Veneer Removal / Repainting

[PANorth]

We have gotten to the point of digging the fogged plastic lenses out of the aluminum frames. We removed the frames because they held the laminate to the cabin side. The flange goes through the cabin side from the inside out, with an aluminum piece that matches all around the flange on the outside of the cabin. Bolts through the cabin side hold the outside piece to the inside portlight (you can see the bolt holes).
A few questions come up? What is a good method for removing the old adhesive from the frames. There is adhesive where the lenses are glued to the frame (grey) and for the frame to the cabin side (white). It's not the same adhesive. Are there recommended replacement adhesives?
Is there any reason that I should not replace the plastic lenses with glass? It would be nice to see through them forevermore. Would tempered glass be the thing?
Finally, the coating on the frames has bubbled in places with minor corrosion. Does anyone have experience with sandblasting and recoating aluminum portlight frames? Any ideas about the proper coating? Or is it even necessary?
I've read through the posts but did not see these questions addressed.

 

[Christian Williams]

My '84 opening ports are a different design, but:

--The caulk softener/remover I'm currently using is Anti-Bond 2015, which I find a little more effective than Marine Formula Debond, both available on line or at WM.

--Bond plastic to frames with any Sikaflex or similar product for "marine glazing" application.

--No need for glass in my opinion. Have existing acrylic copied by any local plastics shop. They'll look good for years.

--The aluminum frames do get funky esp. on the exterior, but you can pretty much do as you like to them. They were probably anodized, and that's breaking down, but I found a little sanding and buffing leaves them acceptable (same with old deck cleats, which I just grind, sand, polish and wax.) The frames can also be sanded, primed and painted with anything from Rustoleum to Brightside to Awlgrip to meet your personal cosmetic standard.

 

[PANorth]

Thank you. Always helpful. This boat has had several owners in its life. Each seems to have chosen a couple of things to re-do. The last one scavenged some of the equipment we saw in earlier adds before we bought her. Some things were neglected, such as the bottom noted in our earlier posts. Our plan is to bring her back up to a solid and aesthetic cruising standard. We plan to keep her for a good while. We'll report back on the refit.

 

[Tin Kicker]

I gave the frames to a powder coating company and they came back fabulous.

 

[PANorth]

I gave the frames to a powder coating company and they came back fabulous.

Can you provide more detail? What is a powder coating?

 

[Tin Kicker]

Can you provide more detail? What is a powder coating?

The paint is electrostaticly bonded to the metal, so it's really impervious and hard. Call a couple of your local powder coaters for more info and prices. My local guy had a $200 minimum and for the 8 frame pieces, I think the bill was not much more than that.

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[Pete the Cat]

I have just started into the same project - replacing teak veneer plywood that softened over the last 40 years. The layer of wood that is glued to the cabin wall has no sign of degradation and it is solidly attached to cabin well. Is there any reason that I should go to the trouble of removing it? I am leaning toward the Formica, or some such material, option so as to brighten the cabin.

I am also going to replace the fogged lenses in the opening portlights. I'm thinking glass as the replacement. This is an '82 with aluminum portlights and lenses that are in an aluminum frame. That is the opening part. I don't see sign that any of them leaked, but I want to be able to see through the lenses. Any suggestions about where to get replacement lenses?

I was able to sand my very fogged and scratched fixed ports so that they look nearly new. I bought a stack of auto body wet sandpaper from Amazon that went from 180 to 3000 grits and wet sanded in increasingly more fine grits. I think I started out with something like 220 and finished off with 2000. Used foam backing blocks to keep it level. Looks great. Will not solve anything that is not the surface. I don't think deep cracking that happens to some Lexan would respond, but I was very satisfied, and frankly surprised that it worked.