Leaking Portlights

polackrm

Member I
Hey Guys, I seem to remember a thread by someone who replaced his leaking portlights with either smoked safety glass or lexan. The portlight above the galley is ill fitting and although I have taken it out and resealed it the small leak continues. I thought that I might replace all of them the way that I saw in the thread. Fitting oversized glass, or lexan. over the outside openings and filling the gaps on the inside with mahogany to match the interior. Problem that I am running into is that I can't seem to find this thread. Can anyone lead me to where it is? This thread had pictures and all of the information that I think that I might need. Thanks for any help. Bob, e-29, "Pegasus" Port Angeles, WA.
 

G Kiba

Sustaining Member
Leaking Ports

My '73 E27's ports leaked a whole lot. Even in a light rain i'd get puddles inside. So, in October, I pulled them out. The PO used a massive amount of 3M 4200 to seal the port flanges to the cabin top. I removed all the old sealent and replaced it with a hollow "D" shaped neoprene weather stip from OSH hardware (@$6.39). I remounted the ports without any other sealent and no leaks yet. Even after a good solid blasting with a hose and spray nozzle. The neoprene is flexible and will allow the port to float in it's opening.

On my ports, the interface between the glass and aluminum frame was fine. The orignal seals seem to be holding up. So my leaks were at the flange an cabin top.

BTW, I refinished the window frames using the technique in the owners projects. Worked great! Except that my frames were so oxidized that I had to begin sanding them with 180 grit and work down to 600. The Magic cloth is remarkable!


Grant Kiba
'73 E27
Antioch, CA
 
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