Mainship 43 Aft-cabin Port/starbord doors

[dbullendsl]

I've seen several posts on this subject but don't think I've seen a definitive answer.

I have a MS 43 aft-cabin and the port and starboard doors are very hard to operate. I've had someone in to try to fix and the only solution they've come up with is to install a hard nylon bar almost the width of the door that will ride on the outer edge of the lower track. I works but not well. We've had the door off the upper and lower tracks but can't get the door out because of the overhang over the door.

Has anyone a fix for this? I'm told the wheel sets can't be removed because of corrosion for fear of breaking off the screw, however my recollection working on sliding glass doors and screen doors is there's only one screw holding each truck in place.

Any advise would be appreciated.

 

[porman]

I've just been through this. I couldn't get access to the bottom of the doors to remove the rollers. I used a hacksaw blade and cut off the rollers flush with the bottom of the doors. I made a piece of Starboard to fit over the bottom track for the door to slide on. An occasional spray of lubricant on the track and the doors are easy to slide. At the top of the doors I just had one of the rollers break. The door was grinding into the inside frame. I removed the rollers and made a piece of Starboard into an L shape and put it into the top door frame so the inside of the door rides on it. No more roller problems.

 

[dbullendsl]

That sounds like a good possibility, something I’ll consider after we reach our winter home in Brunswick Ga. Don’t have tools to do myself.

Thanks

 

[Shrew]

There should be holes at the bottom of the door where you can insert a phillips head screwdriver to 'raise' the wheels. This should give you the clearance. If the wheels are too far gone and heavily corroded, then cutting them may be an option.

On the rear slider, you had to remove a plastic track at the top of the door as well. Then you could lift the door up to clear the bottom track first, then lower the door onto the side deck to drop it from the upper slot.

 

[dbullendsl]

The screws are too far gone, previous owners actually tried drilling out, made it worse, doesn’t seem to be a way to actually take the doors out once you get them off the tracks other than disassembling the doors.

 

[ranger58sb]

Some sliding door systems have a removable track liner above the door (ours is black "plastic" of some sort)... that can generally be taken out by removing screws at one end with the door closed, then the other with the door opened... and once that track liner is removed, the door itself can be lifted higher enough so the trucks will clear.

Just a thought...

-Chris

 

[porman]

Some sliding door systems have a removable track liner above the door (ours is black "plastic" of some sort)... that can generally be taken out by removing screws at one end with the door closed, then the other with the door opened... and once that track liner is removed, the door itself can be lifted higher enough so the trucks will clear.

Just a thought...

-Chris

On the Mainship 430 there are outside track covers at the top and bottom. After removing them (assuming the screws aren't corroded in place) the door can be lifted up and out of the bottom track. But with the bottom pulled out as far as possible you still can't rotate the top out far enough to clear the overhang from the flybridge. I believe the doors were put in place before the flybridge was installed. I didn't see any way to completely remove the doors.

 

[Comodave]

I've just been through this. I couldn't get access to the bottom of the doors to remove the rollers. I used a hacksaw blade and cut off the rollers flush with the bottom of the doors. I made a piece of Starboard to fit over the bottom track for the door to slide on. An occasional spray of lubricant on the track and the doors are easy to slide. At the top of the doors I just had one of the rollers break. The door was grinding into the inside frame. I removed the rollers and made a piece of Starboard into an L shape and put it into the top door frame so the inside of the door rides on it. No more roller problems.

While I love Starboard and use it for many things, in this case UHMW plastic may be a better choice than Starboard. UHMW is a more slippery than Starboard. I made a sliding door for a previous boat out of 1” Starboard but for the track to slide on I used UHMW.

 

[porman]

Thanks Comodave, I might give that a try.

 

[Shrew]

On the Mainship 430 there are outside track covers at the top and bottom. After removing them (assuming the screws aren't corroded in place) the door can be lifted up and out of the bottom track. But with the bottom pulled out as far as possible you still can't rotate the top out far enough to clear the overhang from the flybridge. I believe the doors were put in place before the flybridge was installed. I didn't see any way to completely remove the doors.

Then with the door free from the bottom track, I would remove the bottom section of the door frame in-place. The rollers are screwed into the bottom of the door frame itself, so all you need is the bottom. Take the bottom of the door frame to a bench, remove the old rollers, install the new rollers. Then install the bottom of the door frame back on the door. Then reinstall the door.

You don't need the entire door on your bench to remove replace the rollers.

 

[dbullendsl]

I’ll take a look at that, sounds better than rebuilding the whole door.