Pearson Boats - Common Systems > Ports & Hatches

Happy Holidays to my fellow 323 Enthusiasts! (also rebedding fixed ports)

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Libations Too:
Alma,

I understand your comments about silicone clogging the channels in the frame extrusions. Mine were the same and it seemed to take forever to get enough out of the way to move the frames up/down and eventually out.

I am curious about the application sequence for the butyl tape. Did you apply it to the frame or to the cabin house? Before or after putting the frame back into the cabin house opening? Any lessons-learned or suggestions for others?

Thanks,

selene:
Personally I put it on the frame.  After installation I also filled voids from the inside before I put the inside cover on.

No need to tighten the screws too tightly - the butyl will gently ooze out; I suggest loose-tighten the screws initially, return the next day and tighten more.  Fortunately with the warm weather (sorry non-CA folks) it should settle in quickly. A plastic or blunt knife around the excess generally allows you to peel the excess off in a long strip.

I'd also be interested in Alma's experience.

Incidentally, I just finished rebedding the stanchions with butyl.  Seems like the decks are balsa core, with ply in the structural areas (such as below the winches). 

Libations Too:
Thanks Selene.

If I recall from your earlier post above, the openings on your 323 were large enough to insert the frames without the "hurky-jerky" up/down motion that Alma referenced. Am I correct?

On Libations (and apparently on Alma) the openings cut into the cabin house are actually smaller than the port frames and installation requires one to push the top and one side in first, then lift (or pry) the frame upwards and sideways (using the channel space in the frame itself to receive the cabin house) far enough that the lower edge of the frame will slip over the cabin house edge. Then the frame can be positioned and the screws on the inner retaining ring can be tightened. My fear is that with such a "hurky-jerky" motion any butyl tape applied to the frame would be damaged well before the final tightening of the inner retaining ring (or more likely in my case pulled free of either the frame or the cabin house as the frame is moved into its final position).

I certainly will follow your earlier advice about a dry fit before the butyl tap is applied. But I also am looking for hints about how others have solved this problem. I could always just get out my grinder or router and enlarge the openings but that is the last option I want to consider.

selene:
Hi Richard - yes, I see, thanks for explaining; mine popped out without the "hurky-jerky".  And I would also be very reluctant to rout the opening any bigger!

Weigh in, folks....

Alma:
I used two courses of Butyl on the frame flanges. Another third in a "c" shape around the ends and about 8" towards the center to make up for the cabinsides camber. With the extrusions cleaned of silicone I still struggled getting the frames in with a "dry fit" so I very carefully removed material from the apertures until a dry fit was easy enough (still hurky-jerky) that I wouldn't scrape away Butyl once the flanges had the courses of tape applied. I didn't need to fill voids as I had filled 'n faired the apertures with shims and thickened epoxy 13 years ago when I last did this renovation. When I epoxied the cabinsides to the hull liner I made that area slightly wider than it was with just the cabinsides and hull liner. This prevents me from getting the same amount of "play" in slipping the extrusions into the apertures. See Ed's photos to see how this upgrade is done. It is tedious but worth it to have a consistent thickness for the flanges and more importantly the clamping interior piece upon assembly. Here in Jersey last week I did need to apply some tension to the screws and re torque them after a day or so. They do NOT leak!

We have a beautiful High Pressure in the Mid-Atlantic this weekend for 323 work.

I'll be tied up in Hershey, PA for the world's biggest PORSCHE swap-meet!

Enjoy!

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