The replacement "salon" hatch for our 82 H27 is ordered. This is a new project for me. So. . . Removing the old. How? Do I need a chemical to deal with the old sealant? Just a sharp tool? Cleaning the deck, scrub, scrape, grind, sand, chemical? I believe people have talked about sealing the deck "core" with epoxy while the hatch is out. Yes? Any tricks to sealing the new hatch? Use gobs of sealer (what kind?)and clean what squeezes out? Any other advice? Andy "Baroque"
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Metal frame?
Is that the hatch just behind the mast Andy? Wish I had seen the question earlier, I was up there yesterday and could have checked it out. An observation would be that you will have more questions when you remove the old one. I fear you will find a mess when you do. You might have to replace a lot of coring around the opening. I can help with that. Everything I have removed from my '79 has had silcone as the sealant. And it has been surprisingly pliable, still working I think. But that is not what is recommended and I use what the experts tell me. For a metal framed hatch that would be a polysulfide like 3M's 101 or what I use, "Life Caulk" from Boat Life. I will e-mail you my "Boat Sealant" document.
Is that the hatch just behind the mast Andy? Wish I had seen the question earlier, I was up there yesterday and could have checked it out. An observation would be that you will have more questions when you remove the old one. I fear you will find a mess when you do. You might have to replace a lot of coring around the opening. I can help with that. Everything I have removed from my '79 has had silcone as the sealant. And it has been surprisingly pliable, still working I think. But that is not what is recommended and I use what the experts tell me. For a metal framed hatch that would be a polysulfide like 3M's 101 or what I use, "Life Caulk" from Boat Life. I will e-mail you my "Boat Sealant" document.
Project Link
While the link below describes replacing the forward hatch, I think the only thing that changes is the model of hatch. The only thing we added on our hatch replacement was epoxy sealing of the core before mounting the hatch, as you mention. David Lady Lillie
While the link below describes replacing the forward hatch, I think the only thing that changes is the model of hatch. The only thing we added on our hatch replacement was epoxy sealing of the core before mounting the hatch, as you mention. David Lady Lillie
Fairly simple, just be patient
Andy My co-owner and I did both hatches about a year ago, with no major troubles. But if we had it to do over again, here is what we learned: 1) Be patient. The old sealant won't give you much grief. Just scrape or grind it off once the hatch is out. 2) We had to grind out some extra room for the new hatch because the new one was a bit bigger. Be patient here too, 'cause we ended up grinding out a bit too much and I had to go in later and add some Marine Tex to the corners to make it seal properly. 3) After the hole was the right size, we sealed up the core that was now exposed by the grinding, with Marine Tex white. Be sure to check the fit of the new hatch carefully after you have the hole cut and edges sealed up. We found that where the newly ground out opening was too big, there wasn't enough bite on the screws to fasten the hatch to the deck. So we had to build up those areas with epoxy before we could drill the screw holes. And I recommend pilot holes for all the screws to avoid cracking. 4) We used 3M 4000 UV caulking but a polysulfide should work well too. The trick here is to mask off the deck around where the new hatch will go, and leave enough room inside the masking tape to do a beveled edge to your caulking bead. In other words, leave some room between the hatch and the masking tape to smooth down the outer edge of the caulk bead. Put on a good solid covering of caulk all around the hatch flange. Then place it on the opening, and gently screw the screws down till they are just about tight (maybe 5/8s of the total length of the screw for example. Do this all around the hatch, and then smooth the caulking out and remove the masking tape. Now, let it sit for a day to allow the caulking to firm up under the hatch flange (by the way, mask off inside the boat too in case it oozes in). 5) Come back the next day and gently tighten the screws all around. Don't overtighten!! You may find that the caulking bead edge doesn't change, which is fine. It has changed inside where you can't see it. If necessary, touch up the bead of caulk around the edge, and that should do it! Good luck, it'll be great. Take care, Ron and Tom
Andy My co-owner and I did both hatches about a year ago, with no major troubles. But if we had it to do over again, here is what we learned: 1) Be patient. The old sealant won't give you much grief. Just scrape or grind it off once the hatch is out. 2) We had to grind out some extra room for the new hatch because the new one was a bit bigger. Be patient here too, 'cause we ended up grinding out a bit too much and I had to go in later and add some Marine Tex to the corners to make it seal properly. 3) After the hole was the right size, we sealed up the core that was now exposed by the grinding, with Marine Tex white. Be sure to check the fit of the new hatch carefully after you have the hole cut and edges sealed up. We found that where the newly ground out opening was too big, there wasn't enough bite on the screws to fasten the hatch to the deck. So we had to build up those areas with epoxy before we could drill the screw holes. And I recommend pilot holes for all the screws to avoid cracking. 4) We used 3M 4000 UV caulking but a polysulfide should work well too. The trick here is to mask off the deck around where the new hatch will go, and leave enough room inside the masking tape to do a beveled edge to your caulking bead. In other words, leave some room between the hatch and the masking tape to smooth down the outer edge of the caulk bead. Put on a good solid covering of caulk all around the hatch flange. Then place it on the opening, and gently screw the screws down till they are just about tight (maybe 5/8s of the total length of the screw for example. Do this all around the hatch, and then smooth the caulking out and remove the masking tape. Now, let it sit for a day to allow the caulking to firm up under the hatch flange (by the way, mask off inside the boat too in case it oozes in). 5) Come back the next day and gently tighten the screws all around. Don't overtighten!! You may find that the caulking bead edge doesn't change, which is fine. It has changed inside where you can't see it. If necessary, touch up the bead of caulk around the edge, and that should do it! Good luck, it'll be great. Take care, Ron and Tom
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