Looking for some wisdom....

Hey everyone,

I just recently installed some deck ports into the hobie 16, but my childish lack of patience has cost me a lot of work..

I got the deck ports (i think 5") that are "curved" and the best selection for the Hobie 16. When i installed them i unscrewed the cap and fitted them into the hull, drilled small pilot holes for the screws and then covered everything realllllly well in 3M 5200.

Ok everything is going great. I screw the port down and wait a week for the 5200 to fully cure. HERE's my rookie mistake: when i screwed the ports down i screwed them so the plastic flexed a little bit to match the contour of the hull. When i went to screw in the caps they no longer fit because the threads are thrown out of alignment by the "flexing" the screws did to match it up to the hulls nicely.

So now I have 2 big holes in by boat... Right now i can only think to remove all of the 5200, back out the screws, and re glue the ports in with the screws not quite as tight. I may also just leave the caps in when i do the installation to ensure everything works.

SO now, does anybody out there have a better idea that will get me on the water quicker. (i really don't want to redo this whole job)

Any insightful tips will be much appreciated!!!

Simple fix that will cost a lot of time and some money
Cut out the old portholes scrape out the dow 5200
put in the new portholes put them in let the dow 5200 set then drill holes
I used hex head machine screws because i hate phillips head screws on anything on a hobie
If truth be told the dow 5200 would hold without screws
it is some really strong stuff and is not to be played with

make sure you have the caps in when you do it. Even then the caps can be hard to remove if you tighten the screws too much.

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1979 Orange Crusher Hobie 16

The worst part is - you don't even need to use the screws. Silicone works just fine; 5200 is overkill.

Good luck removing the 5200. When they say it's "permanent adhesive", they mean it.

Truthfully, your best, easiest option is to buy larger ports and cut out the 5" ports you just ruined.

Thanks guys...i guess I've got no other options...theres a good chance I'm not even gonna use screws next time..5200 really is crazy stuff

The ones that are in there now are 5" i don't think it will be a problem going to 6"

Going to order from http://www.saltydogmarine.com/index.php?cPath=54&osCsid=ea32a6 unless someone has a better source

THANKS again

I don't have any suggestions on getting your problem fixed any faster and quicker to the water, but be thankful as there are a bunch of us that wont be on the water for months because it is frozen.

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Russ

6" deck ports?... I hope you didn't install them in front of the front pylons.

sm

I don't think you are picking up what Matt B was trying to get across, don't use 5200 on this repair. The sun damages the hatch covers and rings over time and you will need to replace them some time down the road. Use silicone sealant to allow future removal. Overkill is not always a good thing.

http://www.un-hesive.com/

Here's another miracle in a spray bottle.
I wonder if this product in combination with a scraper to lift the edges of your hatch will do the trick.

http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?pat ... id=1524847

Thinking outside of the box. Instead of completely removing the port ring, make a flat top jig to clamp to the hull (level with deck center) over the current port rings so you can use a router to level out the current mistake (route almost flush with deck at center, outter edges will be raised due to deck curvature) and file out inner ring edges to match original hole. If done correctly you will have a flat ring to seat a new port ring to (this time use a flat one). Use a marine grade silicone to seal. Personally I like the idea of screwing down the ports, but I use nylon screws (avoids the port seals accidently 'popping'), but just hand tightened. ALSO: I like to use polyproplene ports instead of the more common ABS. The polyproplene handles the sun much better.