Surveying an E 38-200

[CaptnNero]

Or too small...

I had a 32-200 with leaky fixed portlights. When I removed them to rebed, I discovered that the cutouts were so tight that the bedding couldn't do it's job. In fact, some edges of the ports were in contact with the fiberglass frame which made it hard to re-seat them. I openned the holes up a little with a power saw and it sealed easily after that.

-- neal

The ports weren't all that hard to remove, so I suspect they were bedded with polysulfide (3M 101). I found the best tool to do the job to be two thin putty knives, one straight and one bent at 90 degrees. I just hammered them into the gap to break the seal, and then hammered them around the perimeter of the port.

In my case the gaskets were sound, and just rebedding with 3m 101 did the trick. When you remove them be sure to check whether the cut out might be too big. I describe elsewhere on this board that my cut out was a bit too large to give enough surface area for the caulk, so I built up one edge with Marine Tex to give a better surface.

Good luck.

 

[Geoff Johnson]

I experienced just the opposite problem when I replaced my opening portlights last weekend. Two of the cutouts were so large and mishapened that only about 1/16" of the outer flange covered the hole. I had to build the holes up with epoxy putty. In my opinion, most of the seal comes from the flange presssing against the coach roof and not from sealant in the space between the inner portion of the portlight and the edge of the opening. BTW, when I had the portlights out, I took the opportunity to seal the edges of the interior wood with penetrating epoxy.