Newport 27 Through hull replacement

Jan 19, 2019
65
Oday 27 Hudson, Wisconsin
We just got a Newport 27 this year, and reading the Newport 27 article, it has me wondering about upgrading the through hulls (original PVC ones are still on board and functioning)
Has anyone done this? Is it truly a "must do"? Just wondering if anyone has had any issues....

Thanks!!
 

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Oct 22, 2014
20,992
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Looks to me like you have 4 good reasons to make sure your through hulls are good.

You say PVC... I hear PLASTIC.
Here are some great articles by a very highly respected Marine Electrical Engineer.
If you feel you are not sure about the condition of your sea cocks and thru hulls I encourage you to get them inspected by a marine engineer.

Also, just in case, you should be carrying plugs on the boat that you can jam into a thru hull that breaks and starts to sink your boat.
 
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Joe

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Jun 1, 2004
7,999
Catalina 27 Mission Bay, San Diego
I think upgrading the through hulls to bronze or marelon is top priority. If you're hauled out for the winter.... definitely include that project in your spring commissioning chores. I suggest trying to find a dedicated Newport 27 owner's website.... you may get lucky and find a list of known issues like I did when I acquired my Catalina 27. Otherwise, no matter the make, production level boats of the 60's 70's and 80's will all share some common issues to be aware of... through hulls is one, spreader brackets and chainplates are another... this list will grow and evolve, so just keep asking around and follow up on anything you hear... You may not have to take action... but you will have peace of mind knowing that you've examined any potential problems.... 'cause you want to make the boat safe for you and your beautiful family. Enjoy, you're gonna have fun.
 
Nov 22, 2011
1,192
Ericson 26-2 San Pedro, CA
We just got a Newport 27 this year, and reading the Newport 27 article, it has me wondering about upgrading the through hulls (original PVC ones are still on board and functioning)
Has anyone done this? Is it truly a "must do"? Just wondering if anyone has had any issues....

Thanks!!
If the actual through hulls are PVC, then yes, you should make it a top priority to replace them as soon as possible. But if they are actually Marelon, then there is nothing necessarily wrong with this--though, as with any through hulls, you should inspect them. Ditto for any fittings attached to the through hulls. My Ericson 26 had through hulls that were fine, but Ericson had used PVC fittings connected to the one for the head plumbing. I changed those out as quickly as possible after buying the boat.

The Newport 27 is a good sailing boat, by the way. I owned one for several years and thought it handled quite well. A nice C&C design. I have a .PDF of the original manual for the boat if you are interested, by the way.
 
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Jan 19, 2019
65
Oday 27 Hudson, Wisconsin
If the actual through hulls are PVC, then yes, you should make it a top priority to replace them as soon as possible. But if they are actually Marelon, then there is nothing necessarily wrong with this--though, as with any through hulls, you should inspect them. Ditto for any fittings attached to the through hulls. My Ericson 26 had through hulls that were fine, but Ericson had used PVC fittings connected to the one for the head plumbing. I changed those out as quickly as possible after buying the boat.

The Newport 27 is a good sailing boat, by the way. I owned one for several years and thought it handled quite well. A nice C&C design. I have a .PDF of the original manual for the boat if you are interested, by the way.
Yes! I would love a pdf of the manual :)
 
Jan 19, 2019
65
Oday 27 Hudson, Wisconsin
Looks to me like you have 4 good reasons to make sure your through hulls are good.

You say PVC... I hear PLASTIC.
Here are some great articles by a very highly respected Marine Electrical Engineer.
If you feel you are not sure about the condition of your sea cocks and thru hulls I encourage you to get them inspected by a marine engineer.

Also, just in case, you should be carrying plugs on the boat that you can jam into a thru hull that breaks and starts to sink your boat.
Thanks for the links to those articles - a very good read!!
 
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Jan 19, 2019
65
Oday 27 Hudson, Wisconsin
Looks to me like you have 4 good reasons to make sure your through hulls are good.

You say PVC... I hear PLASTIC.
Here are some great articles by a very highly respected Marine Electrical Engineer.
If you feel you are not sure about the condition of your sea cocks and thru hulls I encourage you to get them inspected by a marine engineer.

Also, just in case, you should be carrying plugs on the boat that you can jam into a thru hull that breaks and starts to sink your boat.

Ok, reading a bit more I see this: IMPORTANT: If your vessel lacks the skin-thickness for through-bolting and countersinking the heads do not through bolt! Some boats do not have thick enough hulls for this!

I don't actually know my hull thickness yet - I can measure with calipers when I'm taking off the old thru hulls - but now I don't know what is "thick enough" to through bolt yet.... Is there a magic number for thickness to say yay or nay to through bolting (and I apologize if I missed this number in the article)
 
Jun 11, 2004
1,621
Oday 31 Redondo Beach
We just got a Newport 27 this year, and reading the Newport 27 article, it has me wondering about upgrading the through hulls (original PVC ones are still on board and functioning)
Has anyone done this? Is it truly a "must do"? Just wondering if anyone has had any issues....

Thanks!!
The linked article says "All through-hulls are bronze, but they're fitted with PVC gate valves." "Installing a modern traveler should join replacing the PVC through-hull valves at the top of any improvements list. "

So if the bronze thru hulls are in okay shape and not leaking maybe you just need to replace the PVC valves and not the thru hulls. In my opinion you should certainly at least replace any PVC components.

What kind of backing plates, if any, are on the thru hull fittings?
 
Jan 19, 2019
65
Oday 27 Hudson, Wisconsin
The linked article says "All through-hulls are bronze, but they're fitted with PVC gate valves." "Installing a modern traveler should join replacing the PVC through-hull valves at the top of any improvements list. "

So if the bronze thru hulls are in okay shape and not leaking maybe you just need to replace the PVC valves and not the thru hulls. In my opinion you should certainly at least replace any PVC components.

What kind of backing plates, if any, are on the thru hull fittings?
OMG that would make life a lot easier. Our boat is up north a few hours, so next time I'm up there I will take a closer look at these through hulls and check out what is going on. So if I understand correctly, just the gate valves can be switched? (If the valve is not "part" of the through hull - ie gate can be removed without removing through hull.)
That would make everything a lot easier!

The article jssailem posted mentioned the two thread types, so I'm assuming I'll have to figure out what thread type is on the current through hull before ordering a new seacock....
 
Jun 11, 2004
1,621
Oday 31 Redondo Beach
So if I understand correctly, just the gate valves can be switched? (If the valve is not "part" of the through hull - ie gate can be removed without removing through hull.)
I'm just suggesting that it might be possible. Not suggestinging that it may be the best way to go. Lots of variables that will take some due diligance before deciding what to do.
 
Nov 22, 2011
1,192
Ericson 26-2 San Pedro, CA
I'm just suggesting that it might be possible. Not suggestinging that it may be the best way to go. Lots of variables that will take some due diligance before deciding what to do.
I think the bigger point is that for a boat this age you cannot assume that things like through hulls and seacocks are the same as what may have come from the factory. You have no idea what a previous owner may have done. For that matter, even the factory may have done different things at different times in their production run. You *ALWAYS* need to look at what you actually have installed and never what you assume is "supposed to be" there.