Removing bronze portlight interior oval ring?

[Doug Vaughn]

Anyone tried to do this? I'm thinking of updating/improving the oak interior panel on the aft bulkhead in my cabin. I removed the nuts and tried to gently pry off the oval ring but it had a lot of resistance. Were these installed with a sealant? Any information would is much appreciated, especially from someone who has done this.
Thanks,
Doug

[Mike Zofchak]

Doug,

I have had all of mine off, cleaned and reinstalled/sealed and they do come off fairly easy, although mine were on the fiberglass. It sounds like yours is on some wood??? I would go real easy with a thin putty knife and slide it in behind and see what happens, remember be patient. Sometimes a little heat from a heat gun helps loosen things as well.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Matthew Balch]

Doug,

I'm having a hard visualizing this, because my ports have the oval ring on the outside.  The inner part is all part of the main porthole, which could have been originally installed with a bedding compound or sealant and later have been re-done by a previous owner.  Hopefully 5200 was not used!

Mike's right that heat could help make the sealant softer.  Putty knife will help too.  You may also be able to give it a tap with a rubber mallet from the opposite side to help break it free.

Regarding the new sealant, I have had excellent results on installing portlights with a bedding compound called Dolphinite. It can be removed at a later time with no fuss.  I used 5200 once on a previous boat, and the portlight was impossible to remove and permanently attached as far as I was concerned!  Lesson learned.

Matthew

[Soggy Paws]

Doug,

We took all ours off about 18 years ago for cleaning, sealing and regasketing.  All were installed with white 3M 5200.  Some were relatively easy but a couple were near impossible.  The one I still remember is the one in our WT engine room which finally came out with with a lot of effort and a big crow bar.

Heat from a hot heat gun helps release the 5200 and there is also a 5200 release compound you can buy.  The problem with the release compound would be getting it to all the stuck joints.  I wouldn't put them back in with 5200.

We have replaced most of our old 1/4" oak paneling with either bare white painted hull in many cabinets, or in the case of the aft and fwd staterooms varnished wood strips.  This gives a nice finish to those large hull sides previously covered with oak ply.  If you want to have a look, see the interior pics on our Soggy Paws For Sale ad off the homepage on our website.

Dave

[Mike Zofchak]

Doug,

Mathew is correct the ring is on the outside and the main body is from the inside.

I reinstalled/sealed mine with butyl and have installed my “new” New Found Metals ports in the aft cabin with butyl as well. I really think it the best sealant to use for this application. Check out www.compassmarine.com about using butyl. He will probably make a believer out of you.

[Doug Vaughn]

Thanks all for the help. After a little more research, it does appear that the body of the portlight is on the interior with the oval ring mounted from the exterior. This adds a bit more work to the project but offers an opportunity to make a more dramatic change. Dave and Sherry, I like the look of the varnished wood strips. I will probably go with that. Thanks again for the help!