Re-Weatherstripping Sliding Windows - CD 30 Powerboat

[Walt Bilofsky]

The weatherstripping on the sliding side windows on my CD 30 powerboat had gotten worn to the point that in any kind of chop, water was slopping into the salon by the cupful. The u-shaped fuzzy channels - which the window folks call "mohair" - needed to be replaced.

The windows are not made to be repaired while on the boat. The only fix is to remove them, frame and all. Then you either replace the weatherstripping, or send them to the manufacturer for rebuilding. The latter solution turned out to be the most practical and economical.

The manufacturer of these windows was Western Metals Co., 6804 NE 79th Court, Portland, OR 97218, phone (503) 256-0401. They were friendly and helpful. I talked mostly to Dan.

For convenience, I had a boatyard handle the removal and reinstallation. But it's not hard to do yourself. A few years back I removed and reset one of the fixed windows - see my <a href="http://www.toolworks.com/cgi-bin/tw/wwb ... 4">earlier post</a> for details. According to the boatyard, once the inner retaining trim rings were removed, the windows came out quite easily. (As I noted in the earlier post, Cape Dory was pretty stingy with the caulking when setting the windows and hatches.)

The next step is to figure out how to crate up the windows for shipping to Great Western.

They charge time and materials for rebuilding. It came to about $100 a window for mine, which has to be a heck of a bargain. They replaced all the mohair channel and the rubber, using the same jigs and materials as for new windows. They had made some improvements in the past nine years, including more weep holes in the mohair and in the frame - and they added those to my windows! They will also repaint if needed.

I also sent them my retaining rings for repainting, as the salt water had caused some electrolysis between the aluminum retaining rings and the stainless screws. I am going to put nylon washers under the screw heads in the hope that will slow the process down next time. They sandblast, prime and paint the rings. Unfortunately the dark brown paint color is a nonstandard color, so they had to charge $200 for ordering the paint, setup, etc. Alternatively, they still have some spray cans of the paint and seemed eager to get rid of them, so if you have chipped retaining rings and want to try painting them yourself, give them a call.

I understand other CD powerboat owners have also gotten to the point where a towel under the window is standard operating procedure in most windy conditions, so hopefully this info will be of some help.



bilofsky@toolworks.com

[Joe Merenda]

Thanks Walt, that's great information. My windows are in good shape but I'll keep the information handy just in case.



emerenda@nassau.cv.net