Windows & Side Panels: All the cabin windows have extremely faded and cracked tint film on them and may need complete replacement. I am going to try to scrap the film off and re do the tint job on the original glass if I can, Otherwise I am going to have new Plexi Cut for the windows. The side panels are missing on this boat, I will have to figure out a suitable replacement.

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Started 7/15/05

Getting the old glass out in one piece was trickier than one would guess,. At first glance I thought that all I would have to do is take off the back aluminum window frame and slide the glass out. After two hours of attempting to do just that without damaging the frame or its connection to the boat I had to start looking for other options. Of course it took my better half's perspective to point out the plate at the top of the window frame looked removable, if nothing else the removal of the bolts would allow the glass to lift a bit more possibly even freeing it from the frame,.. of course that worked, though it did take a bit of lifting the entire frame by a sixteenth or so to finally squeeze the glass out. I am not looking forward to trying to get the glass back in once its cleaned.

The glass itself turned out to be in better condition than I had expected, The trick was simply getting the old tint film off.

Tap plastic sells a solution to remove old film, I applied a generous amount to each panel and then placed news paper over the glass to absorb and keep the solution on the film. The solution says 15 to 30 min, I left it on for well over an hour. When I came back I lifted one corner of the film up with a razor blade and the film pulled right off in two large pieces.

While the film came off without a hitch, it left behind a gewy adhesive coating that would not scrub off. It took ample amounts of Goo Gone and scrubbing with steel wool to finally remove all of the material.

I purchased the new limo tint film from Tap Plastics yesterday and will be re tinting the old windows in a day or two, They are now in perfect condition and I see no reason to replace them. I am however replacing the window knobs with new cabinet knobs, the old ones are simply to pitted to try to bring back to life.

I cut panel forms out of core board to figure out size and shape, I used the only picture I have of this boat in original condition to estimate the length and material. The best I can tell this panel was either stained wood or painted wood depending on the color scheme of the boat. I had also seen a picture of the panel being frosted glass, but I wanted a more solid look to that panel. I considered using plastic but decided against heat sag, and salt water stains. I ended up picking up a 2 foot X 4 foot 1/4 inch thick sheet of birch.

I used my core board template to cut two panels, cutting a small notch in the corner of each panel that was destined to point towards the back of the boat. I sanded the wood down and coaxed it into absorbing as much polyurethane as possible before painting it with two coats of top side paint. I have no idea if this will work for longevity, but if it does not ill just pull the panels back out an start over. When both windows and panels are ready to go ill start putting them both back in together.

I am a little worried that the gloss black i chose is a little to "Glossy" ill have to see it on the boat, with the aluminum trim in place that ill cut to fit and look like the original.

To Be Continued...

7/30/05: So I am finally starting to feel a little bit of accomplishment,. I re tinted the side windows, replaced some of the window hardware and installed new cabinet “knobs” for window sliders, installed the new side panels that iv been building for the last week and half with new trim. she's starting to clean up real nice!