New portlights part 1 of ??

Making slow progress. As I am learning so much new stuff to be able to come up with a solution to fix these leaky old portlights. Mainly what I was able to find was how to replace a portlight with a frame. found lots of Youtube videos and blog posts on how to do that. Pretty strait forward, buy new portlight, remove all the fasteners. Carefully release the frame from whatever sealant they used. Clean everything up really really good. Choose the right sealant, apply to the hull, pop in new portlight and carefully tighten up the fasteners.

Now that is nothing like what I have to deal with. First off the Reinell has no frame on its huge portlights. Next the portlights are a very funny shape. With my Googlefu I was not able to find a replacement that I could buy. I was able to find a few other people that have asked about finding replacements, and they didn't have any luck.

So this is what I was looking to replace. This was just screwed into the side of the hull with a gasket to try and keep the water out. It didn't totally succeed at that job. So I just figured I would try to go step by step and figure this out. Basically the steps are the same, right? Remove old portlight. Clean everything up really really good. Apply sealant and put new portlight in place.

Removing the old portlight was a bit of a chore. It was really easy removing the screws. Especially the ones on the forward part that got caught in the sidestay when the mast was being raised and got ripped out! That is another thing to try and find a fix for. Anyway after taking all the hardware holding it onto the boat, it still had a death grip and would not let go.

Not wanting to scratch the gel coat I started with plastic putty knifes. I was able to jam it in carefully and tried to work my way around the portlight. That was tough and it would get caught up in the carpet fibers that the factory allowed into the seal. So after a couple of times getting the putty knife in and trying to move it I snapped it. It didn't take long and 3 of them where broken!

So carefully I worked a metal putty knife between the seal and the hull. I was able to free about 1 and a half inches at a time. Pulling it out freeing it from the sticky goo under the portlight. Then pushing it back in. After a good long time I was finally able to free the first portlight. One down, one to go! Just like before inch by inch I was able to finally separate the portlight from the boat that have been together for probably 40 plus years!

Now I got to work cleaning the hull up really good. I scraped and scrubbed to get it nice and clean.  Then I took some 320 grit sandpaper and lightly sanded the hull. I was able to find that some of the balsa core was rotten. On another blog I saw that the wood was carved out and the space was filled up with epoxy and some fiberglass. So I used a small chisel and worked at getting all the soft wood out. Used the shop vac to clean everything up. Mixed up some epoxy with just a little silica thickener in it. and poured it into the wholes. Then I mixed up some epoxy and thickened it up really good. Used that to fill in the holes completely.

Now I still have the problem of what am I going to use to replace the portlights. Well if I can't find one already made then I will have to make one. So after some research I found a company out of Tukwila that would sell me a 4 x 8 foot sheet of 1/4 inch thick smoked plexiglass for about $300! Looks like I am going to learn how to work with plexiglass!

So I hooked up the little utility trailer to my trusty old Jeep and headed to Tukwilla. I know 8 feet is basically 2 feet taller then me. But man it was a lot bigger then I expected. Man was it heavy and hard to move! Got it loaded onto the little trailer and all tied down. Time to get it home!

I figured that I could cut the shape out of a sheet of plexiglass, then the next thing I needed to figure out was how I was going to get a good seal and keep the water out. My research kept finding that the sealant to use with plexiglass is silicon. But the majority of what I was finding was saying never use silicone one a boat.

I was able to find recommendations for Down 795 and then I found information that I could use butyl tape with plexiglass! So I am going to give the butyl tape a try.

So next I need to transform this blank slate of a 4 foot by 8 foot sheet of plexiglass into a new portlight for the boat. I laid the old portlight on the sheet and traced it out with a sharpie on the protective cover. Well after that I need to cut it out.

This has been the biggest thing weighing on my mind. I have never worked with plexiglass. So off to Google I go. I know you will be surprised that again I find conflicting info. Can use a regular saw blade, nope have to use a special blade just for plexiglass. Can use a regular drill bit, oh you can only use a regular drill bit if you run it backwards. Oh heavens no! You have to use a special plexiglass drill bit.

One thing that I do keep seeing is how the plexiglass is very sensitive to little cracks. Once you get a crack going it will just keep going and going! So if I do one wrong thing there will be a little crack and the whole piece will be ruined! After laying the old pieces out I see that I have enough to make one piece if I mess one up.

So of coarse I don't was to trash $300 by making a stupid newbie mistake. I find myself having a hard time moving forward. I know $300 isn't going to bankrupt me, but it is not the same as massing up $30. So I really don't want to screw this up. Plus I always want to do things right and to the highest possible standards.

I mean this is going to be in our boat. The boat that the kids, my sweetie and myself depend on to keep us above the water. So I want this to be really well built and done properly.

So it seems simple enough. Have a sharp saw blade, go slow and let the blade do the work. You don't want to force it. This project has been taking way to long. Soon the weather is going to be good and I really want to boat to be ready! So deep breath and jump in with both feet!

Using the skill saw I carefully trace along the line. Letting the saw slowly chew through the plastic I eventually end up with what looks like a portlight!