Houdini’s & Portholes

Well they have been fitted for the last time!
Darren spent the whole day working on Waiouru.  I removed the three Houdini hatches and took them to the workshop where all the old tape and adhesive was removed with white spirits and elbow grease.  Meanwhile Darren gave the new steel frame a first coat of gloss. 
Then we commenced installing the portholes.  Waiouru’s original portholes weren’t recovered from Ben Harp and the holes in the new portholes don’t match the screw holes in the steel shell.  The adopted strategy was to find as many matching holes as possible and then drill new holes where necessary.

I was scared the drill might slip and scratch the new paintwork so I let Darren do this part of the task.  I let Darren do the more mundane task whilst I provided critical comment and advice!  The reverse face of the porthole had a rubberised flat double sided tape applied to it and stainless steel wood screws were used to compress the tape between the steel shell and the porthole.

To ensure no water leaks in around the screw the tip of each one was coated with a bead of construction adhesive before it was screwed into the hole (my task).

Once the porthole was fitted a rubber seal was pressed into a groove around the outer circumference of the porthole concealing the screw heads.

The same technique was used to fit the Houdini hatches except stainless steel machine screws were used instead of wood screws.
Darren then went on to give the rear sliding hatch and runners a first coat of graphite gloss.

Whilst he was painting I lightly sanded the oak front door frame and gave it a third (and final) coat of gloss varnish.  After that I managed to fit the toilet control switch into the oak trim.  The day ended with Jan and me vacuuming Waiouru’s roof to remove all the swarf and other rubbish.
Tim returns tomorrow to finish the sign writing whilst Jan and I will give Waiouru its fourth (and final) coat of blacking.  Darren still has some minor painting to do and by 4:00pm it will probably be time to remove the inflatable shelter off Waiouru.