Portlight replacement

[Dylancs]

Has anyone found a company that will remake old style fixed window frames in polished stainless steel? I have a Niagara 35 with 4 fixed and 6 opening windows. To give a little bit of background, the frames were painted white from the factory and have been painted several times since and were in pretty rough shape. After doing extensive research and speaking with many professionals, including the original manufacturer, I decided to do as they do and strip, polish and anodize the frames. About 80 hours of labour- 40 of my own and 40 paid to someone to polish- I picked up my frames from the anodizer this morning and they are basically ruined. They went in with a polished finish and came out looking like a dirty, anodized aluminum mast. After confronting the anodizing company about this, they looked at the frames and said that they turned out this way because they are cast aluminum. When I reminded them that I had had this specific conversation on the phone with them prior to starting the entire process and was assured that they would come out the same as they went in I was basically told that wasn’t possible. As in, the conversation wasn’t possible. They gave me my $100 back and sent me on my way.
Now I’m in the hole for about $2000 for frames that look terrible.

Option 1- Paint then again
I spoke with a marine painter today who said that he could paint them white again but that it would be very labour intensive- acid wash, sand, prime, sand, paint. So about $2000 to paint which would pretty much defeat the purpose of removing them in the first place.

Option 2- replace with new frames
I can buy 6 new 316 polished stainless steel opening portlights for about $2700. All accessories included. But then I’m left with the 4 fixed frames that I can’t just buy off the shelf. I have already spent $300 to have new lenses made but that money is probably lost.

So I guess this brings me back to the original questions. Has anyone else been in a similar situation and been able to have new custom frames made? Or any other suggestions?

The last photo of the larger, angled frame, is the type I would need to have custom made.
Thanks in advance.

[coopec43]

Those frames look pretty standard.


Maybe this crown would be worth a try?


https://www.greatlakesskipper.com/bo...s/port-windows


Back where I am I'd go to a SS fabricator with a ply cut-out of the size you want and see if he could do it. (I'd rather pick something similar off-the-shelf though.

[coopec43]

STAINLESS STEEL FABRICATORS

https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=...NvbHVtYmlh;mv:[[50.5451109,-118.7872412],[48.922660199999996,-125.63946290000001]];tbs:lrf:!1m4!1u3!2m2!3m1!1e1!1m4!1u2!2m2!2m1!1e1! 2m1!1e2!2m1!1e3!3sIAE,lf:1,lf_ui:2


BOAT WINDOW FABRICATORS.

https://www.google.com/search?tbm=lc...fi=hd:;si:;mv:[[50.1491341,-119.059584],[48.2693989,-125.62407709999998]];tbs:lrf:!1m4!1u3!2m2!3m1!1e1!1m4!1u2!2m2!2m1!1e1! 2m1!1e2!2m1!1e3!3sIAE,lf:1,lf_ui:2

[Marathon1150]

We used to have a Sunstar 28 with acrylic plastic cut to shape and screwed into the hull with butyl tape sealant. The interior plastic trim around the holes had deteriorated over time and these portlights needed a lot of attention to keep them from leaking, they were badly scratched etc, so we decided to replace them with frames. These guys did it and they did a good job:

AJR

They are located in Port Coquitlam, BC. and I think that I had to pick the new fixed portlights up from them but we lived in Port Moody at the time so it was not a big deal. They did this work about 20 years ago and they are still in business so people must be satisfied with their work. We certainly were. They will make a lens out of whatever you want. We chose cast polycarbonate but they could have been glass or acrylic.

They will make the frame in whatever shape you need, so you might still be able to use the lenses that you had made if they replicate the existing frames into which you intended to install the new lenses.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Dylancs.

[Dylancs]

Thanks for the replies. I spoke with AJR when I started this process about making me glass lens for the fixed windows instead of cast acrylic. They were very helpful but I decided to go with cast acrylic in the end. From what I can see, they only deal with aluminum but I will call them later to find out.
Unfortunately, there were no windows on the Great Lake skipper site that would fit my application.
I am going to call some stainless fabricators today to see what I can come up with.
I may end up having to just install the old ones as is. They’re certainly not what I was hoping for but they’re still better than they were before with paint chipping off. If I buy all new portlights off the shelf and replace the fixed windows with SS portlights, I will be up to around $10k. Being that about 25-30% of that would have just been wasted money, I find that difficult to justify.
I will see how much it will be to have custom frames made from SS then make my decision from there.

This all started with wanting to add some extra light to the cabin. At least the new upholstery and lighting worked out.

[capn ken]

Originally Posted by Marathon1150

We used to have a Sunstar 28 with acrylic plastic cut to shape and screwed into the hull with butyl tape sealant. The interior plastic trim around the holes had deteriorated over time and these portlights needed a lot of attention to keep them from leaking, they were badly scratched etc, so we decided to replace them with frames. These guys did it and they did a good job:

AJR

They are located in Port Coquitlam, BC. and I think that I had to pick the new fixed portlights up from them but we lived in Port Moody at the time so it was not a big deal. They did this work about 20 years ago and they are still in business so people must be satisfied with their work. We certainly were. They will make a lens out of whatever you want. We chose cast polycarbonate but they could have been glass or acrylic.

They will make the frame in whatever shape you need, so you might still be able to use the lenses that you had made if they replicate the existing frames into which you intended to install the new lenses.

Contact information?

[capn ken]

Contact information?

[coopec43]

Originally Posted by capn ken

Contact information?

Look at my post #3 above!! (Click on the link )
.
.

[capn ken]

Originally Posted by capn ken

Contact information?

Sadly AJR does not make vinyl or portlights that aren’t square and stainless is not in my budget , but I thank you for those leads

[Marathon1150]

Sorry to hear that AJR no longer does custom fabrication. They built ours for the Sunstar 28 to a template that I made of the hull cut-outs, using a powder coated aluminum alloy. They were still looking fine when we sold the boat a few years after the new windows installed.

BTW, Dylancs, the refit photos are amazing - good work! I have a friend in Vancouver with a Niagra 35 - he will be very envious when he sees the photos.

[Dylancs]

Thank you for the kind words. I am only the third owner and the boat was kept in pristine and original condition by the original owners for almost 30 years.
The port lights have always been an eyesore for me. I didn’t like the white frames against the off-white cabin top. I have gone ahead and started re-installing the opening portlights as is. They aren’t what I had planned but they do still look better than the pealing paint. I’ve installed four of the six and will be installing the remaining 2 today. As much as I want to go with the polished SS, they are simply too expensive coupled with the all the money I have already spent on the current frames.
I’m still at a loss as to what to do with the fixed frames. I think that getting new ones custom fabricated from aluminum and then anodized is looking like my only option.
The photo is of a dry fit of one of the original fixed frames without the lens from the inside. You can see the pitting and also where I had the trim ring welded. The weld was hidden pre-anodizing.

[Dylancs]

Originally Posted by capn ken

Sadly AJR does not make vinyl or portlights that aren’t square and stainless is not in my budget , but I thank you for those leads

Capn ken-

These guys do custom windows. https://www.diamondseaglaze.com/

They’re just outside of Vancouver and are a very well known brand. I had no idea they were local. To me at least. Im going to call them on Monday.

I also spoke to this company yesterday and they also do custom widows.
http://www.bomon.com/

Willem, with whom I spoke, was extremely pleasant and helpful and I got a quote within an hour. He’s in Quebec, just outside of Montreal.

Dylan