Portlight Batten Down the Hatches Fix

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H30Gary

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Oct 27, 2011
154
Hunter 1980 Hunter 30 San Diego, Mission Bay
Don't exactly know what to call them, but my classic portlights are secured by thumbwheels threaded on studs pivoting on small-diameter rods embedded in the plastic portlight frame. Problem is, over time, the plastic support for the studs cracks and fails, so it is no longer possible to secure the portlight properly against the gasket.

I tried using epoxy paste to rebuild the stud supports, but found that after a few months the epoxy pulled away from the old plastic and failed. So I looked for a more permanent solution.

I drilled and tapped 10-24 holes directly adjacent the plastic supports, such that a 10-24 machine screw with washer would hold down the ends of the pivot rod. The tapped hole is thru the plastic frame and into the fiberglass coach liner so is quite secure. I did this both on some supports that I had tried to mend with epoxy as well as some that I hadn't tried to mend. ?Seemed to work well both ways.

Some pics are below.
 

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Ian McGain

Ian McGain

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Feb 17, 2004
268
Hunter 30_74-83 Lower Salford, PA / Tolchester,MD marina
Thanks for the idea. My ports are very similar to yours. I will keep your fix in mind if I run into this problem.
 
B

braol

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Apr 16, 2014
348
Hunter 27 Rebel 16 Great Lakes Naval Base, IL
Hey, that's a great repair!

I think we all have a similar situation with our old plastic lights. While I will always wish my 'lights were the bullet-proof stainless-framed type, I find the stock ones to work just fine...except for the failing dog support problem.

I'm thinking of getting some solid aluminum squares and working them over with my band-saw and grinder to see if I might be able to manufacture a one-piece replacement fitting (with the little pivot rod inside). But I like your screw/washer fix as a semi-permanent solution. Anything beats buying a whole new portlight frame and then having to do the installation....just because of one broken dog. Your fix shows that it is just fine to drill into the frame and install some screws without issue.

Thanks for sharing!
 
rardiH36

rardiH36

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Jun 21, 2007
2,117
Hunter Cherubini 36_80-82 Sausalito / San Francisco Bay
H30Gary:

Yes, good solution!

Several years ago, I went a different route for four of my Gray Enterprise ports. I thought to recount here as another approach that worked for me. (I hope this won't be considered as hijacking the thread since it does pertain to the topic and might be of interest if anyone in the future does a search for port fix work-arounds.)

Pictures are attached.

In my case, the frame hinge extrusions at the top of some frames were cracked or even partially broken off. The bad frames were only the four 18x8" large frames.

Notwithstanding the condition of the frames, another motivation at the time was to do something about the old crazed lenses. (I only learned later that SBO's store had replacement lenses very reasonably priced.)

I am in a normally cool climate. So for ventilation and that I am still be able open the other six ports and the deck hatches and of course the companionway, I opted to make the four large ports non-openable.

I got some new plexiglass from the local plastics store, cut it to size and mounted over the existing frames. I did make cut-outs in the plexiglass so it the new lenses would fit over the frames' dogs and hinge areas. No reason though why I couldn't have cut off the frame extrusion sections and simply screwed the new lenses into place.

I opted for white gasket material for a cleaner look. Still not leaking four years later. And the plastic has yet to show any signs of getting cloudy or crazed.
 

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B

braol

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Apr 16, 2014
348
Hunter 27 Rebel 16 Great Lakes Naval Base, IL
I like those clear ports, I'm thinking of switching to clear rather than polishing my tinted ones.
 
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