Sliding door removal on a 2000 380 Sundancer

A

AAK

Member
TECHNICAL Contributor
Feb 14, 2009
135
Perry Hall , Md
Boat Info
2000 38 Sundancer
Engines
7.4 Horizon FWC
I'm in the process of removing the old Nevercold DE 461 refrigerator, soon to meet the inside of a recycle dumpster where it belongs, what a POS. I've got the Vitrifigo model DP 2600 coming in this week as the replacement. I know this model sticks out of the cabinetry by about 2 inches but I want the extra capacity and I've seen this in a 38' with the trim piece filling the gap, doesn't look bad. I'm putting it in my 2000 38' Sundancer and I need to remove the sliding doors. What is the procedure to remove the sliding doors? I'm sure I could eventually figure it out but I would like to come up the learning curve from somebody on the site that has already done it. I've searched through the 380 Sundancer section and I've seen a bunch of replacement pictures but no how to. Do I take the outer sliding door off by the top track (I assume this one first) or the bottom track first? After the outer door is off I assume the stainless steel sill plate comes up to get the inner door to slide into the door opening for removal. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Al

I've got this posted on the 380 thread and I'm hoping to get a respone from there also but the 380 thread doesn't seem to have any continuity.​
 
Is it possible to remove the old unit without removing the cabin door? Seems like somone did it by removing the fridge door, and taking out the compressor.

Don
 
Southpaw II, Yes, I've heard the same thing on getting the old frig out, mainly because you can damage it as you are taking it out. TRUST ME, even after taking the doors and hinges off of the new refrigerator the sliding doors have to come off. I just need somebody that has removed the sliding door to see this thread and explain the process. There are numerous comments on this thread about Marine Max doing the install and they had to remove sliding doors. Most people said it took about three hours to do. Thanks, Al
 
All - I did do the istall of the DP 2600 this weekend!!!!!!!!!! It was a lot of work but it does fit and you can do it.
 
So you took the door off I guess? How'd that go?
 
rondds, Door shroud, both doors, vinyl trim pad over the outside sink cabinets, black trim pad on top of frig cabinet inside boat, complete take apart of the old and new frigs to get through the opening, etc.... It's not brain surgery, just time consuming and finding all of the fasteners to do the disassembly slows you down. I couldn't find anybody on the site to respond back on my thread about the procedure to do it, so I did it. If you want, give me your email address and I can send pictures if you are going to do the job yourself. Al
 
AAK said:
rondds, Door shroud, both doors, vinyl trim pad over the outside sink cabinets, black trim pad on top of frig cabinet inside boat, complete take apart of the old and new frigs to get through the opening, etc.... It's not brain surgery, just time consuming and finding all of the fasteners to do the disassembly slows you down. I couldn't find anybody on the site to respond back on my thread about the procedure to do it, so I did it. If you want, give me your email address and I can send pictures if you are going to do the job yourself. Al
Click to expand...

Am in the process of installing a Norcold 0061 now...soon....today maybe. I haven't found anything on removing the cabin doors either. If you have pics, I'd love them!
 
I hope you set aside your entire weekend, Burn! FYI - this is a 7 year old thread as well.

If the 380 is anything like the 400 you're facing a considerable disassembly process to get the 0061 through the door. Comments range from full fridge cabinet removal, door removal, bottom step removal all pre-ceeded by taking every conceivably removable part off the new fridge. Major surgery. Godspeed man...
 
Stee6043 said:
I hope you set aside your entire weekend, Burn! FYI - this is a 7 year old thread as well.

If the 380 is anything like the 400 you're facing a considerable disassembly process to get the 0061 through the door. Comments range from full fridge cabinet removal, door removal, bottom step removal all pre-ceeded by taking every conceivably removable part off the new fridge. Major surgery. Godspeed man...
Click to expand...
AAK replied with a direct message and was willing to help with pictures Monday but my wife and went for it today.

The cabin doors come of the 2000 380 with 4 screws each door at the bottom track and 4 screws each door at the top track. A decorative molding strip pops off at the top to give you access to the top track. We also took off the hand rail at the steps that would be in the way.

The old fridge is cumbersome and has a lot of junk hanging off the back. But it was trashed and we didn’t care about it. The front doors come off. Hinges come off. Then everything hanging on the back comes off. We taped off the entrance, put a tarp on the steps and out came the old Norcold.

The new Norcold model was a piece of cake. It is lighter, an inch narrower and the compressor can be removed with 5 bolts and taped to the top for the ride into the cabin. There is nothing else on the back to remove. Putting the new fridge in took about a quarter of the time to take the old one out. From taking the cabin doors off to putting them back on again took about 3 and half hours. Booya! I am pretty happy. I was prepared for something much worse.
0C1872EB-CAB3-40DE-9B89-731BA633A87C.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Pictures of the new install??
 
Burntundra said:
AAK replied with a direct message and was willing to help with pictures Monday but my wife and went for it today.

The cabin doors come of the 2000 380 with 4 screws each door at the bottom track and 4 screws each door at the top track. A decorative molding strip pops off at the top to give you access to the top track. We also took off the hand rail at the steps that would be in the way.

The old fridge is cumbersome and has a lot of junk hanging off the back. But it was trashed and we didn’t care about it. The front doors come off. Hinges come off. Then everything hanging on the back comes off. We taped off the entrance, put a tarp on the steps and out came the old Norcold.

The new Norcold model was a piece of cake. It is lighter, an inch narrower and the compressor can be removed with 5 bolts and taped to the top for the ride into the cabin. There is nothing else on the back to remove. Putting the new fridge in took about a quarter of the time to take the old one out. From taking the cabin doors off to putting them back on again took about 3 and half hours. Booya! I am pretty happy. I was prepared for something much worse.
View attachment 69971
Click to expand...

2003 380 : Do you have any pictures of your install? We are about to replace our Norcold DE461. I’m heading to see if we can get info on the back of the Norcold 0061 you used. We are installing a Wallas Viking diesel heater and we’ll need the space behind the fridge for the insulated pipes for the in cabin vents we’ve installed. But our fridge currently cycles 3mins on 5 mins off, so probably going to get trashed with the heater pipes. Hence the insulation we added plus extra vents behind fridge. We’ve had a few techs come look at everything before installing, so fridge will likely need to go as a ramification of the heater.

So doors to cabin - any help there on disassembling?? Photos?
And any photos of the fridge and install?
Would super help. Thanks in advance!

(Wish it was easier to upload pictures on this site.)
 
AAK said:
rondds, Door shroud, both doors, vinyl trim pad over the outside sink cabinets, black trim pad on top of frig cabinet inside boat, complete take apart of the old and new frigs to get through the opening, etc.... It's not brain surgery, just time consuming and finding all of the fasteners to do the disassembly slows you down. I couldn't find anybody on the site to respond back on my thread about the procedure to do it, so I did it. If you want, give me your email address and I can send pictures if you are going to do the job yourself. Al
Click to expand...


Hi there, I know this is a really old thread but do you still have the notes on how to remove the sliding doors? I have a 2000 380 as well. Thanks, Yale
 
AAK said:
rondds, Door shroud, both doors, vinyl trim pad over the outside sink cabinets, black trim pad on top of frig cabinet inside boat, complete take apart of the old and new frigs to get through the opening, etc.... It's not brain surgery, just time consuming and finding all of the fasteners to do the disassembly slows you down. I couldn't find anybody on the site to respond back on my thread about the procedure to do it, so I did it. If you want, give me your email address and I can send pictures if you are going to do the job yourself. Al
Click to expand...
 
I DONT RECALL said:
Rodga@charter.net is my e mail address I’m interested in doing this job in the spring
Click to expand...
I also have a 2000 38 ft searay sundancer, do you have any pictures or info on how to remove the door th the cabin? mine is leanning and hard to close. I need to replace the tracks and what ever is in there. My e-mail is ilv.botn@yahoo.com
thank you for your help.
 
I chose to pay someone to replace mine. They removed the framing around the frig. This gave them a straight shot out of and into the cabin. They also removed the door on the old and new frig to get them out and in respectively. I think this was a lot less hassle than dismantling the sliding door.
 
I am also in the process of removing / installing the frig. on the 2003 38 ft. Sundancer. Any pic's or advice on removing the doors is much appreciated. I can remove the panel above the doors and see 4 screws holding the doors on the top, but what can I expect for the bottom ? I can't seem to figure out where it comes apart?
 
AAK said:
I'm in the process of removing the old Nevercold DE 461 refrigerator, soon to meet the inside of a recycle dumpster where it belongs, what a POS. I've got the Vitrifigo model DP 2600 coming in this week as the replacement. I know this model sticks out of the cabinetry by about 2 inches but I want the extra capacity and I've seen this in a 38' with the trim piece filling the gap, doesn't look bad. I'm putting it in my 2000 38' Sundancer and I need to remove the sliding doors. What is the procedure to remove the sliding doors? I'm sure I could eventually figure it out but I would like to come up the learning curve from somebody on the site that has already done it. I've searched through the 380 Sundancer section and I've seen a bunch of replacement pictures but no how to. Do I take the outer sliding door off by the top track (I assume this one first) or the bottom track first? After the outer door is off I assume the stainless steel sill plate comes up to get the inner door to slide into the door opening for removal. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Al

I've got this posted on the 380 thread and I'm hoping to get a respone from there also but the 380 thread doesn't seem to have any continuity.​
Click to expand...
AAK said:
I'm in the process of removing the old Nevercold DE 461 refrigerator, soon to meet the inside of a recycle dumpster where it belongs, what a POS. I've got the Vitrifigo model DP 2600 coming in this week as the replacement. I know this model sticks out of the cabinetry by about 2 inches but I want the extra capacity and I've seen this in a 38' with the trim piece filling the gap, doesn't look bad. I'm putting it in my 2000 38' Sundancer and I need to remove the sliding doors. What is the procedure to remove the sliding doors? I'm sure I could eventually figure it out but I would like to come up the learning curve from somebody on the site that has already done it. I've searched through the 380 Sundancer section and I've seen a bunch of replacement pictures but no how to. Do I take the outer sliding door off by the top track (I assume this one first) or the bottom track first? After the outer door is off I assume the stainless steel sill plate comes up to get the inner door to slide into the door opening for removal. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Al

I've got this posted on the 380 thread and I'm hoping to get a respone from there also but the 380 thread doesn't seem to have any continuity.​
Click to expand...
I took the doors off by taking the screws out of the bottom track on the outside of the doors. Then with an small Phillips head I put the screwdriver into rhe hole where the screw was and tapped the connector out of the back of the door.
Then removed the panel on the top of the shelf exposing the screws on top of the doors. 4 screws each door.
Remove the screws and take the doors out.
Take the handrail off the wall by the refrigerator.
I had to unbolt the compressor and remove the doors on the frig to get the old frig out
Same deal with the new frig, I had to once again unbolt the compressor to get the thing in....carefully !!!
Reinstalling the doors.....OMG....
place a straight wire through the screw hole on top of the doors to line up the rollers ....the two are independent of each other and not a lot of room to work. Two screws in each roller.
Put the bottom back first !! This will keep the doors steady as you move the doors and rollers in the lineup process.
Total process for me....3 / 4 hours
Not fun...3 people.
We tried everything we could possibly think of to remove and install the frig. This pain staking process was the only way we could get this to work.
Philips head screwdriver.
Hammer
Small Phillips head
Flashlight
Duc tape....holds the compressor in place after you unbolt it.
Plyers

Good luck.
Tom
 
Last edited:
Great post, thank you!!

Tom D said:
I took the doors off by taking the screws out of the bottom track on the outside of the doors. Then with an small Phillips head I put the screwdriver into rhe hole where the screw was and tapped the connector out of the back of the door.
Then removed the panel on the top of the shelf exposing the screws on top of the doors. 4 screws each door.
Remove the screws and take the doors out.
Take the handrail off the wall by the refrigerator.
I had to unbolt the compressor and remove the doors on the frig to get the old frig out
Same deal with the new frig, I had to once again unbolt the compressor to get the thing in....carefully !!!
Reinstalling the doors.....OMG....
place a straight wire through the screw hole on top of the doors to line up the rollers ....the two are independent of each other and not a lot of room to work. Two screws in each roller.
Put the bottom back first !! This will keep the doors steady as you move the doors and rollers in the lineup process.
Total process for me....3 / 4 hours
Not fun...3 people.
We tried everything we could possibly think of to remove and install the frig. This pain staking process was the only way we could get this to work.
Philips head screwdriver.
Hammer
Small Phillips head
Flashlight
Duc tape....holds the compressor in place after you unbolt it.
Plyers

Good luck.
Tom
Click to expand...
 
Burntundra said:
AAK replied with a direct message and was willing to help with pictures Monday but my wife and went for it today.

The cabin doors come of the 2000 380 with 4 screws each door at the bottom track and 4 screws each door at the top track. A decorative molding strip pops off at the top to give you access to the top track. We also took off the hand rail at the steps that would be in the way.

The old fridge is cumbersome and has a lot of junk hanging off the back. But it was trashed and we didn’t care about it. The front doors come off. Hinges come off. Then everything hanging on the back comes off. We taped off the entrance, put a tarp on the steps and out came the old Norcold.

The new Norcold model was a piece of cake. It is lighter, an inch narrower and the compressor can be removed with 5 bolts and taped to the top for the ride into the cabin. There is nothing else on the back to remove. Putting the new fridge in took about a quarter of the time to take the old one out. From taking the cabin doors off to putting them back on again took about 3 and half hours. Booya! I am pretty happy. I was prepared for something much worse.
View attachment 69971
Click to expand...
Did you have to relocate the Compressor to fit it on the cabinet? I am doing this and new fridge is coming in a day or 2. TIA
 
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