I lost my 27 to a hurricane a few years back, so there won’t be any new content, however I do know the boat inside and out, so if you have questions, fire away!
On my boat I used wooden paint stirrers (free from home depot) to fill the gap. Wet the area with fiberglass resin, pushed the stirrers in to fill the gap, then once cured, filled in the remaining holes with thickened epoxy.
I am in the process of refitting an Ericson 25, and removed four windows with nearly identical frames as on your Catalina. Looks like butyl was used on exterior as original bedding compound, and gasket shrinkage occurred on all four of mine. Will look online for window kits. Interesting video.
Kudos for taking on this project! I'm facing the same challenge now. Did you seal the gap between the cabin sides and the liner? I was thinking of using some painters tape on the seam to seal it and then fill with thickened epoxy (105+206+404) using a syringe; for the bottom edge would probably fill first then cover with tape. After that, put the window in temporarily to ensure the curvature is preserved so there are no major gaps. Then after epoxy hardens next day to take the window apart, remove tape, assemble back together using butyl tape on the outside.
Unfortunately, I was in a hurry. They look 100x better, though. If you have questions about a particular step, let me know. The Catalina instructions provided with the kit were spot on. Dry fit the Windows first and tape around them on the exterior. Will make silicon cleanup unnecessary.
Thanks! I've read so many sad tales of people having to do this job multiple times to stop the leaking. Have you had any further leaks since resealing?
Nope. Everything worked out great. Two people will be necessary. Someone will need to open the spline of the u-channel gasket in order for the other person to lay down a bead of window sealant. Then pull the gasket tight around the window and place into the bottom half of the frame. Keep holding the gasket tight as your helper slides the top frame on the window. If the gasket isn't tight, it will bunch up around the corners. If it looks bad, pull the glass back out and pull the gasket tighter. When assembled, dryfit the windows back into the boat. Then tape around the outside frame. I placed tape around the corners before putting the windows in and used a scalpel to trim away the excess tape on the inside to get a perfect rounded corner. After that, load up both surface with 3M 4000 and have your helper screw the fascia plate back on. not all the way tightened. You want to be able to crank it down another millimeter or two once the sealant is dry for a snug fit. Once the window is set, pull the tape from the outside perimeter and use a Popsicle stick or a wet finger to get a nice bead around the exterior frame. Assembly took my cousin and I (novices) about two hours. Installation took about two hours as well. We took our time to make sure we did it right. Don't rush the job to get it over with. If it's not perfect, your windows will leak. Patience and attention to detail are important. If people have leaks after going through all of this hell, then they probably rushed the job. If water is coming out around the windows, it could be that water is seeping in from unsealed deck fittings above the window line. ie. teak handrails and the wooden canopy rails.
Hey, if you are anywhere near Marina del Rey, I"ll pay blood to have someone help me with this task on my '77 Catalina 27... I bought the kit... but I was just quoted $200 per window. Six windows. Aaargh!!! What a chore...
Kristi Davis I'm in Florida, otherwise I'd volunteer my time. Disassembly takes 2-3 hours. Cleanup 10-12 hours, reassembly 4-6 hours. $1200 is a bit much, but for a long weekend project on a boat worth $4-10k, give it a shot. It's a project for the beginner and will give you skills to tackle future projects.
New owner of a 1978 cat27, glad to find your channel.
I lost my 27 to a hurricane a few years back, so there won’t be any new content, however I do know the boat inside and out, so if you have questions, fire away!
'81 C27 owner here. Thank you for sharing this with us.
'71 C27 owner--this is on my list to do, minor leaking only right now. Thanks for posting!
On my boat I used wooden paint stirrers (free from home depot) to fill the gap. Wet the area with fiberglass resin, pushed the stirrers in to fill the gap, then once cured, filled in the remaining holes with thickened epoxy.
I am in the process of refitting an Ericson 25, and removed four windows with nearly identical frames as on your Catalina. Looks like butyl was used on exterior as original bedding compound, and gasket shrinkage occurred on all four of mine. Will look online for window kits. Interesting video.
Aaron Lifschutz You are correct. Catalina Direct has the kit you need for a reasonable price.
Kudos for taking on this project! I'm facing the same challenge now.
Did you seal the gap between the cabin sides and the liner?
I was thinking of using some painters tape on the seam to seal it and then fill with thickened epoxy (105+206+404) using a syringe; for the bottom edge would probably fill first then cover with tape.
After that, put the window in temporarily to ensure the curvature is preserved so there are no major gaps.
Then after epoxy hardens next day to take the window apart, remove tape, assemble back together using butyl tape on the outside.
Did you do a video of putting them back together?
EXCELLENT and very complete!! Kudos
Ray Romano IS that you.
I'm not positive but maybe they left it open so water would drip down through the walls into the bilge rather than leak into the galley?
Did you record a video of putting these windows back together again?
Unfortunately, I was in a hurry. They look 100x better, though. If you have questions about a particular step, let me know. The Catalina instructions provided with the kit were spot on. Dry fit the Windows first and tape around them on the exterior. Will make silicon cleanup unnecessary.
Thanks! I've read so many sad tales of people having to do this job multiple times to stop the leaking. Have you had any further leaks since resealing?
Nope. Everything worked out great. Two people will be necessary. Someone will need to open the spline of the u-channel gasket in order for the other person to lay down a bead of window sealant. Then pull the gasket tight around the window and place into the bottom half of the frame. Keep holding the gasket tight as your helper slides the top frame on the window. If the gasket isn't tight, it will bunch up around the corners. If it looks bad, pull the glass back out and pull the gasket tighter.
When assembled, dryfit the windows back into the boat. Then tape around the outside frame. I placed tape around the corners before putting the windows in and used a scalpel to trim away the excess tape on the inside to get a perfect rounded corner. After that, load up both surface with 3M 4000 and have your helper screw the fascia plate back on. not all the way tightened. You want to be able to crank it down another millimeter or two once the sealant is dry for a snug fit. Once the window is set, pull the tape from the outside perimeter and use a Popsicle stick or a wet finger to get a nice bead around the exterior frame.
Assembly took my cousin and I (novices) about two hours. Installation took about two hours as well. We took our time to make sure we did it right. Don't rush the job to get it over with. If it's not perfect, your windows will leak. Patience and attention to detail are important.
If people have leaks after going through all of this hell, then they probably rushed the job. If water is coming out around the windows, it could be that water is seeping in from unsealed deck fittings above the window line. ie. teak handrails and the wooden canopy rails.
Thanks again! Going to tackle this job soon.
Highly recommend dropping your glass off at tint shop. Limousine tint will run $25-50 installed, but looks super sharp.
Hey, if you are anywhere near Marina del Rey, I"ll pay blood to have someone help me with this task on my '77 Catalina 27... I bought the kit... but I was just quoted $200 per window. Six windows. Aaargh!!! What a chore...
Kristi Davis I'm in Florida, otherwise I'd volunteer my time. Disassembly takes 2-3 hours. Cleanup 10-12 hours, reassembly 4-6 hours. $1200 is a bit much, but for a long weekend project on a boat worth $4-10k, give it a shot. It's a project for the beginner and will give you skills to tackle future projects.