| Author | Message | ||
     Jeff Roy New member Username: Jeffr Post Number: 51 Registered: 03-2001 Rating: N/A |
I took my seahood and slides off of my boat today. I am sure they have been removed and reinstalled by previous owners, so this might be unique to my boat. I found 6 screws, 3 each side, that were not through the seahood, just the slides. I could only access these screws after removing all the other screws and seperating the seahood from the slides. That was no small task, they appeared to be attached with 3M 5200. It took me 2 hours to separate them by hammering a small putty knife between them. BTW when I reinstall my hood and slides I am going to through bolt everything. I strogly believe that nothing should ever be simply screwed into a cored deck. As it turns out those 6 extra scews were the source of a great deal of water in the deck. I have pretty bad deck problems, and I am fixing them, but that will be another thread. Anyway, after taking everything apart I realized that the slides have to be the same 3/4 inch in height as the originals because of the seahood. Just thought I would mention it because I had said I would make the new ones 7/8".} | ||
| Jeff Roy (Jeffr) Rating: N/A |
slight change of plans. This weekend I realized I made the cardinal sin of not measuring twice and bought stock that is too short. DuOH! I am going back tomorrow to buy another piece of starboard. One of the takers of my original offer has changed their mind. If anyone else is interested, please let me know ASAP so I know how much to buy. Hopefully, I can find a use for the other plastic. I may make an offer on the S2 mailing list, the stuff is long enough for slides for the smaller boats. | ||
| Jeff Roy (Jeffr) Rating: N/A |
I have gotten enough takers to use up the material I bought. Sorry, that is all I can do. I am not planning to put anything over the plastic myself, maybe some of the others will. As I said in an earlier post. The material is called Starboard and it is made by King Plastics. It is UV stable and very durable stuff. It is not as rigid or brittle as the material S2 used. I make them a little taller than the stock ones to accomodate the round over and still have lots of material to use. I will try to write down dimensions. But I generally just use one of the existing rails to set the saw blade. The overall size of the stock rails is 1" wide by 3/4" high. The ones I make will probably be 1" X 7/8" | ||
| pastcommodore Rating: N/A |
Nice offer Jeff! Your plan to fabricate hatch slides has prompted me to reiterate a hint outlined much earlier in this topic, namely the advantage of covering the plastic tracks with thin stainless strips that prevent any future damage from above (either by blunt force or Ultraviolet deterioration). It seems that fabricating your new tracks to somehow accomodate a thin stainless strip on top might result in a really swell, superior solution over the factory design. Either way, please post any relevant info you might create in the process: for example what specific material, dimensions of the stock, width and location of the "slot", etc. This kind of data could help others quickly and easily replicate the effort. | ||
| Jeff Roy (Jeffr) Rating: N/A |
I will be making a pair of slides out of Starboard for myself within a week. I made a pair for my 6.9 a few years ago and they came out much nicer than the originals. I bought enough material to make 4 pairs. Once I have the table saw set up it, it is easy to rip off a few more pieces. I figure $20 a pair plus shipping is fair. This is a one time offer. (I hope. I never thought I would need to make more the last time). If you are interested, be sure to send me an email ASAP. If no one is interested, I'll save the plastic for other projects. Let me know if you have a seahood or not. I will round the edges of them where they are exposed, but not where they will meet the hood. Without the seahood all the edges will be rounded. I will not drill them or cut them to length, that should be done for each boat. | ||
| Deborah Davenport (Ddavenport) Rating: N/A |
The idea of flipping over the hatch track originated with the 7.9 owners. Someone among the 1,500 or so of them figured it out, and passed the word to the 9.1 owners. Drilling and countersinking the new holes was the only requirement... ours lasted 8 years before it gave up this season. So, many thanks to Eric Yaremko for posting the specs, along with the name and phone number of the shop. Deborah Davenport Glory Days #115 | ||
| Eric Yaremko Rating: N/A |
One alternative solution- I felt the hatch sliders were a little underdesigned so I had ones made out of Starboard. "Charlie" at Clear Cut Plastics (206)545-9131 cut me 2 x 1-1/4" wide strips of 1" thick Starboard. Strips were 59" long, with a channel milled by them 1/2" recessed into the 1" side, 3/16" off the flat-deck side,for 3/8" tall groove leaving 7/16" of material on top. The material cost $35, the machining $32 and shipping 20. Use old guides to draw line toward companionway before removal. I then filled old screw holes (dont use old holes as guide as they are too close to the new channel depth on the Starboard strips and will cause perforation toward the hatch in the depth of the groove). I drilled the new holes in the strips and deck then drilled 1/2" holes in the deck, filled with epoxy hardware filler,let harden, then countersunk the strips, redrilled the deck and installed the screws. This should prevent the leakage and core damage I found under the originals. I've had these on for the summer. They slide well, look good and seam relatively bulletproof. | ||
| Loren Thompson Rating: N/A |
On my 9.1 I just installed the main hatch quides with the thick side up. I had to drill new holes to do it but there has been no more breakage and I did it 4 years ago. I also cut them into 2 pieces with the cut being where the instrument panel starts. That way if they ever need to be replaced again, I only have to replace the broken section which would be ahead of the panel and not require it to be removed. | ||
| glen (Glen) Rating: N/A |
I finally heard back from the factory and ordered hatch guides for $60. They came in the mail this week. Look just like the originals and are marked as for the 9.1 or 10.3 (on the tape holding them together). I'm going to make some stainless strips to install to protect them. Any suggestions on design protective strips? | ||
| glen (Glen) Rating: N/A |
Thank you everyone! I'm not a stickler for using original parts when better can be found, but I will check with the factory to see if any are available, buy a pair if they are and let everyone know. If the factory is out, I'll check on how available Starboard is in my area. I have a friend whose hobby is his shop. If I don't show up with a good project every now and then, I really disappoint him. I have metal strips on the tops of mine, but for about the first six inches near the end of the cabin house. Sounds like stainless the full length is another good project! | ||
| Russ Fender (Commodore) Rating: N/A |
Great feed back from all: I would have to agree with Jeff on the flipping point. The screw holes are close but not exact, the bottom and top thickness are not the same. I took the lazy approach and was lucky to find the factory still had some in stock. (Glen if you do contact the factory, it would be good for you to come back to the board and let us know if they still have them in stock). As far as to use original type or fabricated ones is a personal preference. To some it's important to keep their boat as close to factory original as possible. Others have made modifications to use newer materials and technology. Then there are ones like me that just want to do it the easiest and cheapest way then go sailing. Jeff if you ever decide to manufacture some new ones put me down for a set, I'd like to have an extra pair around. Also Jeff, it's great to see you taking an active role in helping out the other members giving your input. Thanks and keep it up. | ||
| Jeff Roy (Jeffr) Rating: N/A |
I wouldn't recommend the flip flop method. The pieces are not symetrical. I like the Starboard replacements over the originals. The material is inherently slippery and is more likely to dent than crack if something whacks it hard enough. The original tracks are 3/4" high. I machined my new ones to be just under 1" high. I used a 1/4" round over on the edges and it was much less of a bruise produce on the 6.9 (note: on the 6.9 the tracks are not covered by a sea hood) | ||
| Scott Corder (Pastcommodore) Rating: N/A |
Russ is right on the money. I've also heard of folks simply "flopping" their original tracks (upside down and swapping sides). I haven't tried that, but the methodology seems good (the old cracked surface would face down). Russ' mention of the stainless trick is also right on. I did that a few years ago with simple, thin strips of stainless mounted right on top of the plastic using the same screw holes. The stainless only needs to be thick enough to resist impact without denting into the plastic. I no longer sweat the thought of having to replace my tracks! Cost very little. And it works for the vertical hatchboard tracks as well !!! (which also take a beating when racing) Jeff's idea to fabricate is also good. Like him, I have a pretty decent woodworking shop and have used various plastics to fabricate many things for my boat(s). Like he mentioned, the specific material can sometimes get costly, but I've also found that some of the less expensive materials sometimes work better. I especially like delron (sp?) That's the stuff used for the "wheels" in many of the blocks you can buy from harken, etc. It cuts well, can be sanded and polished, etc. I've also often found that some of these plastic materials actually have better qualities than the original, i.e. allow surfaces to slide more easily against each other or resist sunlight or don't need upkeep like teak, etc... | ||
| Russ Fender (Commodore) Rating: N/A |
The problem you have is very common. There was an artical by Scott Corder several years back about this issue when we had news letters. I had the same problem with the tracks on my boat when it was 10 or 11 years old. Try this. I contacted the factory, you can find how to do this at the welcome page. List out the Serial Number of your boat. This will tell them what hull number and year your boat is. Tell them they type of boat you have. That's right it's a S2 9.1 . Ask them if they have a set of 9.1 C-way hatch slides(pair). I bought them for $35.00 for the pair, plus shipping in 1997. Hopefully they still have them instock. A number of owners have fashioned a stainless steel strip of either flat stock or angle to fit over the top of the new slides to protect them from the riggors of racers. Good luck. | ||
| Jeff Roy (Jeffr) Rating: N/A |
I know exactly what to do. These slides are on lots of S2's. You can not get replacements but they are easy to make. Both slides on my 6.9 were cracked and brittle. I looked at lots of different materials and I can say with certainty that Starboard from King Plastics is the best choice. It is a UV stable polymer that is used for lots of things in the boating industry. It comes in several of sizes and colors, including black. The material is tough but not brittle. It can be machined with wood working tools. You will want 3/4" stock in 4' lenghts. Unfortunately the distributors sell some small sizes but nothing that long (except a 1/2 sheet). The stuff is expensive if you buy a lot of it. A half sheet could cost several hundered. I called around and found a local boat yard that was willing to rip me off a piece and sold it to me for $30. I found a couple places that would cut custom sizes and ship it, I don't remember who they were, try to find it locally. The 9.1 I am buying needs replacements too! I wish I could have seen into the future. I would have made a dozen rails!. Like most table saw projects, making 12 is the same as making 2. I used my table saw, router table and drill press. You could do it all with a table saw and a hand drill. Use your existing guides as patterns. Another tip, buy a cheap blade for your saw. I ruined a good blade cutting this stuff. Also, if you have a dust collector keep an eye on it. The shaving from this stuff create a lot of volume fast. If I wasn't expecting to be swamped with new boat projects, I would offer to make some for you. Realisticly, who knows when I will get around to replacing my own. If you haven't replaced them by then I'll make you a pair at the same time. | ||
| glen (Glen) Rating: N/A |
Looks like the starbord side main hatch guide - the black plastic channel the hatch slides in - was cracked in our last race. Does anyone know where to get this material or a good replacement? Thanks in advance. |
