Change a window to a porthole or solid panel

[Martin Kedian]

Done a few of these for personal preference and layout changes etc

[BEngo]

The best way to do it.  I have seen very few welded up windows that look even half acceptable. YMMV 

 

N

[Martin Kedian]

For sure I have done a few but a right pain the recessed panel looks very boaty 

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, BEngo said:

I have seen very few welded up windows that look even half acceptable. YMMV 

 

N

But if they were done really well you'd never even notice them!

[Martin Kedian]

9 minutes ago, David Mack said:

But if they were done really well you'd never even notice them!

Best of luck 

[Tracy D'arth]

5 hours ago, David Mack said:

But if they were done really well you'd never even notice them!

I watched Mike Heywood move a window cut out over by half its width on a new shell, years ago. He was working on a marina pontoon with a car full of welding  and cutting gear, a generator and a lad.

He cut the piece out, reversed it and welded it back into the other half of the opening. Welded both sides, beat it a bit, ground off and primed.

After the boat was painted I could not tell that the panel had been altered and I knew which window it was.  Very experienced sad that he is no longer with us.

 

[Martin Kedian]

Well done him. If the window was cut in the right place first he wouldn’t have had to 

[Tonka]

6 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

I watched Mike Heywood move a window cut out over by half its width on a new shell, years ago. He was working on a marina pontoon with a car full of welding  and cutting gear, a generator and a lad.

He cut the piece out, reversed it and welded it back into the other half of the opening. Welded both sides, beat it a bit, ground off and primed.

After the boat was painted I could not tell that the panel had been altered and I knew which window it was.  Very experienced sad that he is no longer with us.

 

Shame he couldn't get the front well right in the Mike Heywood 50 ft I bought second hand in 1986. The sides, seat and floor were all one piece of steel which had been rolled. It had a tube at the back end for drainage but when it rained there was a puddle at the front end which filled to about 2 inch deep. I had cause to stop at his yard in 1986 bringing the boat back and mentioned the well and he said it was because the boat was ballasted wrong.

[IanD]

13 minutes ago, Martin Kedian said:

Well done him. If the window was cut in the right place first he wouldn’t have had to 

Mistakes do happen though. Here's my boat before and after I pointed one out to Tim Tyler... 😉

 

[rusty69]

16 minutes ago, IanD said:

Mistakes do happen though. Here's my boat before and after I pointed one out to Tim Tyler... 😉

 

Jeez. I'm no boat builder, but even I know a massive hole in a boat hull is not gonna work well.

[Tonka]

Just now, rusty69 said:

Jeez. I'm no boat builder, but even I know a massive hole in a boat hull is not gonna work well.

Ladder welded to the front deck 

[IanD]

1 minute ago, Tonka said:

Ladder welded to the front deck 

It's for getting out of deep locks.

[Tracy D'arth]

1 hour ago, Martin Kedian said:

Well done him. If the window was cut in the right place first he wouldn’t have had to 

I think it was the owner, self fitter, that planned it in the wrong place for the interior layout.

[ditchcrawler]

1 hour ago, rusty69 said:

Jeez. I'm no boat builder, but even I know a massive hole in a boat hull is not gonna work well.

I like the bow mooring step, like the one chopped off at the back.

[IanD]

4 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

I like the bow mooring step, like the one chopped off at the back.

Yes, it's perfectly designed for maximum yoghurt pot slicing potential -- and if that doesn't work, there's always the lateral torpedo tube... 😉

Edited December 2, 2023 by IanD

[Jon57]

22 hours ago, IanD said:

Mistakes do happen though. Here's my boat before and after I pointed one out to Tim Tyler... 😉

 

You do realise now you have pointed out the repair everyone on here will be looking for the evidence that it’s as good as Mike Haywoods. 🤨

[IanD]

2 hours ago, Jon57 said:

You do realise now you have pointed out the repair everyone on here will be looking for the evidence that it’s as good as Mike Haywoods. 🤨

 

They're welcome to try -- I've looked *very* closely and I can't see any sign it was done either before or after the topcoats went on...

 

Tim's "I can't believe we did that..." reaction was unprintable -- the plan had doors on the starboard side only, they'd fitted those correctly and then copied the same to the port side. Rather than trying to patch the hole he cut out and replaced the entire panel back to the gunwale and handrail to avoid any visible joins, so brownie points for fixing it properly... 🙂

[ditchcrawler]

4 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

They're welcome to try -- I've looked *very* closely and I can't see any sign it was done either before or after the topcoats went on...

 

Tim's "I can't believe we did that..." reaction was unprintable -- the plan had doors on the starboard side only, they'd fitted those correctly and then copied the same to the port side. Rather than trying to patch the hole he cut out and replaced the entire panel back to the gunwale and handrail to avoid any visible joins, so brownie points for fixing it properly... 🙂

You could hardly do that when changing windows to portholes unless you put a whole new cabin side in

[IanD]

5 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

You could hardly do that when changing windows to portholes unless you put a whole new cabin side in

Of course, I wasn't in any way disparaging Martin's work, just giving Tim credit for fixing his mistake properly (and at no cost to me) instead of taking the easy way out 🙂

Edited December 3, 2023 by IanD