I took a stab at removing the gate valves today. Here is what happened so far, if you might be interested. I started with the head intake (there was no head on the boat when I bought it). I used a pipe wrench to loosen the valve. It would not turn all the way around because the valve handle hit the bulkhead. So I removed the whole handle/tee assembly. Then I was able to remove the valve. The thru hull looked fine to this untrained eye. So far so good. this will be easy! Next came the head output. I used the same procedure and again the thru hull looked fine. So at this point I'm thinking, "Great! Maybe I don't have to replace the thru hulls". Next came the sink seawater intake. It came right off. I looked at the sink output. shuddered.and thought "Later when I have a full day to work on it." Besides, I forgot to bring Xavier Macia's instructions (thanks Xavier) on how to take the cabinet apart.
So I moved on to the engine intake. This was a little more involved because it had some elbows, a tee, and a ball valve with hose, all mounted on top of the gate valve in order to shut off outside water and suck up antifreeze from a bucket. I was able to remove all parts down to the gate valve with no problems. BUT. When I went to remove the valve handle assembly, I hardly put any force on it when . SNAP. the whole valve snapped right off at the thru hull. So now I'm convinced, all thru hulls will be replaced. Also new seacocks with be thru bolted. Just for curiosity's sake, I put a 6 sided, 13/16 inch socket on the inside nut holding the engine thru hull. It came right off. Now I almost wish all the valves had snapped off so I could put a socket on the thru hull nuts. I might be able to use a wrench, but the hull shape might interfere with wrench handle. I might also look into "investing" in a couple of deep well sockets.
Chris Stevens
V-2933[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
So I moved on to the engine intake. This was a little more involved because it had some elbows, a tee, and a ball valve with hose, all mounted on top of the gate valve in order to shut off outside water and suck up antifreeze from a bucket. I was able to remove all parts down to the gate valve with no problems. BUT. When I went to remove the valve handle assembly, I hardly put any force on it when . SNAP. the whole valve snapped right off at the thru hull. So now I'm convinced, all thru hulls will be replaced. Also new seacocks with be thru bolted. Just for curiosity's sake, I put a 6 sided, 13/16 inch socket on the inside nut holding the engine thru hull. It came right off. Now I almost wish all the valves had snapped off so I could put a socket on the thru hull nuts. I might be able to use a wrench, but the hull shape might interfere with wrench handle. I might also look into "investing" in a couple of deep well sockets.
Chris Stevens
V-2933[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]