forward hatch replacement
- Thread starter wheelsteering27
- Start date
There have been several posts regarding this exact issue over the years. Some have replaced the original hatch with a square one (check the archives).
Here is a link to a YOUTUBE video that may be of help.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3u9rWfIEUeBgBUvikmqF814vXzWsWZm0
Here is a link to a YOUTUBE video that may be of help.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3u9rWfIEUeBgBUvikmqF814vXzWsWZm0
It not possible to get a duplicate replacement for the trapezoid hatch in the old Hunter 27s. The Bomar makes a square hatch that, with minor modifications to the deck of the hunter fits really well. I know because I did it on my old Hunter.
Replacing the Forward Trapezoidal Hatch on a Hunter 27 with a Bomar Square Hatch:
The hinge on the trapezoidal hatch on my 1978 H-27 broke. After a bouncy week on the mooring the hatch came loose and the seagulls got in. What a mess!!!! I tied the hatch down with a board on the inside and after a long search and much thought I realized that I would be unable to repair the hinge. I was also unable to locate trapezoidal replacement so I decided to replace the hatch with a stock square one. This is how I made the square hatch fit the old trapezoidal opening.
I removed the old hatch and frame and measured the widest width of the opening which was toward the stern of the opening. This was the width was the width of the replacement hatch. When fitting the square hatch into the old opening the narrow front of the opening (towards the bow) needed to be cut wider. The cutting was minimal. I made a plywood template using the new hatch I purchased out of ¼” plywood and tracing around the lip in the new hatch that fist into the deck. I then cut out the deck for the new hatch with a router. The work went like this:
1) Remove the old hatch (30 minutes): I removed the old hatch and trim and cleaned the deck with mineral spirits and a small flexible putty knife. A clean deck is important so I could do final measurements and have a good clean surface to mount the template for the hatch cut out.
2) Select a new hatch (months of time because I never did it before and I had to find the correct size): The opening was trapezoidal larger in the stern than towards the bow. The existing cut out had an approximate measurement of 22” in the stern and 19 ½” in the bow. The front to back opening was bout 20”. I selected a Bomar hatch that needed a 21 ¾” opening in the deck. These are approximate and you need to measure your boat.
This meant that I would have to trim out or cut the existing opening about 1 ½” in the front and a small right triangle section on each side about 2” wide. Again the measurements are here for discussion purposes. You need to measure your boat.
3) The Dry Fit (30 minutes): I selected a Bomar hatch that was in stock from West Marine. I bought one from West Marie because since it was a stock item if it was the wrong size I could return it. They are great that way.
I dry fitted the new hatch in the existing deck opening to be sure that the back of the new hatch would fit. With the new hatch latched shut I placed it in the existing cut out. It fit as expected with the back in the cut out and the front laying on top of the deck. Bomar hatches have a frame with a lip that extends down into the deck cut out about ¾”. I then used a pencil to outline on the deck where the hatch frame was laying. Remember the back of the hatch trim was in the existing cut out. After removing the hatch and placing it out of the way you could see the pencil marks on the deck where the deck had to be cut out. You could clearly see the triangular sections of the deck in the front/sides that needed to be cut out to make the square hatch fit.
4) Template (Time 1 ½ hours): I decided that the deck should be cut away with a router. I have a standard Black and Decker ¾ HP model that I used which bought about $85 10 years ago. Don’t get the idea that I’m an expert woodworker because I’m not. You could cut out the deck free hand with the router but a router can get away from you so I made a template to be safe.
I cut a scrap of ¼” plywood about 26” by 26” and placed the new hatch in the center. I then traced around the outside of the trim ring. This is part that fits INTO the deck opening, not the edge that sits on the deck which is wider). With a skill saw I cut the plywood template out along the line. I now had a kind of a square picture frame with rounded inside corners. I tested the fit of the hatch in the template and then used a belt sander to clean up the inside edge. The inside edge will be used to guide the router.
5) Placing the Template (10 minutes): I used some 2 sided carpet tape to temporarily stick the template to the deck of the boat. The back of the template was aligned and centered even with the back of the existing cut out. In the front of the template I could see the sections of the deck (remember the triangles on the sides) that needed to be cut out. I could just see the pencil marks on the deck so I knew thing were lined up correctly.
6) Cutting the deck (1/ 1/2 hours): Well the moment of truth. I bought carbide tipped ¼” straight cutting bit for the router. My router has a guide in the base that rides on the template. Don’t skimp on the router bit. Buy a carbide bit. Fiberglass is tough stuff and a regular bit will dull out in no time.
I measured the depth of the cut needed (from the top of the deck to the interior surface of the interior of the headliner). This was about 4”. How would I cut that much? Well I figured that I only needed to cut enough to allow for the trim ring to fit in the deck and the latches to swing and engage about 3/4” and a little more in the front. I figured that the interior shape would still be trapezoidal and the square hatch would sit on top. So I decided only to “CARVE OUT” enough for the trim ring of the hatch to fit into the deck and a then little more in the front for the latch dogs to engage. This left the interior headliner intact and only a small area to clean up in the end.
I measured the depth of the cut needed to allow the hatch to sit flat on the deck. The lip on the new hatch that fit into the deck was about ¾” this plus ¼’ for the template. The final depth with the template removed therefore needed to be ¾”. The router bit was about 2” long. When it was in the router only about ¾” of the cutting blade is exposed. What to do? Make 3 passes. The first two would use the template. The first pass was set at ½” the second at 1/2”. Then I removed the template and the edge of the deck as the guide with the depth set at ¾”. Then with a hand chisel I had to make the front corners of the cut out a little deeper to accommodate the dogs of the hatch latch.
Put on a dust mask and eye protection. Fiberglass and gel coat and whatever will fly everywhere. I also taped a plastic trash bag underside of the hatch to catch as much of the dust and trimmings as possible. In the end this trick saved a lot of clean up time. I was working in the boat yard so I also made sure that no one was painting or varnishing nearby.
I started the router and by working it back and forth was able to trim away the first ¼” inch. I then lowered the router bit and did the nex1/4”. Then I removed the template from the deck and did the final pass which made the cut ¾” deep. I test fitted the hatch and the fit was a good fit but it still needed to be a drop deeper. I cheated a little by pulling the bit out of the router out of the router about a quarter of an inch more to get a little deeper cut and went over the cuts again working slowly and carefully. This deepened the cut about another ¼” which was perfect.
After brushing away all the dust I did a test fit with the hatch latched closed. It fit perfectly except in the right and left front corners where the hatch latches (the dogs) are. Here the cut needed to be a little deeper so the hatch could lie flat on the deck because the dogs of the hatch latched protruded lower on the inside then the rest of the hatch trim. I made the cut a little deeper here by carving deck area with a sharp hand chisel and the hatch not fit perfectly.
ADVICE HERE IS TO USE SHARP NEW BITS AND A NEW CHISEL AND CULT SLOWLY
7) Sand & Finish (2 hours plus drying time): With a sharp chisel and a dermal tool to make the work go faster and a small block of wood covered with sandpaper I cleaned up the area that I cut out. I rounded the gel coat edges on the inside headliner and made it as smooth as possible and sanded the exposed wood areas in the front where I carved out for the hatch dogs. I painted all the exposed areas with 3 coats of white gloss paint (I used Rustolium). I guess I could have used resin and gel coat but the paint seemed to work just fine.
8) Set the Hatch (1 hour): I used marine silicone caulking to set the hatch and then predrilled the deck for the specified stainless screws. I then went inside the boat and filled the areas between the deck and the hatch trim (a thin crack) with more caulk. I used a putty knife and my finger to get a nice smooth finish.
The results were really good and it saved a boatload of dollars over having the dockyard do it. They quoted me a price of about $900 plus the cost of the hatch. My costs were $285 for the hatch. (I got a discount a $45 from West Marine because there was a small scratch on the exterior aluminum trim) $15 for the router bit, $20 for the router guide set, $20 for caulking and paint.
I have a diagram too but can't figure out how to attach it. Email me if you want it....nelsonhow@netscape.net...
Replacing the Forward Trapezoidal Hatch on a Hunter 27 with a Bomar Square Hatch:
The hinge on the trapezoidal hatch on my 1978 H-27 broke. After a bouncy week on the mooring the hatch came loose and the seagulls got in. What a mess!!!! I tied the hatch down with a board on the inside and after a long search and much thought I realized that I would be unable to repair the hinge. I was also unable to locate trapezoidal replacement so I decided to replace the hatch with a stock square one. This is how I made the square hatch fit the old trapezoidal opening.
I removed the old hatch and frame and measured the widest width of the opening which was toward the stern of the opening. This was the width was the width of the replacement hatch. When fitting the square hatch into the old opening the narrow front of the opening (towards the bow) needed to be cut wider. The cutting was minimal. I made a plywood template using the new hatch I purchased out of ¼” plywood and tracing around the lip in the new hatch that fist into the deck. I then cut out the deck for the new hatch with a router. The work went like this:
1) Remove the old hatch (30 minutes): I removed the old hatch and trim and cleaned the deck with mineral spirits and a small flexible putty knife. A clean deck is important so I could do final measurements and have a good clean surface to mount the template for the hatch cut out.
2) Select a new hatch (months of time because I never did it before and I had to find the correct size): The opening was trapezoidal larger in the stern than towards the bow. The existing cut out had an approximate measurement of 22” in the stern and 19 ½” in the bow. The front to back opening was bout 20”. I selected a Bomar hatch that needed a 21 ¾” opening in the deck. These are approximate and you need to measure your boat.
This meant that I would have to trim out or cut the existing opening about 1 ½” in the front and a small right triangle section on each side about 2” wide. Again the measurements are here for discussion purposes. You need to measure your boat.
3) The Dry Fit (30 minutes): I selected a Bomar hatch that was in stock from West Marine. I bought one from West Marie because since it was a stock item if it was the wrong size I could return it. They are great that way.
I dry fitted the new hatch in the existing deck opening to be sure that the back of the new hatch would fit. With the new hatch latched shut I placed it in the existing cut out. It fit as expected with the back in the cut out and the front laying on top of the deck. Bomar hatches have a frame with a lip that extends down into the deck cut out about ¾”. I then used a pencil to outline on the deck where the hatch frame was laying. Remember the back of the hatch trim was in the existing cut out. After removing the hatch and placing it out of the way you could see the pencil marks on the deck where the deck had to be cut out. You could clearly see the triangular sections of the deck in the front/sides that needed to be cut out to make the square hatch fit.
4) Template (Time 1 ½ hours): I decided that the deck should be cut away with a router. I have a standard Black and Decker ¾ HP model that I used which bought about $85 10 years ago. Don’t get the idea that I’m an expert woodworker because I’m not. You could cut out the deck free hand with the router but a router can get away from you so I made a template to be safe.
I cut a scrap of ¼” plywood about 26” by 26” and placed the new hatch in the center. I then traced around the outside of the trim ring. This is part that fits INTO the deck opening, not the edge that sits on the deck which is wider). With a skill saw I cut the plywood template out along the line. I now had a kind of a square picture frame with rounded inside corners. I tested the fit of the hatch in the template and then used a belt sander to clean up the inside edge. The inside edge will be used to guide the router.
5) Placing the Template (10 minutes): I used some 2 sided carpet tape to temporarily stick the template to the deck of the boat. The back of the template was aligned and centered even with the back of the existing cut out. In the front of the template I could see the sections of the deck (remember the triangles on the sides) that needed to be cut out. I could just see the pencil marks on the deck so I knew thing were lined up correctly.
6) Cutting the deck (1/ 1/2 hours): Well the moment of truth. I bought carbide tipped ¼” straight cutting bit for the router. My router has a guide in the base that rides on the template. Don’t skimp on the router bit. Buy a carbide bit. Fiberglass is tough stuff and a regular bit will dull out in no time.
I measured the depth of the cut needed (from the top of the deck to the interior surface of the interior of the headliner). This was about 4”. How would I cut that much? Well I figured that I only needed to cut enough to allow for the trim ring to fit in the deck and the latches to swing and engage about 3/4” and a little more in the front. I figured that the interior shape would still be trapezoidal and the square hatch would sit on top. So I decided only to “CARVE OUT” enough for the trim ring of the hatch to fit into the deck and a then little more in the front for the latch dogs to engage. This left the interior headliner intact and only a small area to clean up in the end.
I measured the depth of the cut needed to allow the hatch to sit flat on the deck. The lip on the new hatch that fit into the deck was about ¾” this plus ¼’ for the template. The final depth with the template removed therefore needed to be ¾”. The router bit was about 2” long. When it was in the router only about ¾” of the cutting blade is exposed. What to do? Make 3 passes. The first two would use the template. The first pass was set at ½” the second at 1/2”. Then I removed the template and the edge of the deck as the guide with the depth set at ¾”. Then with a hand chisel I had to make the front corners of the cut out a little deeper to accommodate the dogs of the hatch latch.
Put on a dust mask and eye protection. Fiberglass and gel coat and whatever will fly everywhere. I also taped a plastic trash bag underside of the hatch to catch as much of the dust and trimmings as possible. In the end this trick saved a lot of clean up time. I was working in the boat yard so I also made sure that no one was painting or varnishing nearby.
I started the router and by working it back and forth was able to trim away the first ¼” inch. I then lowered the router bit and did the nex1/4”. Then I removed the template from the deck and did the final pass which made the cut ¾” deep. I test fitted the hatch and the fit was a good fit but it still needed to be a drop deeper. I cheated a little by pulling the bit out of the router out of the router about a quarter of an inch more to get a little deeper cut and went over the cuts again working slowly and carefully. This deepened the cut about another ¼” which was perfect.
After brushing away all the dust I did a test fit with the hatch latched closed. It fit perfectly except in the right and left front corners where the hatch latches (the dogs) are. Here the cut needed to be a little deeper so the hatch could lie flat on the deck because the dogs of the hatch latched protruded lower on the inside then the rest of the hatch trim. I made the cut a little deeper here by carving deck area with a sharp hand chisel and the hatch not fit perfectly.
ADVICE HERE IS TO USE SHARP NEW BITS AND A NEW CHISEL AND CULT SLOWLY
7) Sand & Finish (2 hours plus drying time): With a sharp chisel and a dermal tool to make the work go faster and a small block of wood covered with sandpaper I cleaned up the area that I cut out. I rounded the gel coat edges on the inside headliner and made it as smooth as possible and sanded the exposed wood areas in the front where I carved out for the hatch dogs. I painted all the exposed areas with 3 coats of white gloss paint (I used Rustolium). I guess I could have used resin and gel coat but the paint seemed to work just fine.
8) Set the Hatch (1 hour): I used marine silicone caulking to set the hatch and then predrilled the deck for the specified stainless screws. I then went inside the boat and filled the areas between the deck and the hatch trim (a thin crack) with more caulk. I used a putty knife and my finger to get a nice smooth finish.
The results were really good and it saved a boatload of dollars over having the dockyard do it. They quoted me a price of about $900 plus the cost of the hatch. My costs were $285 for the hatch. (I got a discount a $45 from West Marine because there was a small scratch on the exterior aluminum trim) $15 for the router bit, $20 for the router guide set, $20 for caulking and paint.
I have a diagram too but can't figure out how to attach it. Email me if you want it....nelsonhow@netscape.net...