Front deck hatch with vent

[Starman]

Thanx J

[SKYCHENEY]

Looks nice. Now let's see how it is going to be mounted. Are you using the base ring and hinge? How does that set onto the raised deck flange? Are you going to have to modify the flange or trim it out in any way? Sorry for all of the questions, but if I'm going to weigh all of my options, I need to know how much work is involved.

[Starman]

Looks nice. Now let's see how it is going to be mounted. Are you using the base ring and hinge? How does that set onto the raised deck flange? Are you going to have to modify the flange or trim it out in any way? Sorry for all of the questions, but if I'm going to weigh all of my options, I need to know how much work is involved.

No problem Sky, and good questions.

I had this hatch built to sit on the original flange that the original hatch sits on. I had already filled the holes on the aft side of that flange where the old hatch was fastened with a piano hinge. That was a very simple fix.

There is no modification to the original flange other than filling those piano hinge holes, and removing the old hatch and it's hardware from the interior part of the fiberglass flange. Again, filling those holes is an easy fix.

On the inside I am going to trim out the fiberglass with some teak that will meet the new headliner. This is just for cosmetic purposes since we are in a total rebuild anyhow.


The new hatch has some very stout hinges that are actually part of the entire frame. But you can not see the welds. These hinges have a set screw, so in case that the hatch needs to be removed, it can be without removing the base. Two set screws and tap out the stainless pin, much like a hinge in your house.

The base is stainless and has predrilled holes. Use that VIX bit to center the drill and set the screws

Bottom line is this. We remove the old hatch, and all of its hardware, fill a few holes, screw down the new hatch.

I will take a pic tomorrow of the base that is screwed down and also of the lid supports.

[SKYCHENEY]

Thanks Paul. I'll look at mine this weekend and see if the deck flange looks the same. The decision may be whether to cut out the center of the old hatch or buy one like yours. Based on what I have seen here, both look nice if done right.

[Captned]

Hey Paul, can you take another pic from a little farther away? I might redo my two smaller hatches the same way. Looks great!

How about taking the lip off and get a little bigger hatch?

Capned
78 46 CON

[Starman]

Hey Capt.

I can do that possibly tomorrow, if not then Monday.

As far as that lip goes:

It is what I call a double lip/flange. There is a larger one on the deck, then a smaller one on top of that the old style hatch covers.

I am not 100% sure, but feel the top lip, covered by the current hatch is going to be hollow in there. In other words, if you look at the inside of your hatch opening, the fiberglass surround is part of the top lip.

This is why I did not try and remove it. It would create a lot of work and modification. Also , remember this interior part meets your headliner.


Sky,

Modifying the old hatch by cutting out the hood/vent and more is an option. I can get these hatches in any size you want. In all honesty, we had thought about just modifying our hatch , but after seeing this one, we knew then which way we wanted to go.

Then comes the question of why place a hatch on a hatch ? That is essentially what would be done by keeping the old hatch and installing a new one on it.

It will raise the height from what I showed in the pic by about 2-2 1/2 inches.

Again though that would be a decision you or anyone else has to make based on your personal preference.


One other note here. I had our hatch built according to the "outside dimensions" needed, where as most are built according to the inside opening. I did this for two reasons. The first being the exterior look I wanted to obtain and the second is because I plan to wrap the interior fiberglass in teak.

[SKYCHENEY]

I just looked at a 60C tonight that had all three hatches modified with smoked acrylic on top. It appeared that they just cut out the center of the old hatch and stuck the new material over the top with some sort of caulk or adhesive. The edges were rounded over and the finished look was pretty nice.