Ericson 27 - remove, clean and re-bed portlights

Dear All,

I am a proud owner of a great 79 Ericson 27. I do have to re-bed the port lights and I am thinking about to put new frames in. I do have two questions to the forum (i) any ideas and experience on cleaning and re-bedding port lights and (ii) any suggestions/resources where to find/buy frames for a vintage E27?

Happy New Year to everyone and thanks for taking your time.
Best
Guido

i rebedded one on my E27 a couple months ago. i'm not an expert glazer by any means, but it doesn't leak anymore so the project was deemed a success.

basically i removed the window, scraped the old gunk off the edges, used silicone for a glazing compound, and used this weatherstripping...

click here!

...twixt glass and hull. worked great! although, when it comes to putting the window back on, it's helpful to have someone pushing on the window frame from the outside while you remount the screws from the inside.

the E27 owner's manual (downloadable elsewhere on this site) has some diagrams, and if you want a real project, there's also a gig under the "Owner's and Projects" section in which an owner scrapped the window frames entirely and replaced the whole assembly with Lexan.

have fun!

Great - I will try that. Thanks and Best
Guido

i think it's funny that Ericson said in the Owner's Manual (i'm paraphrasing here), "Warning: Over time, these windows *will* leak. Fixing them is your problem, not ours."

at least they were up front about it!

Ha, ha , ha - I guess that in the old days companies were just honest. Today nobody would mention something like that. Great find!
Best
Guido

Search these forums for "butyl tape" for some very sage advice from Mainesail, who is a real pro.

Edit: I just got off the phone with Mark Hiscock of Mark Plastics in Corona, CA (951-735-7705). He manufactured 2 smaller (~14") plastic windows and frames for my E32 in 1993 or 1994 and they've become crazed over the years. More importantly, they're leaking between the frame and the boat from my somewhat poor installation job and as long as they need to come out I might as well replace them, probably with tempered glass which won't craze. (Around $100 per window, he thought.)

His advice on the windows that DON'T need to be replaced: The original design using a U-shaped rubber gasket around the glass is quite poor and will drive you crazy trying to disassemble the two halves of the external frame, removing and cleaning up the glass, and replacing the gasket. Instead, leave the existing (failed) gasket in place. Seal the windows by cleaning and drying them thoroughly, masking the exterior glass and the frame, running a bead of Dow Corning 795 silicone caulk around the exterior joint between the glass and the aluminum, and smoothing it with a finger.

(Interestingly, he also was strongly anti-butyl tape and pro-silicone for attaching and sealing the frames to the boat. I don't think I agree, adhesives are a bad thing.)

Ports

I replaced the factory gray foam seals on my salon ports. I found the same /or updated foam material at Pep Boys auto supply.( I took a sample to a local window shope that does hatches and ports.) It was made for Boats and /Rv's. It was twice the price per roll of the common Black. It worked great, but I spent the time making sure all surfaces were clean. I also made sure I tightened the frames down evenly. High density Rubber Foam Self adhesive.

magicmounts.com #3552 1"x5/16 x 10ft.


It worked well for me. Rod

Learking

Hi,
I'm in the process of removing and replacing all my E29 portlights. The plan is to regasket and reseal the large salon windows and replace the other 4 smaller portlights. I'm not sure how much in common your 27 has with the 29 but from what I've read there is quite a bit. Somewhere I posted on this site information regarding the large portlights but not mentioned is, quite recently, I got four smaller portlights and plan on replacing them when the weather warms up. Sounded like you were in the market for some original frames? If you can wait a few months I should have the four small windows (14x6") pulled out and replaced. If you have any interest in them I'd be glad to give you a very good deal...like almost nothing plus shipping.