Sliding Doors

[dboehmer]

I need to remove the black sliding doors for repair. They don't seem to be removed in the normal lift, and pull out on the bottom. Do I need to remove the small spacer between the two sliders? Or am I missing something.
Thanks in advance

[Stu Jackson #224 1986 "Aq]

Black Sliding Panels

Dennis

Using the search engine on the main website, I typed in black sliding, used "search exact phrase" and came up with:

http://www.c34.org/mainsheet/pdf/11-99_Technotes.pdf

Stu

[Ron Hill]

Run the search as Stu suggested.
I'll guess that over the years your upper shelf and the heavy stuff on it caused it to "droop".  The sliders should lift up & out.  If prying the upper shelf/track up won't work; you may have to remove the lower or upper track.  Look for the plugs.   APACHE  #788   :)

ronphylhill@erols.com

[Kelly]

I had a simular experince.  I recently replaced my black plexiglass doors with louvered teak doors while keeping the slidding track still intact.  I found that the bottom track only had to be removed in order to remove the plexiglass doors.  They simply could not be removed without breaking the plexiglass unless the bottom track was removed.  On my 87' only the bottom track was plugged over the screws so taking out the top track was the easiest.  Also I learned that if you pry up on the shelf a bit taking the track out may not require removal of the track.  Ron mentioned that the weight over the years may have caused the shelf above to settle.  On mine this was true and it added to the difficult removal of the doors.

Kelly

[dboehmer]

Thanks to everyone....I can't believe how quickly I have recieved a response. What a great site. I am a new (pre-owned)to the 34 owner family and have really enjoyed and learned much from this site. Again....Thanks.

[Ron Hill]

I didn't have to widen the groves, but I covered the black sliders with ash battoning(contact cement).  That's the same ash battoning that the factory put on the inside of the hull above the shelves and the "wall" by the refrig and stove.  
There's an article in the Mainsheet that another owner sent in and I copied it.  I also did the slider above the nav station.  Now the sliders match the "back wall".  It also strengthened the sliders and greatly reinforced the handle area.  APACHE #788  :)

ronphylhill@erols.com

[Steve S "Kuching Ayer" Hu]

I had the same problem as Kelly, couldn't get the doors out without removing the top track.  I did that on one side.  What a pain.  Then realized that I was going to replace the plexiglass altogether.  So, I used the hammer method on the other side and the galley doors.  I used beaded wainscotting from Home Depot.  Cut to size using the templates, but made them slightly less tall so they would slide in.  The only tricky part was that they were too thick, so I routed off an 1/16 of an inch or so from the edges.  I also used one one continuous piece for each side so that the beads line up.  Finish with Watco Teak oil and voila, new doors.  They match the back wall and give the salon an updated looked.

[dboehmer]

Thanks for all the suggestions....I was able to use two ideas that were posted here. First, the plastic and the aft handle was broken. As suggested, I glued the piece back on (with some thin wood backing) and then drilled and placed the handle at the opposite end. I then reversed that slider. The broken portion doesn't show when sliding either door. Oh by the way, I did get the doors out without removing the wood slider sleeves. I had to exert much upward pressure on the shelf above the doors while removing but it worked. They stick alittle, but I will try shaving alittle off the plastic sliders with sand paper before attacking with a router.

[John Gardner, 1988, #695,]

My approach to this widely shared problem:
Two out of four of the doors were broken at the handle when I took possession of Seventh Heaven.  One of the broken pieces was missing with its handle and the other was in the boat.  I repaired the one that was not lost using acrylic glue.
I bought 4 new handles - brass this time, and three inches wide so as to avoid the original screw holes.  I took the doors out by two of us applying lots of elbow power upwards on the shelf and then lifting the door till the bottom could slip out.
For each door I sandwiched the end of the door with a 1.5 x 9.25 inch aluminum plate on the back and a 2 x 9.75 inch teak-faced plywood strip on the front (running vertically).  (The distance between the upper and lower slot walls in Seventh Heaven varied from 9.875 to 9.75 inches.) The sandwich was held together by the screws of the handle and I added a countersunk screw and nut near the top and the bottom of each sandwich.
Two done and installed - they look good - and two still being done.
The idea was to do a repair that would spread the loads applied by the handle, cover up the repaired/missing pieces, and still be aesthetically pleasing.