Albin 27 FC BECKSON ports & screens

[rnummi]

So when you plug the port lights back in where do you butyl tape it? Run a strip around base so when you plug in it fills gap? You earlier indicated you don't slather the interior base (as it just seals the vinyl)....I don't wanna screw this up.

[rnummi]

Part two of he question above: barrel nuts inside or out?

[JT48348]

I was looking at the cost of barrel nuts which appear to be as much as 2-3x the price of regular locking or acorn nuts. I'm not sure I see the value of barrel nuts. With 6-8 bolts per porthole, and 10 portholes total there's a significant savings to me.

If your repairs have been completed to the cabin sides then your coring should now be solid. No reason why #10 or 1/4 bolts won't be plenty secure and cheaper.

[rnummi]

I took someone's advice and bought mine from Albany County. Ridiculously cheap. Costs more to ship than the bolts and nuts. Tomorrow's install day for all the ports. I filled the original exterior holes w epoxy so redrilling from inside out. a little disappointing that there's not more evidence of how much work went into pulling them all, fixing the core, remounting through bolting. It's going to look just like when I started....

[JT48348]

Ok. I searched through Albany County for barrel nuts, sex bolts, etc with no luck. I see t-nuts but not barrel nuts. Perhaps they're called something else? Or are we talking two different things?

Barrel nuts like these?

rnummi: did you take off your headliner?

[rnummi]

JT I apologize for the confusion. I bought the Beckson 100 pack off eBay (65.00) and 200 SS Truss Head bolts from Albany for 23.00. Installed the first couple today. Rock solid. I went to West first and a single barrel nut was 4 bucks! As I indicated earlier, I figured I would follow the AOG wisdom and do it the right way. I gotta say, those puppy's pull the "sandwich" together. No gaps whatsoever on the bolted through trim ring.

I haven't pulled the liner yet. I know it probably is leaking through the handholds but my new slip is covered so I figure I can wait a bit to see that disaster. I have to confess, I did a half-a)) job on the port plywood. I will pay for it later. I pulled the ports, I had long term leakage from 5 out of 11 w accompanying ply mulch. I sanded the interior surface w a mouse sander, painted the inside w epoxy and slapped the old trim rings around the inside openings. Recoated the whole mess with more epoxy (essentially encapsulating the old trim ring. Ended up w 1/4 inch gelcoat cabin side, 1/4 old trim ring, 1/4 epoxy capsule.

So I "cheated". All this was done w/o pulling liner. I figure when I eventually pull it, I'll have to deal with the rest of the mess. I'll still have to do what you and the rest have done (Coosa etc.) I'll just have to custom cut around the solid epoxy around each interior port.

[rnummi]

In retrospect, a simple nut would have been fine. I think if there was a rational engineering basis, i.e. It was butyl taped on both ends it doubles the leak protection etc. That is not the case. A nut w washer gives you the same thing.

[Jay Knoll]

I may have missed it, I read thru this thread but can't find size of the aft cabin port gaskets so I can order replacements, can anyone help out with a part number?

Thanks

Jay

[JT48348]

Jay: I don't know if the Beckson site has a part number listed for the gasket. You buy them based on the window type and size. You match them to either the 512(aft cabin window) or the 714(forward cabin window).

I found the following in my notes for future purchase on my window refit:

Beckson ports-trim
LZN512 aft cabin
LZN714 fwd cabin
PTR-512w $22
PTR-714w $23

Beckson ports- replacement
5 new plastic black $60/each

6 new big gaskets $11/each
4new small gaskets
Beckson Chanel CH-2 $25/each need 3

[Jay Knoll]

Thanks Joe

[Sprig1]

Hi sorry about bringing up an old thread. Does someone have a picture of what they have done. Everyone here has convinced me on through bolting. The cabin walls are all fixed. I have all the old trim rings cleaned up. Jt filled his holes on his. So what is the verdict 4 bolts through bolted 6,8 ? Sandwich the the whole thing. Our just screw it up the way it was and be done with it put 4000uv around the trim ring and be done with it. I don't have to buy anything else and most likely it want leak for the next 20 years. Thanks all

[sail149]

Chris
Beckson recommend bolting the ports inplace with countersunk screws in the outside of fiberglass and the trim ring should just get glued on afterwards. I think you could also put the bolts thru the trim ring , bolts seem to make so much more sense than screws. Bolts cannot be wrong, we know screws are questionable, I think 6 bolts is plenty.
W

[sail149]

Check out this reply earlier and the Beckson recommendations
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=6820&start=15#p46544
Or imfo on barrel nuts, 2 types
http://www.beckson.com/bb.html
Here is Beckson long winded installation instructions
http://www.beckson.com/installport.html

[rnummi]

Hey Roger, pulled all ports, used old trim rings slathered w epoxy on inside of cabin (yes you can access the dry rot inside the ports by gently lifting away liner and taping it out of the way), liberally coated everything w epoxy and clamped down. When cured, sanded the heck out of it to return to original diameter. Then purchased all new trim rings (they aren't that expensive). Used original ports as template to drill inside to out through the "sandwich". Purchased the barrel nuts called for by Beckson. Purchased the ss bolts from Albany Fasteners. Used Butyl Tape around inside of new trim rings and silicone inside the voids between port and cabin side. Bolted everything together. Solid as a rock w no leaks whatsoever.

Caveat: if your liner is off, the best fix is the coosa board around all openings as described elsewhere. I didn't want to remove my liner as it was in pretty good shape. The only battle damage was 1-2 inches around every port. I says to myself: a: I have a ready made piece of plastic precut to exact dimensions, B: I only need to coat 2 inches around port void, c: when I clamp my old trim, I'll be able to fill the missing gaps w epoxy this making the whole thing solid as a rock, with side benefit of making the edge of the whole interior port circumference hardened epoxy that won't ever rot and lastly, d: it cut down on time to perform fix fairly dramatically. My thoughts were when I finally pull the liner I can "do it right" by glassing around the epoxy filled old trim rings. Is it the "right" way? Probably not. Did it get the boat in the drink quicker? Most definitely. In a perfect world, you pull the liner, remove the rot, coosa it back to proper thickness, reinstall ports. In Rick's world, the fix works perfectly and allows me to save the liner pull for another day. Oh, yeah. The Barrel Nuts were the expensive part (75 I think). In retrospect I could have just gone with nylock nuts and a ss washer. The bolts you want are the "truss head" ones from Albany. Ridiculous prices. Mae culpa #5 or 6, I could have skipped bolting "all" 12 in front and 10 in rear ports. I just did it because I had the mass quantity of bolts and I was determined to overkill it so it wouldn't ever leak again. So far so good.

Rick

[Sprig1]

Thanks Warren and Rick for the replies. I was just having trouble visualizing what to do. I pulled my headliner tried to save it. It came out in many pieces and it was in great shape. The handrails on the cabin roof didn't leak but they where loose I drilled out the holes and filled with epoxy. You made a good call not taking out the headliner. Around the ports I just used 3/8ths plywood only had to fix two small bad spots. Just coated everything in epoxy. Going to put Formica on cabin walls around ports so can put ports back in. Working on a plan for ceiling. I'm just doing enough to get it in the water to use but it's still a lot of work to do. Thanks for the help