oakley24
Jet Boat Lover
- Messages
- 60
- Reaction score
- 138
- Points
- 72
- Location
- Carnegie, PA
- Boat Make
- Yamaha
- Year
- 2014
- Boat Model
- SX192
- Boat Length
- 19
Installed a 13x20 hatch on my 2014 SX192, since it only had storage access on the port side. There are already quite a few threads on this, but figured another couldn't hurt.
Here's the hatch I ordered from Camping World/Overtons. Some on here have used a 13x24 or 13x17 door. I wanted to keep a little more fiberglass surrounding mine, but thought the 13x17 was a little too small. It didn't come with anything but the door, so I traced my own template using the cardboard box it came in
13x20 Hatch
First issue, was trying to figure out how to place the door, since nothing seems to have a 90 degree angle on the helm. I settled on putting a level on the existing hatch, then lowering the trailer until the existing hatch was level. I figured matching the new door to the same level as the existing would look best. Then I just used a level to place my template, making sure it was high enough off the deck so that the ski locker opens. I used plenty of painters tape, held up my template and traced
I didn't take the seat back off, so I stuck my phone under there and took a pic to make sure that nothing was in the way of my saw blade
I tried a Dremel rotozip type saw with a universal type blade that mentioned it worked on fiberglass, but the blade wore down by the time i had only done about about 6 inches of cutting, so I opted for a jigsaw with a blade made for ceramic (on a slow/medium speed), then just used the rotozip for the rounded corners
I cut a hole in the middle of the fiberglass that was going to be cut out to give myself some where to hold onto to keep the cutout from vibrating too much as I got closer to the end. A helpful hint to avoid possible cracking of the fiberglass, cut the sides and bottom first, then cut the top part last. As others have noted, the fiberglass is thicker on the bottom middle area
I took the tape off, but should have left it on to drill the pilot holes. I re-taped and drilled 1/8" pilot holes for the 1/2" #8 screws. Could have used 5/8" or 3/4" screws, as well. Use a step bit after drilling the pilot holes to avoid cracking the fiberglass
I used some marine silicone, set the door in place, and put the screws in by hand.
It was scary cutting the first hole in my "new to me" boat, but it turned out to be really simple. I spent 1/2 an hour doing the project, and 2 hours preparing and avoiding
Here's the hatch I ordered from Camping World/Overtons. Some on here have used a 13x24 or 13x17 door. I wanted to keep a little more fiberglass surrounding mine, but thought the 13x17 was a little too small. It didn't come with anything but the door, so I traced my own template using the cardboard box it came in
13x20 Hatch
First issue, was trying to figure out how to place the door, since nothing seems to have a 90 degree angle on the helm. I settled on putting a level on the existing hatch, then lowering the trailer until the existing hatch was level. I figured matching the new door to the same level as the existing would look best. Then I just used a level to place my template, making sure it was high enough off the deck so that the ski locker opens. I used plenty of painters tape, held up my template and traced
I didn't take the seat back off, so I stuck my phone under there and took a pic to make sure that nothing was in the way of my saw blade
I tried a Dremel rotozip type saw with a universal type blade that mentioned it worked on fiberglass, but the blade wore down by the time i had only done about about 6 inches of cutting, so I opted for a jigsaw with a blade made for ceramic (on a slow/medium speed), then just used the rotozip for the rounded corners
I cut a hole in the middle of the fiberglass that was going to be cut out to give myself some where to hold onto to keep the cutout from vibrating too much as I got closer to the end. A helpful hint to avoid possible cracking of the fiberglass, cut the sides and bottom first, then cut the top part last. As others have noted, the fiberglass is thicker on the bottom middle area
I took the tape off, but should have left it on to drill the pilot holes. I re-taped and drilled 1/8" pilot holes for the 1/2" #8 screws. Could have used 5/8" or 3/4" screws, as well. Use a step bit after drilling the pilot holes to avoid cracking the fiberglass
I used some marine silicone, set the door in place, and put the screws in by hand.
It was scary cutting the first hole in my "new to me" boat, but it turned out to be really simple. I spent 1/2 an hour doing the project, and 2 hours preparing and avoiding