composite fiberglass windshield.

[bob lico]

a while back during the contruction of "buddy boy" captain patrick mention the use of bill holmsey composite windshield.i have study and compared all other methods and decided on this route.you mention there were very inportant instalation methods that must be followed could you shed some light on the subject i have just ordered one for phoenix.unlike the smart people i decided to do this job after the finish paint job.i needed the excitment of cracking the brim of the bridge while removing the old windshield!!!capt patrick i must do this job with no damage to outside of cabin inside no problem. labor is a meaniless factor i will do whatever it takes .thank you

[RussP]

Bob, before I made mine I talked to Bill and he said he will torque the mold to meet your measurements. With the price of materials and labor & shipping you might consiter have your local glass guy use your frame as a mold and make one local.







I fabed the 4 pieces and finished the inside with gel coat except where it would be tabed in to eliminte sanding. Instalation took a day because of the smaller easy to handle pieses and no matter how you look at it you'll need a few gallon kits of awl-fair to make it look original where it meets the lower window base.

Good luck,
RussP

[bob lico]

russp you do certainly have the fiberglass know-how the windshield coversion looks flawless.i have allready gave bill the go ahead and sent him a color chip of my paint job.i like the idea of the windshield being finish both inside and out with gel-cote.on that subject it must have been real tight trying to do glass work and sand and paint the seam between the bottom of windshield and fiberglass deck on the inside of the cabin.
we will be senting a trailer to the everglades factory in a few weeks so there is no shipping.thank you for responing to the post .captain patrick if you could show us some insight on the buddy boy windshied installation it would be very much appreciated.--------thank you

[John F.]

Bob-

I ended up painting my frames and using acrylic, but there's alot of good info in the acrhives--some from Bruce (Doan maybe?) who I think is from Philly--about glassing in using the Holmsey insert. Capt. Pat I believe posted pics of Buddy Boy with the FB jacked up and the windshield out. Good luck--end result is great.

John

[CaptPatrick]

Bob,

This windshield replacement is NOT plug and play....

It's open heart surgery in every sense of the word and you will not be able to make the transition without major work, including glassing & fairing, as Russ pointed out.

The left hand part of the mold has a nasty twist that has to be wrestled into place and gaps filled, not just bedded with caulk. Once finished, like I did it on "Buddy Boy", it's drop dead georgous. But getting there isn't easy or painless. Like Russ said, about 3 gallons of fairing comound, high build primer, & lots of careful sanding.

It's a modification that's best reserved for a project boat still in the Ugly Duckling stage...

The fiberglass cap that Fibertech sells, (usually through Richard Kidd or Danny/High TIdes Marine), is a piece of crap. I had to do major modificatons and add on just to make it fit Ron's boat. And you still have those ugly aluminum frames showing inside.

There virtually is no way to change out the front window frames without major damage in the process. Remember the old ad? "If you're going to make mayonaise, ya' gotta' break some eggs".

Sorry for not being more positive to what you want to do, but doing it under the parameter of: "i must do this job with no damage to outside of cabin", is going to be very difficult at best...

Br,

Patrick

[bob lico]

the major question i see is in the removal of the old windshield.did you have cracks in the brim and surrond area of the bridge when you lifted it with a jack????that being said do i have to scarved the area that the new composite windshield sits on,or will the use of 5200 suffice.i want to clear something up.the new windshied sits on a 11/2" raised area of the deck why are we using so much faring? i assumed you were using this raised area as a parting line thus no need to blend windshied bottom edge to deck.

[CaptPatrick]

Bob,

The glassing over of the joint between the replacement windshield & the deck cap, (raised combing), is what gets faired in if you were to do the job like I did on both "Buddy Boy" & "Fortuna", on on the "crap cap" that I did for Ron on "Kahuna".

There are a a bunch of heavy screws that are secured into the windshield from inside the V-berth & under the headliner.

I've seen two B31s done by only caulking the seam and both looked like hell, both leaked, and some of gaps filled with compound were as much as a half of an inch.

The stress on jacking up the house front to remove & replace the windshield will be transmitted back to the pilasters. It's in those two areas that you would have stress cracking. If your pilaster planels are still removable, most of that stress will be relived by removing the panels before you loft the house top.

The top of the windshield, at least, will need to be epoxied & screwed from the inside with recessed screws and then plugged and faired.

Any way you cut it, it's not an easy job or one that isn't going to require a lot of "fix up" to complete...

Br,

Patrick

[Raybo Marine NY]

"what are you doing with the windows?" is always the first question a 31 owner is asked, not for nothing Bob- but with the project you have in mind the painting is the LEAST of your concern as far as time and costs involved.

[bob lico]

robbie my first concern is the paint because the boat can no longer be transported to your shop and you know where i stand on painting! i will use a "hot knife" it is a machine made by fein actually called a multimaster but when you put the E-cut blades in it .most guys call it hot knife.i will carefully tape then duct tape over tape on painted area above windshield. make my cut between the frame and fiberglass next take out all the screws capt. patrick mention in the v-berth ceiling.i have exposed them all ready.i have to be real careful ,v-berth is beige ostrich leather with ellaborate cushions (decorator nonsense) from wife!!! i molded in the whole bridge and remove all alluminum trim so there is no removing any panels on pillar as the capt mention.the windshield is sacrficial if a choice between damaging painted area or destroyed windshield come up the windshield gets cut.unfortunatly my windshield is the best stock untouch one i ever seen i mean absolutely mint was protected for many years.

[CaptPatrick]

Bob,

You are still going to have to raise the housetop, it's only by a couple of inches, to have working room, both in and out.... Having installed three of these units personally, I can honestly say that it only "sounds" easier than it is.

Good luck!

Br,

Patrick

[bob lico]

honestly i was looking to just take the weight or the pressure if you will off the windshied with 4 jacks evenly spaced along the interior.i believe the oringinal windshield was set in dolfinite so i did a test with jap ryoba saw from inside.from that test i conclude the fowlowing; just lift house 1/2" and remove two front windows(glass) with four people pulling,one from each end and two from front toward bow it should go.no flat bar or any other bar to ruin paint will be a bitch but i have the time under the tent.love winter gives you ambition!!!!sounds easier than it is ----oh boy will i use caution .the price of victory is never cheap,but given the time and the rum i hope to suceed than in dec. go crying to robbie help!!!!!

[M. REY]

I restore it by: sand blast, weld, wash acid and awlgrip paint, now it's time to get it back in place.
I am thinking on using dolfinite between the three frames (at the joints) and sikaflex with primer on the top and below the frames, to bed it in place, plus the screws.
I have only a can of dolfinite (not for sale in Europe) but for sure must be something similar here.
I will appreciate any imput,
thanks.

AH!! IF A HAD TO DO IT BACK AGAING, I WILL GO WITH THE COMPOSITE WINDSHIELD.

[bob lico]

m.rey you can get all the dolfinite you need at www.JamestownDistributors.com good luck

[bob lico]

capt.patrick my son enter the coversation at the yard and concluded;
what the hell if you don`t care about the windshield, support the bridge and cut the windshield pillars right across take windshield frame out in two pieces of course remove glass and perfect condition lucite curved glass.

[CaptPatrick]

[randall]

that looks like fun

[M. REY]

Bob, I did once and they talk me that it can not be air shipped just ground, becouse of the components.

THANKS.

[bob lico]

well i for one was taken by surprise.i have been on this site or around the bertram fever for 11years and never saw a picture of a bertram with windshield remove and house supported by jacks.a picture is worth a thousand words now i can see the area of the windshield that makes the upper seal against the house.i guess you had to make that cut out in the cabin ceiling to cut the bolts that go thru the windshied.i imangine the nuts are frozen and not accesible.other then the 3 bolts on port and starboard are there any other bolts going thru the top of windshield?

[CaptPatrick]

Bob,

Numerous screws under the V-bert overhead going up into the base of the windshield & 3 threaded aluminum rods from the house overhead down through the windshield into the same part of the combing as the screws.