Forward Hatch - what? How to repair?

[searenity38]

Before you go crazy and start tearing stuff up, start with the easy possibilities. Get some spray silicone and soak a rag with it. Then rub, rub, the rubber gasket constantly adding more silicone. You need to exercise the rubber real well with the silicone. It'll take a little while but I've done this on my hatch that leaked and it stopped the problem. Good luck.

[gulfislandfred]

Thanks


With all the good advice here, I have given up the idea to take the hatch cover apart. I do think I need to reef out the loose stuff, and fill the gap left after I reef it out, with something.



Whatever the material is that was the seal between the glass and metal comes out in little chunks. It is no longer in one piece. So I think I need to either get it out, or just seal or paint something over that seam.



I worry that if I use silicone, other things won't stick later, although alcohol or acetone would probably take the silicone off.

No hurry for this job. Lots of other stuff to do first. I have some loose headliner to deal with. It's pretty ugly underneath.

[coopec43]

Well if it is a Houdini (like mine) IT WON'T COME APART!

I'd do what you plan to do- clean out all the crap around the glass maybe with some hooked fine spring wire (if you get what I mean) then pour some sealant into the small gap between the glass and the frame (as has been suggested earlier in the thread)

How do I know if my hatch is a Houdini?
Identifying features are ‘Houdini’ on the hinge or the glass logo. Very old hatches, particularly those with a slam bar will show ‘Essex Aluminium’. To ensure it is a Houdini hatch, please email a photograph of your hatch to us. Contact us to discuss replacement Houdini window and hatch items, including the deck hatch seal.

If your hatch is a Houdini this thread is highly relevant.
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ng-126568.html

[rognvald]

Silicone is a very bad unless you're just "rehydrating" an intact seal. With the obvious damage(leaking) as you've described, good luck getting it off once applied. Silicone is forever! If you want to rehydrate the seal, there are other alternatives on the market made specifically for that purpose once the proper repair has been made to the seal that do not contain silicone.
Rognvald