replacing hatches

M

mkroulik

New Member
Mar 5, 2009
13
Michigan
Boat Info
Sundancer 250 1985
Engines
350 Mercruiser Alpha 1
I am looking for replacement hatches for the cuddy on my 1985 Sea Ray Sundancer 250. Used is great as long as they are in decent shape. I just don't have the money to spend $500+ on each hatch for new. If anyone has any leads I would really appreciate it.

Thanks

Mike
 
not that expensive to have made. I had 3 new hathces made over winter 2008. One was teak veneer for the Anchor Box. The other two made out of Starboard. paid about $200 total. Don't be afraid to look around.
 
I am looking for the glass hatches. the ones that allow air flow down into the cabin and have screens on the inside.

Mike
 
You will need to find at boat salvage yard, if available, to maintain original look. Good luck.
 
If they are regular TaylorMade's you can probably get new plastic and rebed the hatch to the deck with 5200 and probably be in good shape...just throwing that out there.
 
Try checker marine in Lasalle mi. they have 400 salvage boats and a web site ,you will have to call them though.And have your hatch sizes ready .also if its just leaky and the glass is cracked or loose a glass shop can put new plexi in for you and then rebed like Katzndogs mentioned.whats wrong with them anyway?
 
I've thought about doing one of mine. One can use replacement, but the other two are fine. I've held off because it will be impossible to match one to the remaining two, and it doesn't make sense to change the other two that are still perfect.
The one that needs replacement still seals perfectly, bu the hinge and arm systems on it have seen better days. I just try not to use it.
I called TaylorMade a year or so ago, and they said they probably couldn't match it exactly, but said that if I had the dimensions of the rough opening, they probably have the right size.
As long as you want to replace them all, see if you can just get the right and style size from any reputable manufacturer.
 
I took the lexan out of mine this winter and rebedded them in the aluminum frame, then rebedded the frame to the boat. I used butyl tape to do the rebedding. MKRoulik, not sure why you need to replace yours, but you can easily get a new piece of lexan cut to size if needed. While I had mine out, I cleaned them up a bit. Also, I took the hatch latches out and replaced the top and bottom rubber o-rings to stop the leaks.
 
My Glass shop called taylor made and were told what to use to rebed lexan to frame and it wasnt butyl.I will ask mike when i see him tomorrow or monday depending on when he comes to reset a hhr quarter glass for me.I rebeded frames to deck with life caulk,my other choice would be 3m uv4000.
 
1956olds said:
My Glass shop called taylor made and were told what to use to rebed lexan to frame and it wasnt butyl.I will ask mike when i see him tomorrow or monday depending on when he comes to reset a hhr quarter glass for me.I rebeded frames to deck with life caulk,my other choice would be 3m uv4000.
Click to expand...


I am curious what they told your glass shop. I used butyl to rebed all my hatches and windows, including the lexan in the hatch to the hatch frame. So far so good - no leaks. Only problem i have is the extra butyl that squeezed out around the hatches needs to be cleaned up because it's collecting dirt.
 
Alibuma,I will ask when i see them ,the car they were comming in to replace a side glass was still in the paint shopwhen i left thursday and friday i moved my boat from the canvas shop to the marina.Ill ask them monday and let you know.
 
Fast forward to 2021. 1985 Sea Ray 250 Sundancer- Looking for just the hatch gasket material, is there a molded replacement that drops in, or a length of material that will conform to the square shape and provide a water tight seal. The old gasket looks like just a rectangular cross-section of solid rubber, and its hard as rock.
 
Hi, if you're referring to the rubber gasket that attaches to the bottom of the hatch window, then presses against the hatch frame when closed; I just replaced mine using this inexpensive self adhesive foam gasket from Lowes, worked great. (85, 260 Sundancer, 3 hatches)

I used 2-3 10 ft length boxes. Most of the effort was spent scraping/cleaning off the old stuff, mine were rock hard, scrapped off the big chunks, then used a Dremel with a sanding drum to clean up the rest. Applying the new seal took about 5 minutes ner hatch. Then kept the hatches closed for 1 day to allow the adhesive to set.

Took a 8 day trip afterwards, no leaks!
https://www.lowes.com/pd/M-D-17-ft-x-1-2-in-Gray-Window-Seal-Foam-Window-Weatherstrip/1096045
 
Hi Michael-
Yes that's the gasket. Mine was so old and dried out I couldn't tell if it was attached to the glass or the frame. It was just laying in there, and was so hard it was almost impossible to latch the hatch closed. Thanks for the info, will be stopping by Lowes on the way home from work!

Bill
 
I agree take them out scrape with razor blade get all old butal or sealant out. Rebed with 5200 /made by 3M did mine 4 yrs ago no worries. Doing side windows now on 300. Waiting on parts from taylor made
Good luck
 
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