Have just received a replacement hatch for the forward deck. Got it from D&R. Surprised to find no installation instructions or hardware included. I will get in touch with D&r but wanted to check if anyone has installed one of these. The square outline part that goes inside is not drilled, no holes at all. Thought you would insert bolts through both hatch outer and inner and just pull together. Also - do you use and caulking in the installation? Any hints appreciated. Best to all. John Dameron Lake St Louis MO
Forward Hatch Help
- Thread starter John D12757
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Forward Hatch
John, I took my forward hatch out last year to re-caulk it and free up all the metal parts in the adjusters and knobs. This particular hatch is no longer made by the company that supplied the O'Days. I really can't tell you anything about the replacement hatch that you bought off Rudy. As many times as I've been in his shop, I don't remember seeing his hatches. You will probably need to take your old hatch off to make sure that the new hatch is going to fit. My hatch has the square flange that fits the opening inside the cabin, and there are cap nuts that hold it in place, along with machine bolts that go through the top of the hatch. If this new hatch fits, you are probably going to need to drill the plastic flange to fit the cap nuts using the existing holes in the surrounding fiberglass, if this is the case. Just keep in mind that the bolt holes in the hatch are smaller in diameter than the cap nut holes in the flange. As far as caulking goes; absolutely, you do need to caulk around the hatch with a good grade of boat caulking like Boat-Life Boat Caulking or a 3M product. Don't use 5200 or 4200. Some day you may need to take your hatch off again and you'll wind up breaking it if you use 5200. When you caulk the hatch, just get all the bolts snug, for now. You don't want to squeeze all the caulking out by tightening too hard. Instead, give the caulking a day or two to set up and then come back a re tighten the bolts. When you tighten the cap nuts, hold a screw driver on each bolt, and try not to let the bolts turn. I bought a new hatch one day at Defender in Connecticut. I drove all the way down there from my home in Mass. I took my old hatch off at the yacht club and was going to throw it off the boat to the ground. Then something told me to wait and make darn sure that this new Lew-mar Hatch was going to fit, and--you know what? The hatch was just a little too small by 1/4 or so. Lew-mar didn't supply a square flange for inside the cabin, and one of the handles was broke on the hatch when I took it out of the box, which they quickly sent me a replacement. I probably could have done some Mickey Mousing and made it work with a wood frame under it, but I decided to abort this project and put my old hatch back on and take the new hatch back to Defender. Defender won't reimburse you right on the spot. You have to wait a week or two. Anyway, I wound up fixing my old hatch so that it was as workable as the day when it was installed on my boat. So, if this new hatch fits the opening, just take your time and figure out the best way to make it work for you. Good luck! Joe
John, I took my forward hatch out last year to re-caulk it and free up all the metal parts in the adjusters and knobs. This particular hatch is no longer made by the company that supplied the O'Days. I really can't tell you anything about the replacement hatch that you bought off Rudy. As many times as I've been in his shop, I don't remember seeing his hatches. You will probably need to take your old hatch off to make sure that the new hatch is going to fit. My hatch has the square flange that fits the opening inside the cabin, and there are cap nuts that hold it in place, along with machine bolts that go through the top of the hatch. If this new hatch fits, you are probably going to need to drill the plastic flange to fit the cap nuts using the existing holes in the surrounding fiberglass, if this is the case. Just keep in mind that the bolt holes in the hatch are smaller in diameter than the cap nut holes in the flange. As far as caulking goes; absolutely, you do need to caulk around the hatch with a good grade of boat caulking like Boat-Life Boat Caulking or a 3M product. Don't use 5200 or 4200. Some day you may need to take your hatch off again and you'll wind up breaking it if you use 5200. When you caulk the hatch, just get all the bolts snug, for now. You don't want to squeeze all the caulking out by tightening too hard. Instead, give the caulking a day or two to set up and then come back a re tighten the bolts. When you tighten the cap nuts, hold a screw driver on each bolt, and try not to let the bolts turn. I bought a new hatch one day at Defender in Connecticut. I drove all the way down there from my home in Mass. I took my old hatch off at the yacht club and was going to throw it off the boat to the ground. Then something told me to wait and make darn sure that this new Lew-mar Hatch was going to fit, and--you know what? The hatch was just a little too small by 1/4 or so. Lew-mar didn't supply a square flange for inside the cabin, and one of the handles was broke on the hatch when I took it out of the box, which they quickly sent me a replacement. I probably could have done some Mickey Mousing and made it work with a wood frame under it, but I decided to abort this project and put my old hatch back on and take the new hatch back to Defender. Defender won't reimburse you right on the spot. You have to wait a week or two. Anyway, I wound up fixing my old hatch so that it was as workable as the day when it was installed on my boat. So, if this new hatch fits the opening, just take your time and figure out the best way to make it work for you. Good luck! Joe
Thank You Joe
Joe thanks so much for the reply and all the detail. Just what I needed. You get a boat ride anytime you're in MO. John
Joe thanks so much for the reply and all the detail. Just what I needed. You get a boat ride anytime you're in MO. John
1985 ofday anniversary 26 ftr
Afew years back we ordered from rudy at d@r and recieved an exact rreplacement forward hatch. I removed old ,I suspect original, and any residue from prior caulk jobs and cleaned the area . I felt it best to beef up the perimeters of the opening so we put in some scraps of mahogony, pre drilled that were we could and caulked that unit in and set the screws. I do not recall exactly what was up on the inside but I think that their was a seperate unit that acted as a sleeve and met up with the hatch itself and I believe their were predrilled holes in it to fasten the unit. I am going over to the boat this morning I'll check and see what was up with that. Later
Afew years back we ordered from rudy at d@r and recieved an exact rreplacement forward hatch. I removed old ,I suspect original, and any residue from prior caulk jobs and cleaned the area . I felt it best to beef up the perimeters of the opening so we put in some scraps of mahogony, pre drilled that were we could and caulked that unit in and set the screws. I do not recall exactly what was up on the inside but I think that their was a seperate unit that acted as a sleeve and met up with the hatch itself and I believe their were predrilled holes in it to fasten the unit. I am going over to the boat this morning I'll check and see what was up with that. Later
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