1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: The Season of Do-Overs…Aft Deck Glass 2.0

The Season of Do-Overs is my least favorite season. On a project this big, the last thing I want is to have to re-do things I already checked off the honey-do list. A recent example of that is the fuel manifold that developed leaks.

But the Season of Do-Overs actually began last fall, when I noticed something wasn’t right with the aft deck windows. The caulk didn’t look right in a spot. So I went outside and pushed on the glass in that area…and it moved. So I went around to all of the aft deck windows and found that the Boat Life polysulfide had lost the bond to either the glass or the paint (mostly the latter) on little sections of every one of them.

A tedious task

I’d push on the glass where the bond was lost, insert a putty knife, followed by wooden wedge and then work the wedges around the pane. While I didn’t enjoy doing this, the Boat Life bond was so weak that each one came out surprisingly easily.

There was a good bond to the glass, and good contact with the paint

I have no idea why this caulk didn’t bond to the paint, but that was the last time I’ll ever buy Boat Life for anything.

A bit of Boat Life residue stuck to the window frame

But it peels off clean

After consulting with the guys over at Weaver Boatworks, I learned that they only use Bostik 70-08A windshield adhesive for their multi-million dollar sportfishermen glass. It’s hard to find and not cheap–I paid $18/tube–but if it keeps the glass sealed in place, it’s a bargain.

I have two and a half tubes leftover if anybody’s interested. Ping me in the comments.

The good stuff for glass

Glass installation prep materials

I used lacquer thinner on a rag to remove the Boat Life residue from the glass and each window frame, then repeated with alcohol, and wrapped up with vinegar. Each one is a very good solvent for particular types of residue, and by the time I dry-wiped the surfaces after the vinegar treatment, there was no residue of any kind.

I strategically placed foam block spacers around the window frames

Next, I applied a heavy bead to the perimeter of the glass

The pros at Weaver said it’s best to apply a thick bead around the perimeter, and only press it into the frame a bit. This Bostik product can reportedly stretch up to double whatever thickness it’s applied at without losing adhesion or coming apart. So my target was ~1/8″ thickness when the glass was pressed to the frames.

The view from the inside

As you can see, the caulk doesn’t go all the way up to the edge of the window frame. This was one of the tricks the Weaver guys told me: Step 1 is to get the caulk thickness to no less than 1/8″.

1/8″ gap between the glass and frame

Step 2: apply tape to the window frame and exterior glass perimeter and get ready to back-fill the Bostik.

Swap out the Bostik nozzle for one with a fine tip

The Bostik nozzle is designed for laying down thick beads. So I used a spare Lexel caulk nozzle that I cut so the hole is just under 1/8″ for the backfill.

Step 3, Back fill the gap with Bostik

Back-fill is done

Step 4: While wearing nitrile gloves, wet a fingertip with alcohol and smooth off the Bostik caulk. Keep the fingertip wet as you work around the glass. Then, pull the tape up and away from the caulk.

Incidentally, Bostik cleans up with alcohol, not mineral spirits like most other caulks.

The alcohol and nitrile glove treatment leaves a shiny, smooth surface

Back-filled caulk viewed from the inside

I repeated the process on all of the aft deck windows.

Port helm door is ready for exposure to the elements

I like the look of the tinted windows against Matterhorn White

Can’t wait to see it on the water.

It’s now June of the following year, and the Bostik product is still well bonded to the glass and paint.

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing GROCO Hull Strainers