Need: Hatch Part for '81 Morgan 32

[tototoo]

I need some advice on replacing a part. I am looking for the rubber batten type "things" that the hatch slides on when being opened and closed. The old ones consist of a hard rubber type of material that has cracked. They are about 2" wide and several feet long. Help!

[Cheechako]

You mean for the companionway hatch? It may depend on how the hatch is designed but could likely be made from Brass flat bar or from UHMW plastic depending on the design....

[tototoo]

Yes, the companionway hatch. It is plastic and definitely not brass. Where can I find something like this or how would I make it?

[bwalsh]

Need more description... a picture? Worth a thousand words in such a case. Theres lots of plastic and rubber extrusion companies around, one nearby where i live and ill check it out if I get some more info.

[Cheechako]

Yea, need to know what shape it is.....

[tototoo]

Thanks for responding. I will take a picture this weekend and forward it to you.

[tototoo]

Here is 1 picture and the size is approximately 1 1/2" by 36 - 40".

[bwalsh]

That to me is the perfect thing to replace with PTFE better known as teflon. Its easy to send through a table saw to get your 1 1/2" width then use the old pieces as template for the hole pattern, drill and countersink the holes, adhesive in place and voila! It'll cost you a few bucks, but what wont? And the end result is some sweet sliding of that hatch. Some manufacturers use polished stainless or other metal in this application. I personally would opt for a polymer... you only want to fool with it once, right? Another choice is polyethylene which has been widely available for longer than teflon. Its cheaper and the high density stuff might do better than teflon considering the price.

Heres a link to some stuff: Its polyethylene but much cheaper than the teflon which will be in the ballpark of 150 bucks for a 12 x 48 sheet... Probably just as good in this application... Click below

Polyethylene (UHWM)

[tototoo]

Thanks so much for all the info.

[Boracay]

I used 4 strips of 3mm brass the I brought from my friendly local engineering shop. They used a big guillotine to cut them exactly to size. Not too much money.

Easy to drill, countersink and fit.

For the top (retaining) part I got them to bend some stainless that I drilled (they could have done that too) and screwed onto the sliding part.

Ended up with just the right amount of friction. Slides when pushed, stays put otherwise.

[tototoo]

thanks for responding, ideas are great!