Engineroom Intakes

[SereneWarrior]

Have a 1970 53MY with the louvred engineroom intakes amidships on the hull. Mine are in pretty rough shape with peeling paint and several cracked fiberglass louvres. Additionally, the rivets that hold the louvres in place are corroding away, making some of the louvres set loosely in the intake frames. Refurbishing all of this would be much simpler if done in my garage rather than hanging over the side of the boat. Has anybody here removed the intake boxes? It looks simple enough to remove the 20-something screws and I'll probably have to use the Multi-master to cut the sealer and separate the box from the hull. Am I missing anything?

 

[REBrueckner]

If you slip a wide putty knife wrapped in tape against the hull, to avoid marking the hull, then a narrower one between that and the edge of the frames you should be able to slowly break the seal of caulk between the two for removalof the frame and louvers.

Expect three times as much time and effort as you estimate.

 

[rsmith]

put the tape on the hull. using 2 putty knives is too thick and will crack your vent. the multimaster may get the surface too hot and mark the paint

 

[REBrueckner]

"put the tape on the hull. using 2 putty knives is too thick and will crack your vent.."

The wide putty knife is NOT inserted under the edge of the vent frame...just adjacent to it....the wide putty knife is used to prevent marking of the hull adjacent to the vent frame as you drive in the smaller putty knife....putting some tape right on the hull IS a good additional precaution.....

What I did not specifically mention...bang the smaller putty knife down into the seam between the hull and frame with a hammer...break the caulk seal all around.....have several putty knives with hard solid handles riveted to the blade....you'll do best with heavy duty putty knives...not the cheap red handled ones....you czan also file the edge of the putty knife sharp so it more easily cuts through the caulk...

 

[SKYCHENEY]

I've had good luck with the multimaster for this job. Removed the power boxes on both sides of my boat for a repaint last year.

 

[DAlter]

I've removed mine, although they were made from aluminum. I took them to a friend at an auto body shop where he sandblasted them, matched the paint color, and then re-painted them.

 

[jim rosenthal]

They do come out, and I think they come out if you remove all the screws holding them to the hull, but there are hoses inside attached to the air box which make things more interesting. They are for the fresh air coming from the boxes. They look like dryer hoses. If you can get to them from inside, it might be easier to remove them first before you try to get the box vent out.

Some Hatteras Yachts were built with the vent slats facing forward on one side of the boat and backwards on the other, I think. I believe mine was like that years ago. Now they all face backwards- there didn't seem to be much gained from having that odd arrangement.

From what I recall, the vent slats etc are all put together kind of crudely. It helps to number the slats and where they go- digital photos would help. (don't ask how I know...) They can be cleaned up and repainted and put back together with SS pop rivets; mine have held up fairly well after that.