Albin 27 FC BECKSON ports & screens

[Sprig1]

Wow I don't have to ask anymore questions someone is doing it for me. I ripped out the headliner around port lights what a mess the rest of it is coming out to. I have not ripped much out of the aft cabin that is next. Basically all that is left is the hull at this point. I am staring from the bilge and going up. All the thruhalls are being rebedded and painting the bilge to cold now to do any epoxying. All new electric, plumbing,tanks, head I don't know anything that want be touched Good luck as I said before if we didn't have to have a day job this would be fun

[Beta Don]

The headliner we ripped out was vinyl which was glued to 1/4" closed cell foam which was glued to the fiberglass overhead. The glue had failed and the foam had come loose from the overhead and the vinyl from the foam - Everything hung down an inch or two, supported only at the edges where it was stapled and by the fluorescent lights they had installed. There were no leaks and no mold under the vinyl, though the vinyl did have some surface mold on it. Keep in mind that this boat had sat behind a barn in Phoenix for several years and then I had it under a roof for 7 or 8 years before we got to working on it

After some research, we found the only viable spray glue which was available in spray cans to use on headliners was 3M Yellow Super Trim Adhesive which was recommended to us by a local trim shop which uses it to install foam backed headliners in cars and trucks. It's expensive (about $25 per can) but it works. Spray it on both surfaces (we used 2 coats) let it dry about 15 minutes and press the parts together. We used about 6 cans and all of that was in the aft cabin. We carpeted the walls around the berths using the glue too

We glued the 1/4 inch foam to the overhead and to make sure it stayed there, we put countersunk screws through large stainless fender washers spaced about 8" apart all over the ceiling. We bought some foam backed vinyl boat headliner material and using the spray glue, we glued that to the closed cell foam. On the vertical sides around the port lights and on the angled back either side of the center dead light (we replaced that with an opening port light) we installed 3/16ths grooved maple wainscoting sandwiched between the port lights and the cabin sides, with the port lights through bolted . . . . after we soaked everything in the port light openings in epoxy and clamped it all together until it dried. All new LED lighting - 3 in the overhead, one in the center and one over each berth on the sides. A strip of LED lighting across the back above the wainscoting at the ceiling. All lights are on pulse width dimmers so they can be adjusted from full bright to quite dim. They use very little juice when dimmed

Seriously, as long as you're going to through bolt the port lights, I don't see the need to remove any bad wood from the port light openings. We liberally painted it all with epoxy, squeezed it together with a piece of 1 x 2 on the inside and another on the outside and C clamped it. Once you bed the port lights in sealant and through bolt them , nothing it going anywhere. Now, if you were planning on using screws to remount the port lights from the inside and more screws for the trim rings on the outside, then I can see where you would need all new wood to have something the screws would bite into. The core wood around my port lights wasn't all *that* bad, probably because the boat had either been in Phoenix of under my shed for the past 15 years

Don

[rnummi]

I just had an "Aha" moment. All the port lights were pulled, it was just as Don had indicated, fiberglass shell, deteriorated wood etc. I ordered the trim rings from Beckson after deciding to through bolt per Don, I was looking at the pile of trim rings 11 old and 11 new....when I said to myself, "self, what do I have that is already cut/patterned after the Beckson ports that I was just going to throw away...that is the perfect size to epoxy, slide through the vinyl openings, clamp to the interior of the boat with c clamps, that would also provide a permanent fix to the rotten interior wood around the port lights problem?" Damn right! The old trim rings.

I was wondering how to get a tight sandwich with enough "meat" to really give the butyl tape something to adhere to. I was also a little disgusted with the thinness of the cabin fiberglass... voila, remove the rotten wood, increase the depth of the plastic, permanent fix that will allow me at some future date to tear out the lining and fix the rest of the interior without worrying about the core around the port-light opening(s).

I was reading the Compass Marine article on bedding the ports before heading over to the boat when I noticed Beckson had two different lengths of install bolts 3/8 and 1/2. Ostensibly, the 1/2 is/was for "real" boats with a thicker fiberglass deck as opposed to the 1/4 we have. That's when the light went off in my head... why not use what I already have to thicken the side of the cabin house.

Anyway, thanks for all the advice guys, you have made fixing this thing a breeze. That's the second time today a solution just dropped in my lap (see the pilothouse delam/rot thread).

[Beta Don]

Buy two lottery tickets - You can buy a new boat when you win the 500 million!

Don

[rnummi]

Yep... So one more question for the road.... Did you consider encapsulating the inner board you used? If not, how come? That fiberglass can't be more than 1/8 to 1/4 thick around the ports. As indicated, I was just gonna coat what I could see through the liner, butter the trim ring and clamp.

[rnummi]

Any solution (aside from replacement) for the crazed plexiglass lens of the stern port light? It doesn't appear to be on surface (therefore making "headlight" lens polish useless.

[Beta Don]

Yep... So one more question for the road.... Did you consider encapsulating the inner board you used? If not, how come? That fiberglass can't be more than 1/8 to 1/4 thick around the ports. As indicated, I was just gonna coat what I could see through the liner, butter the trim ring and clamp.

I didn't replace any of the wood - I just wet everything out with epoxy, clamped it together with a board on either side, let it set up and then drilled new holes for the portlight, bedded everything in sealant and reinstalled the light. Hint - You don't want any part of the boat to come into direct contact with the portlight, as that's where you'll have a leak. Sometimes you'll need to make the hole a bit larger to avoid them touching so you'll have sealant between the light and the hole in the cabin wall. Same for the thru-bolts - Their holes may need to be larger too so you have room for sealant all around the bolts so there's contact with the wall

Don

[Beta Don]

Any solution (aside from replacement) for the crazed plexiglass lens of the stern port light? It doesn't appear to be on surface (therefore making "headlight" lens polish useless.

Mine wasn't nearly as bad as yours - The glass was pretty clear. I'd give it to you, but I cracked it in 3 places getting it removed. I replaced it with a Lewmar opening portlight that I bought on eBay for $75. It was an exact fit for the hole in the boat and has a 3/8ths thick glass. Wish I could have bought a set of them as they're much sturdier units than the Beckson's already in the boat

Don

[rnummi]

Don: Do you have the Lewmar Part Number?

[Beta Don]

No - There are a dozen different Lewmar part numbers for the same portlight - Change the color of the exterior metal, the lens, the interior trim, with or without screen and you get different part numbers

I *think* mine is a Lewmar standard size 0, which fits in a 6 X 12 opening. I *think* I had to trim the boat a small amount to make it fit, but that was a year or so ago, so my mind might be playing tricks on me

Don

[rnummi]

BecksonStern Portlight is 5 1/2 x 12 3/8 exactly measured for folks following in our footsteps. Lewmar size 0 cutout dimensions are 6 1/8 x 11 15/16 so that is consistent with your observation. A smidge off the sides and it should plug right in. Don's Marine Salvage has a bunch laying around, I might wander over and see if I can do the same thing you did. I used 5000 grit wet sand on the others, they came out perfectly. The stern however is toast. Have you ever seen "screen burn" on the polycarb? seems the screens were loose and the areas they were resting against the lens "burned" in an imprint... can't be sanded off. Annoying but serviceable.

[rnummi]

Wow, just received the rubber seals from Beckson... Fairly dramatic difference. When I examined the old seals, they looked pretty good as I had no comparison. Now I see why it's leaking.

[tego]

mummi, Don't crank the new ones down any more than is required to seal them gently. It's an easy job compared to the others you're tackling, but just as important. Water should stay outside the boat, right? good luck, Ben

[rnummi]

Thanks Ben... I was contemplating just ordering the latches. It's pretty clear that the screw downs toasted the earlier gaskets (one bazillion candlepower of Florida sun). While I'm fairly sure I wouldn't screw em down.....no guarantee of others trying to be concientious and blowing another set.

On another note: anyone try to bring back an old seal by heating/boiling etc.

[Beta Don]

The newer Beckson portlights don't use the screw down latches. They come with levers which you adjust by turning them like you do with your screw down knobs, but the major difference is, once they are correctly adjusted, every time you latch it closed, it applies the same pressure as you adjusted it for and that feature will make your gasket *and* the lens last lots longer - No more accidental overtightening

I doubt it would cost much to buy a set of the lever latches to replace your knobs - Both use the same stainless threaded shaft

Don