Last summer a crack appeared in the window in front of the helm. It didn't obstruct the view, just looked bad.
This week I replaced it.
My boat is a C & L 44, Taiwan built, completed in 1980. The window frame is the inner moulding, screwed onto the Fibreglass molded house, from the front. The glass is then stuck to a rabbet in the frame with 5200, then the outer moulding is stuck with 5200 and screwed on from the outside. Plugs over the screws, varnished.
I removed the outer plugs, screws, moldings.
Then traced the glass on a piece of plastic which I took to a glass shop. 1/2 hr and $88 later I had the replacement laminated glass. The only issue on installation was that I tried Butyl tape and it was hard and not sticky, so I went back to the hardware store for some 5200. Ended up with Sika 291, which is now curing. The outer molding is at home, to be stripped of its varnish before being re-attached.
This is a job I had been dreading for quite a while. It turned out to be a lot less work and not something to dread. I have seen a few boats that look like mine, where the owners have had window leaks under the sliders and wrote off all of the windows, spent a high dollar replacing them all with Diamond Sea Glaze or equivalent. I now know that I will never do that, as the installation method of the fixed windows is bullet proof. I have already fixed all of the slider leaks, so until I get another cracked glass, (could happen in a Diamond Sea Glaze installation too) there is nothing to be concerned about.
This week I replaced it.
My boat is a C & L 44, Taiwan built, completed in 1980. The window frame is the inner moulding, screwed onto the Fibreglass molded house, from the front. The glass is then stuck to a rabbet in the frame with 5200, then the outer moulding is stuck with 5200 and screwed on from the outside. Plugs over the screws, varnished.
I removed the outer plugs, screws, moldings.
Then traced the glass on a piece of plastic which I took to a glass shop. 1/2 hr and $88 later I had the replacement laminated glass. The only issue on installation was that I tried Butyl tape and it was hard and not sticky, so I went back to the hardware store for some 5200. Ended up with Sika 291, which is now curing. The outer molding is at home, to be stripped of its varnish before being re-attached.
This is a job I had been dreading for quite a while. It turned out to be a lot less work and not something to dread. I have seen a few boats that look like mine, where the owners have had window leaks under the sliders and wrote off all of the windows, spent a high dollar replacing them all with Diamond Sea Glaze or equivalent. I now know that I will never do that, as the installation method of the fixed windows is bullet proof. I have already fixed all of the slider leaks, so until I get another cracked glass, (could happen in a Diamond Sea Glaze installation too) there is nothing to be concerned about.
