Cabin door

[buguy]

So I took my daughter fishing Sunday on my new to me 1990 230 Gulfstream. The good news is it is the first time she has fished with me (she's 10) and she caught 10 fish and is hooked! Bad news is when we were anchored off, the cabin door just fell off and down onto the cabin floor. I just left it there until tonight. When I pulled the door out I was shocked at how much it weighed. Brought it into the house and on the bathroom scale it shows it weighs 22 pounds. I can only assume it is made of starboard (not original). It looks decent and fit well, but the weight ended up pulling the screws out of the wood core where it mounts. Is there something better (lighter) that i could use to build a new one?

 

[Another Distraction]

Go to king starboard's website. They make different weight boards.

 

[gw204]

Not sure if it's the same size or not, but I have the OEM teak cabin door from my '86 22 Seafarer that I'm parting out. Can get measurements for you if you want to go back to stock. It's in good shape, but needs to be cleaned, brightened and oiled.

 

[buguy]

Looks close. I will measure it up tonight.

 

[buguy]

Mine are 8.5" wide by 38.25" tall each panel.

 

[Lt.Mike]

Wood screws pull out even with piano style hinges like your doors and back to back seats. No problem, the stripped holes can be repaired pretty easily.
Using Elmers carpenters wood glue fill each hole and jam wooden toothpicks into the holes. Let it harden overnight clip and sand flush. Good as new and ready to drill new pilot holes for the screws.This fix will cost you next to nothing. I also don't see why you couldn't use the doors you have again.
Mike.

 

[buguy]

That's pretty much what I already did but I used a plastic repair epoxy to fill the holes (because that's what I had). But I do still feel that the door is way too heavy. I was shocked when I tried to lift it. I have it back in but I expect it to happen again. I also need to make/buy a strap to keep it open. It likes to flop around when it's opened.

 

[gw204]

Screws never do well going into the end grain of plywood. What I've done in the past (on a house door) was drill out the screw holes and then epoxy in some hardwood dowels. Once cured, sand flush, drill your pilot holes and done.

I measured my doors and unfortunately they don't match the ones you have. Each panel is 8-7/8" wide by 45" tall. I'm sure the width could be trimmed to fit but I don't think the height would tolerate pulling off 6".

 

[buguy]

The dowels are a good idea. Maybe I will see if they make lighter starboard or maybe make some out of teak.

 

[DennisG01]

Drill the holes out longer/deeper (if possible, so you can use larger/longer screws) and then fill with regular epoxy resin... let it soak in... fill again... repeat once more... then fill with thickened epoxy. You'll end up with the epoxy bonded amazingly well into the wood. And because you're screwing into epoxy, it doesn't "give" like wood does so the screws have a much smaller chance of working themselves loose.

Starboard (the actual brand) does make lighter stuff. Taco Metals also makes a lighter version - and will often be less expensive since they aren't the "name brand". But, really, all you're looking for is HDPE. BUT... be careful of the type you get. Some will be very light... but also appear more "sponge like" (holes/air pockets) on the cut edges.

 

[buguy]

Thanks for the tips. I like the maintenance free aspect of the starboard. Hopefully I can either strengthen the old wood, or find a sensible replacement.

 

[Fishtales]

There are some guys that do this work. I thought there was one around on this board. Below is one from THT.

http://www.thehulltruth.com/parts-forum ... -sale.html

 

[buguy]

Seems to be holding strong since the repair. Been out twice including trailering.