Wish I Had Seen SBO's New Low $'s Before I Went DIY!

[rardiH36]

Over the last couple of years, I had been checking the cost of the four large replacement lenses for the Gray Enterprise ports on my 1980 Cherubini 36. (For the 6 smaller ports, I had already replaced the lenses at a good deal when Boat's US stores went out of business in 2007.)

The cost of the large lenses on this SailBoatOwners' store site every time I had looked was just beyond my OEM vs. DIY threshold.

So just this last week, I started down the DIY route.

Today, just on a whim, I decided to look again at SBO's prices. (http://shop.sailboatowners.com/prod.php?50326/Gray+Ports+-+replacement+lens). I was surprised to see for the large size I needed, the price had been dropped from about $75 each (from my memory) to $53 each --- or just over $200 for the four.

I think this is really very reasonable. My DIY cost for the four will be about $ 90 -- and while the DIY result will be workable, it will be a much less desirable outcome than getting the real thing. If I had noticed the current price, I would have definitely bought the replacement lenses on offer by SBO.

Just thought to mention in case others are contemplating replacing the cracked and weathered Gray Enterprises lenses on their Cherubini models.

Go for it!

 

[Phil Herring]

Yes, we just had a pretty significant price cut on Gray ports and parts.

 

[jorgefife]

Rardi 36,
Thank you so much for the info:
will replace some myself... look forward to see me at this forum bugging the daylights of you'all regarding how to instal!

 

[Steve Dion]

I have been saying that SBO has normally had better prices than the Dependers & Worst Marine for a long time.

Everyone should be checking out price from this site before/after they look elsewhere. Be sure you check the shipping prices on some of the other sites too. What they don't make on the products, they sometime make up on the "shipping/handling" costs.

 

[H30Gary]

I replaced the rubber seal on a leaky port light with new gasket material from SBO. The new material seems better than the old and cured the leak. The price was reasonable and delivery was quick. I also replaced some broken dogs. The new ones work great.

 

[duality]

do they have the lewmar replacement lens?

mike

 

[Steve Dion]

Mike: If they don't have it, it isn't made! <g>

Not really, but you should give Dave G a call anytime you have a question about something that you don't find on the website. They have many items that are not "easy" to find.

 

[Sylvain]

Thanks for the tip. I need to replace three 715 lens. I didn't know the H36 had some 818 as well.

I saw Mathurin II's post on replacing the ports with NFM SS ports. I'd love to do this but just can't bring myself to pay more than $3k for non essential upgrades. Replacing the lens will have to do for now.

 

[SamLust]

SBO has done a great job of price matching and price beating for me on several occasions and a few of the items were not shown on the site. They have built up acess to seemingly all of the manufacturers and distributors we might need. All other things being equal, when I'm going mail order I prefer to go with SBO. I feel better supporting someone who I know and know is providing a viable service.

 

[Ed Schenck]

ALWAYS check the SBO store first.

Bought my new Harken furler from SBO. Got a great deal. Had it shipped to the marina. They stored it for installation next spring and I haven't even seen it! Always check here first.

And I forget to look at the Gear Ads. Hate to say it, but maybe Phil ought to program an occasional pop-up. I had an FX-37 anchor there for a couple of weeks, practically giving it away. Never had a call. Now there is a spankin' new C-22 150 genoa and no calls. People check Craig's List and E-Bay but not Gear Ads.

 

[rardiH36]

DIY Outcome

I originally started with this thread because after starting down the DIY route, I noticed that SBO had new very attractive prices for Gray Enterprises replacement port lenses. If I had seen them earlier, I would have definitely ordered from SBO. I thought others might be interested to know that replacing Gray port lenses might not be a deal breaker anymore.

But since I have now completed my DIY alternative, I thought to post a couple of pictures. This project took a LOT of time to work out the design, fabricate, and install ... particularly since the band saw was at home and the port frame is attached to the boat. Even then, to get the right fit, I sometimes felt like a dentist who needs to slowly but surely grind away a bit at a time to get a new filling or crown to fit just right. (My grinding tool was a Dremel rather than a high speed water cooled diamond tooth drill.)

For the future, I can use the current plexiglass cuttings as templates. So doing new plexiglass will go much much faster.

My lenses do not swing open anymore, but they still use the existing dogs and frames. So removal is very quick.

After a couple rain storms -- no leaks.

My cost for the four port plexiglass, gasket material and some SS hardware was about $80 verses maybe about $220 including shipping for the real thing from SBO. I had miscellaneous stuff hanging around which would have required more $'s if I needed to buy. I chose clear plexiglass. Smoke colored plexiglass would have raised the cost to almost $100 vs SBO's $220. I estimate at least 40+ hours for my DIY project from trips to the plastics shop to clean-up. So guess my time was worth only $2-3 per hour -- with no benefits!

 

[Ed Schenck]

Very nice result Rardi. It would be helpful though if you could add a third picture, one of just the lens laying aside. I have trouble seeing the frame of the lense. I see that the hinges are gone but is the lense frame original?

 

[rardiH36]

Ed:

Maybe this view shows the plexiglass DIY lens better.

Yes, the frames are still original. I am hoping that the plastic doesn't get any more brittle than it already is.

 

[guidera48]

My new Grey Port lenses are here!!

My boat had 6 new large grey ports already when I purchased the boat, however my 4 smaller ones were yellow and had many cracks. The P.O. had glued contact paper over the lenses to afford some privacy and sun shade. Thanks to your postings I found them in the H.O store at a very reasonable price.

I ordered one ( 512 ) just to try it out and it fitted pecfectly so I ordered 3 more. Screw with butterfly nut was no problem. Had to build a small tool to push the other pin out. Also ordered several new knobs for the dogs. The new ones dont have a treaded brass insert as the old ones. (the plastic knob spins over the brass insert). My list is getting shorter:dance:

 

[rardiH36]

Guidera48:

By your pictures, looks like the SBO port lenses are dead ringers for the original. Your new ones probably will outlast your ownership of the boat!

Yeah, bummer about the old dogs nuts with the brass inserts failing. Probably water over the dam at this point for you, but you probably encountered that removing the old knobs can be difficult. After threading on the original dogs, it seems that Gray "distressed" a bit of the thread at the very end of the bolt presumably so that the knobs couldn't fully un-threaded and maybe lost. On my project, I had to remove all of the knobs. The original ones (with the brass) felt like they would fail if I torqued too hard against the distressed threads on the bolt. So I had to grind off the distressed segment with a Dremel cut off wheel. Both to remove and then put the dogs on again. Took time, but it was the solution.

Amazing how much better the inside of the cabin feels when the old ugly lenses are replaced.