Hatteras 53 Refinish Pilothouse Doors

[tjshuler]

Our 53 Hatteras MY has pilothouse doors that need some love on the outside. They are presently painted white. I have seen 53's with both painted and varnished pilot house doors. I prefer the look of the varnished doors.

My question is: Has anyone ever removed the exterior white pain off of these doors and refinished them with varnish?

My concern is the porosity of the wood and not being able to get all of the white paint removed.

Repairing the white paint is definitely the easier task.

 

[wndsr]

I stripped my doors and varnished. Ours is a 1973. To my surprise, the lower panel was not teak. It was a white laminate material. Si I had to add teak veneer to the outside. You may want to check yours first.

 

[tjshuler]

Thanks, I shall do some minor destructive testing while we are on the water from Annapolis to Detroit starting this weekend.

 

[tjshuler]

Both pilothouse doors have now been stripped, and refinished with 2 coats of clear epoxy and then about 5 coats of varnish. They look much better than when they were white.

I did chew through the veneer in a couple of spots while sanding, but all in all the project was a success.

Starboard wing door has been refinished by the Admiral and is presently in the basement waiting for the door frame to be stripped and refinished. Then on to the port door.

Main deck weatherboards were replaced with 1/4" seafoam (color) Starboard. Had the two corners bent by a local plastic fabricator. The color is nearly a perfect match.

Does anyone know what the white vinyllike material that is attached to the bottom of the pilothouse doors for weatherstripping is made of? I would like to replace them as they are looking their age.

 

[SEVEN]

I think it's a vinyl but I would call Steve or Mike at Sam's. I looked it up in the catalog but didn't find it. I'm sure they will be able to help.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

I think it's a vinyl but I would call Steve or Mike at Sam's. I looked it up in the catalog but didn't find it. I'm sure they will be able to help.

Sams has it. I've replaced mine twice since I've owned the boat. Incidentally, it is the same material that they used as scupper flaps on the back drains of the sportfish models.

 

[Scarlett]

I support Sam's whenever possible , but I bought vinyl strips with a rubber like insert at Home Depot that fit my doors perfectly, not very expensive. John