It took about 2 hours to remove all the seven portlights from my 26C. I was expecting plenty of broken fasteners but that was not the case. The screws and cap nuts came apart with ease. The portlights were also held on with some type of silicone sealant which came as a surprise. So now I am wondering if they were taken off in the past. The lenses are all in good shape and the paint on the lens frames is about an 8 out of 10. The paint on the trim ring and the exterior portion of the frame is extremely poor.
As these are now out of the boat what is the best method to use for preparing them to paint and what should I paint them with?
For what it’s worth, I removed all the screen frames from my ports two years ago. Had to drill out every screw to get them off, and had new screens set into the frames. The stainless screws had bonded to the aluminum frames.
When I reinstalled them I used slightly larger stainless screws but used a thread release coating to prevent galvanic corrosion from bonding the stainless steel screws to the aluminum frames. Works like a charm..
The original Atkins and Hoyle ports are cast aluminium. It can be tricky to get pain to stick to it.
I used the local paint store’s version of Tremclad rust paint. Their paint products are normally very good and I have had good luck painting propane tanks with it. They advised a primer was not needed. The paint has not adhered well. Next time I will either try Bob’s recommended paint and/or an etching primer, along with better prep work.
I painted mine without removing them three years ago. Just gave them a quick scuff, masked, and sprayed with Rust-Oleum Universal Satin white.
They still look fine.
Thanks for your input. So the question now is just what is proper prep? Do I need to sand down to bare aluminum? I am 64 now, I don’t think there is another boat in my future and I intend to sail until I can’t. I figure that will be in another 25 years so I want a paint job that will last at least that long.
I had a friend who painted airplanes. He stripped to bare aluminium and then spent a considerable amount of time and effort prepping the metal for paint. The prep was everything. The painting was the easy part.
My take away from that is that if the paint you have is well adhered to the aluminium, and mine was, then leave it alone and just freshen up the paint.
Bob,
Was the final port light color on Quickbeam silver? Or was that just a primer that you overpainted with white?
Jim Cosgrove
FATE 30U #343
Galesville MD
