Reinstalling the plexi in aluminium frame deadlightss

[Skipper Lee]

Hi all,
My first post,
So i removed the 5 ft long X 12 inch high deadlights in my 27 ft Balboa as they were in horrible shape and leaking when i bought her last week. i found that the rubber that seals the plexi to the alum extrusion frame was toast and crumbly i found some of the same profile and just tried to reinstall the old plexi as a test (amazingly i never snapped on the way out) prior to breaking one of the new replacement plexis and, my my its not easy. rubber slipping everywhere, mission aborted all afternoon, nothing broken yet!
The thing is the old crumbly sealing rubber was somehow fused together at the ends to form a belt configuration. it seems as i need to get that done first as i cant tape it in place with all the soapy water. Do you fuse them together with 3M weatherstrip adhesive or??? do you have to? Is this a job for a competent octopus or am i a incompetent boob? Is this easy for everyone else?
I would be grateful if i could hear from someone successful at handling this task.
Proven once again I dont know everything.

[roverhi]

Not knowing what extrusion your frame used can't help you much. If it's the one used by '70s era boats like Catalina, Pearson, etc, you don't need to fuse the ends just but them up together on the upper side of the port and butter with with the 795 sealant provided in the rebuild kit from Catalina Direct.

[AKA-None]

I took mine to a glass store and had them do the gasket

[RaymondR]

You could try super glue.

[Jesse]

Butle tape seals nicely and so does 3M 5200, but it is very permanent

[T_schlueter]

Well, I did 4 fixed ports this winter. It was mostly a disaster and took many hours. In the send I can say only one leaks and that's only a few drops. I used super glue to weld the ends together.

[Skipper Lee]

Hi All,
I Did the Super glue method! I put a drop every foot between the plexi and the seal.
Still it was still not easy to get it All squished back together enough to rivet the extrusion ends back Together, I even sanded the new plexi piece until it was a mil or so smaller than the original i took out. Then got it all soapy and wet.
It took a few hours to get the rubber seal manipulated to where it looks decent and evenly tight against the extruded frame and plexi on one deadlight before i riveted it back together and then presto! Miller time.
Its worked out pretty good and i am happy, But its not perfect.
I will strip and redo/try the Stb light in the morning after i finish the eavestrough on the garage!

Cheers and thanks for the tip.
Skipperlee.

[CHM]

I clean the frame of all old adhesive and use Dow 795. Fantastic product.