Aluminum Portlight Frames

[preserved_killick]

I've got the portlights out of my Alberg, and before I put this all back together, I'd like to clean up the aluminum frames. They are not in great shape, and if they ever were anodized, not much anodizing is left.

I'm thinking of painting them. Sand, etch-prime then paint with a 2 part LPU.

It looks like Tritons have similar window frames. Any one else paint theirs? How about sanding then polishing?

A poor image of my frames:
http://picasaweb.google.com/fongemie/Al ... 5318355410

Any stories, suggestions or opinions are welcome!

-Jeff

[Rachel]

Hi Jeff,

In looking at the photo... do I see that your aftermost fixed ports have been replaced? They look a bit more square than I picture them in my mind's eye. If so, are they operable?

(I think the later Tritons were made with aluminum [Marinium?] ports, but most of them were bronze. On the other hand, I believe that all of the Pearson Ariels were made with aluminum ports.)

Your boat looks great (I looked at the rest of the album). Is that a Vetus diesel you have? If so, how do you like it? I'd almost be tempted to get one just for that great yellow color.

Rachel

[David]

Hi Jeff,

My Bristol had aluminum fixed ports similar to your Alberg and also lost a lot of their finish over the years. I tried painting them with Awlgrip but it eventually lifted in places which looked worse than they were prior to painting. Maybe electro-static powder coating would work better.

Good luck,

David

[preserved_killick]

Rachel,

Thanks for looking at the photos. I've wondered about those rearmost windows. Mine don't have that sloping back leg that I see in other alberg photos. I just got through sanding my interior down to bare fiberglass and if there was ever any scarfed on fiberglass I couldn't see evidence of it.

The ports are fixed, so I'm not sure what would be gained by going through all the trouble to modify the shape. Perhaps Whitby had one set of square frames when this hull was made?

Bronze on the Tritons? You lucky dogs.

It is a Vitus engine. I bought this boat w/o seeing the motor in action so I can't say much about it either way. I've liked yellow ever since I got my first Tonka Truck. It's got low hours, starts easy and the oil, impeller, & filters seem easy to get at.

[preserved_killick]

Thanks David,

That's exactly what I'm afraid of.. putting a bunch of work and money into something only to have it come out worse.

I've been to your site often to read about your projects.

Hi Jeff,

My Bristol had aluminum fixed ports similar to your Alberg and also lost a lot of their finish over the years. I tried painting them with Awlgrip but it eventually lifted in places which looked worse than they were prior to painting. Maybe electro-static powder coating would work better.

Good luck,

David

[Rachel]

Jeff,

I could see where if someone made the after port larger by eliminating the "Greyhound bus angle" from the after edge, then perhaps you wouldn't see any infill evidence?

Here's a photo showing the usual after fixed-port. I think all four of the ports may have used the same frame, just reversed (not sure though). Not that this bears directly on your painting query, but then there's nothing wrong with a good tangent, I always say.

[Rachel]

I just got through sanding my interior down to bare fiberglass...

Whoa, how did I miss that? Photos? War stories?

[Ceasar Choppy]

Anything short of anodizing will have to be re-done within 5 years time (+/-)... and even the anodizing will go eventually. I'm not sure what anodizing will run you, but you also might look into getting new frames custom made if your existing ones are bad enough.

I've been quoted anywhere from $900 - $1300 to replace all four of my 9"x38" aluminum framed deadlights-- glass included. I bet those for the Alberg would be cheaper.

try Diamond Seaglaze or Bomon for quotes.

[preserved_killick]

Rachel,

I've got pictures of the painting here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/fongemie
-just look under painting.

We started to remove hardware to re-bed, epoxy & redrill.. then figured since we have all this stuff off, we might as well paint.

The cabin was a nightmare. There were just two layers of paint, but first gloss coat was not properly prepared and the second gloss coat was peeling here and there. About a quarter of the second coat was ready to peel so it seemed easier to just put a sander to it and take it all off. I don't want to have any peeling issues later on.

We've got most of the main cabin primed, as well as the deck with System Three's new Yacht Primer, a water soluble epoxy primer and hope to start painting topcoats with their LPU Topcoat.

It's such a pleasure to actually start putting down paint. I feel like we're through "going backwards" and now are moving forward.

I'll post more pictures of the topcoat as we progress.

-jeff

[Quetzalsailor]

Reanodizing is not all that difficult to arrange when the pieces are small, like your port frames. I found two or three places in Philly. I used one that did industrial work; cheaper but their anodizing is slightly greenish. OK for a catwalk or a bridge sign, but you'd want to know what your anodizer would do before you had your frames done.

I had the boom and a bunch of bits done on the Morgan 27. I brought it to them as clean as I could reasonably get it, all stainless fittings and screws off, drilled and tapped for new fittings. They stripped the remains of the old anodizing off and reanodized. The one warning they gave is that their cleaning removes a little metal so that tapped holes will be a tad oversized; I did not find that a problem.

Bring all your pieces at once; you'll probably get charged less. I brought 'em the maststep a couple years later and got stung.