My suggestion..
David, My 77 Cat 27 came equipped with #24 non-tailing 2 speed Barlows on the cabin top, #32 primaries. Barient and Barlow are similar, but no longer in production. A well maintained winch will last a lifetime. There's no need to change them unless they're completely worn or you want a self-tailing model, especially on an 82 boat. So..... If you just want to install cabin top winches I recommend the smallest TWO-SPEED model you can find. A quick look through west marine catalogue showed Lewmar, Harken and Anderson's smallest 2 speed non-tailing as a #16, priced in the $350-390 range the next size was 30, so go with the 16's. I wouldn't spend the money on self-tailing since you'll be using these winches for various cleated lines. If the 2 speeds are outside your budget, go ahead with the #8 single speed, but two speed allows yout to snug up a halyard or tack line with very little effort with an 8" handle. I like the larger winches because there are many more uses on the cabin tops than any other. For instance, you might have 2 jib halyards and 2 reefing lines on one side, on the other side you would have a spinnaker halyard, a main halyard, maybe two more reefing lines or a topping lift, tack line, foreguy, etc. My vang and cunningham are on a purchase system that allows hand operation, but I could winch them if needed. Another popular use for the cabin winches is cross-hauling, recently discussed in the trim forum, and spinnaker sheet cross-winching so the trimmer can stand to windward.Mount the winches on either side of the cabin top, as close inboard as possible, (especially if you have a dodger). Also, mount them pretty far back, to allow plenty of room forward for the cleats and clutches. I have seen people mount the winches on 1-2 inche risers. To turn the lines from the mast aft they also mount the 2x2 organizer on a riser allowing them to clear the teak hatch guide and also keep them off the deck. The goal being to provide a fair lead to the clutches/cleats.I've attached a picture of my setup but, I'll change it some day when I get a dodger and maybe some clutches. The Clam ("V", Jam) cleats work very well and are an economical alternative to clutches.