
5,802
Hunter 37-cutter, '79 41 23' 30"N 82 33' 20"W--------Huron, OH
By "glassed in" I think we simply mean glued in with epoxy. I just used plywood and slathered epoxy on the edges and then tacked in place. After removing the nails and sanding to level it all out I then coated all of the wood with epoxy.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.