Portlight rebuild

[galleywench]

I pulled my 4 bronze opening ports the other day getting ready for cabintop sanding and I'm wondering how to deal with them. I haven't decided whether I want to rechrome them or just buff and polish and let them go to their natural bronze state yet, but I want to fully disassemble them in preparation for getting them cleaned up. Obviously the gaskets for the openings will need to be replaced and some of the dogs are broken off, but I'm not sure how to get the glass out. All the glass is intact and I want to reuse, but whatever is holding them in place is like concrete. I assume it is some sort of black rubber that has just become really brittle over time.

Has anyone pulled the glass on old opening ports (I'll post a picture later, but they are the standard opening ports on most Tritons and Albergs of the day)? Or if you can't reasonably remove the glass, can they be rechromed (or just refinished) with the glass in place?

[Tallystick]

I removed all the chrome with the glass in place. Didn't see a reason to remove the glass. For the gaskets I cast new gaskets in places with silicone mold making material, and they are water tight. I think James Baldwin has some extra gasket material of the hollow square type that was originally used. For new port dogs I used thick walled brass tubing and tapped it for 1/4" studs and drilled holes on the other end for the pivot. Not sure if you need to remove the glass for rechrome. I think it's possible, but I'd talk a custom bike shop to find a good local shop that does chrome plating, and ask them.

[galleywench]

Ok, thanks. I'm planning on using a similar technique for replacing the dogs. Bristol Bronze carries them but they are way too much and based on my conversation with a local chrome shop, my dreams of rechroming the ports have been financially shattered. I just can't spend $400 - $600 on the project.

So this leads me to my next series of questions:
1. I've seen a bunch of posts where some are using muriatic acid to dechrome and then polishing to shine, but will muriatic acid etch/stain the glass?
2. Has anyone had any experience with high end chrome paint like Spaz Stix or Allclad II? Durability in sun/salt?

[Tallystick]

Muriatic won't hurt the glass.

[sscoll]

Leave the glass in place. Limit the amount of things you need to address to rebuild your boat. I took my ports out and am approaching the paint stage only to wonder why I took them out at all. They're easy to mask around. I've had good luck with rubber tubing from the lids of five gallon buckets as gasket material, mine don't leak. You'll need to dope them into place but they compress nicely with the closing port. Like the man said, muriatic won't damage the glass. I just got some Prism Polish on the suggestion of someone here and am looking forward to seeing what it'll do. I sanded the chrome off a couple of brass cleats and polished them to see what happens. I figure to use the stuff on the ports as well.

Good luck to you.
Steve

[galleywench]

Because I am generally lazy when it comes to making things shiny and I like to tinker, I decided to go with electrolytic dechroming (homestyle)...

See my post here:

http://www.alberg35.com/2012/06/fun-wit ... ustic.html

[Tallystick]

They look nice. Are you going to clear coat the nice shiny bronze or let a patina develop?

For my portlights I clear coated all the bronze with psx-700 except for the exterior facing part of frame that holds the glass, so there will be a small ring of patina around the glass for contrast.

[galleywench]

They look nice. Are you going to clear coat the nice shiny bronze or let a patina develop?

For my portlights I clear coated all the bronze with psx-700 except for the exterior facing part of frame that holds the glass, so there will be a small ring of patina around the glass for contrast.

I'm not sure yet. I like the shiny bronze, but I don't really want to deal with yearly clear coating. I've read Tim's account of his yearly clear coating maintenance and I don't think I want to sign up for that. Re-chroming is not in the budget so I may opt for the patina'd look (I'm not opposed to the patina either, but would prefer shiny).

I'm not familiar with psx-700, how has it held up for you? I don't mind doing something like this every 3 or 4 years but not every year.

[Tallystick]

Haven't had them coated long enough to determine coating life. PSX-700 is a polysiloxane epoxy that adheres much more strongly to metals than polyurethane or epoxy and its resistant to UV so it won't yellow. I chose it because I read that US Navy and coast guard are using it for coating metals on their ships. It's expensive though at 200+ dollars per gallon, and PPG doesn't sell quarts. Haven't seen evidence of coating deterioration on any bronze deck hardware that's been exposed to direct sun and rain for a few months though.

[galleywench]

Ya the references I found on the interweb made it look like a heavy duty commercial product. Probably holds up better than a rattlecan clear coat, but $200 for a gallon is steep. I'd guess that a gallon goes a long way too. Anyone else looking to do the same in the New England area? Maybe we could do a group buy and split it up (if it's possible to do so).

[Tallystick]

I only used 25ml for coating the portlights. It's a 4:1 mix resin to catalyst. I use plastic syringes from the grocery store pharmacy to measure small amounts.

[galleywench]

I only used 25ml for coating the portlights. It's a 4:1 mix resin to catalyst. I use plastic syringes from the grocery store pharmacy to measure small amounts.

Wow, you could repackage the rest of your gallon and sell 150 - 25 ml containers of it for a tidy profit :) Sounds like a new business.

[Tallystick]

I can sell you some at my cost, I'd just need to find some small glass vials to ship it in. You'd probably want enough for 2 coats, so 50ml ought to cover that. I don't want to sell too much of the material, because I'm using it for a variety of purposes on my boat, but I could certainly spare enough for your portlights. 50ml is only like $5 worth of coating, so let me track down so vials and I'll see about getting you some psx-700.

[galleywench]

Thanks very much, I'd be happy to pay for your time spent as well. Just pm me any details.