removing fixed ports

[Jeff Kaplan]

thanks mike, once removed, i will contact them...jeff

[Jeff Kaplan]

as a quick follow up, i did manage to remove all 4 of the ports yesterday, intact. very time consuming, tedious work. removed forward starboard port on sat. starting on outside. came out ok but i did a little damage to the gelcoat. it  will never be seen as new sealant will cover it, but i am going to repair it first. the both aft ports with the pillars were a little more difficult, but i found that by working from the inside, using a 1 1/2" flexable putty knife worked great. as far as the pillars, i just kept pushing the knife in deeper each time, working at each side of the pillars till sealant released, then port popped out. taking ports to

plastics company to get price. cleaned 2 of the 4 housings. that took more time than removing the ports. used gasket remover, let sit ,then scraped.took several times. fully cleaned with dremel tool. covered all ports with plastic, duct taped in place for the winter.  will finish cleaning other 2 in spring and do install at that time. when finished, i will write up my procedure for the tech notes. rick, if you want more info, my e-mail address and phone #are listed. contact me if you want....jeff