Installing Inspection Ports

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Installing Inspection Ports

Postby ciscovt » Thu Jan 19, 2017 3:17 pm

I am going to replace the worn out jib car mechanism on my DS 3 this Spring. Rudy at D&R has cautioned me that I will need to install inspection ports to be able to both install a backing plate and to get to the bottom of the bolts holding in the old mechanism. When installing inspection ports is it better/easier to use a hole saw or just a jig saw and fine blade?

Thanks,
Scott
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Re: Installing Inspection Ports

Postby GreenLake » Thu Jan 19, 2017 5:04 pm

I did one on my boat just by drilling a lot of holes in a circle, like creating a perforation and then knocking out the disk in the middle. Cleaned the edge a bit with a file, but those ports have wide lips that hide a lot. I guess, this is one of the cases where a really close fit isn't needed and you can use whatever tool you have.
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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Re: Installing Inspection Ports

Postby MookaCB » Thu Jan 19, 2017 5:29 pm

I used a Dremel tool with a spiral cutting bit.

Like Greenlake said, anything will work as long as you can get it close. I wouldn't spend that much on a large hole saw.
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Re: Installing Inspection Ports

Postby ChrisB » Fri Jan 20, 2017 10:36 am

+1 on the Dremel tool with the multipurpose hole saw attachment. Added a port on the foredeck to replace the stemhead and also at the back of the cuddy to replace a jib car.
Chris B.
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Re: Installing Inspection Ports

Postby ciscovt » Fri Jan 20, 2017 12:09 pm

Thank you guys. Dremel tool it will be. This forum is such an excellent resource!

Scott
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Re: Installing Inspection Ports

Postby jeadstx » Sat Jan 21, 2017 4:23 am

After drawing the circle where the hole was going to be, I drilled a hole on the line. I then use a jig saw with a "fiberglass blade".

John
1976 Day Sailer II, #8075 - Completed the 2011, 2012, and 2013 Texas 200
1952 Beetle Boat Swan Catboat
Early Rhodes 19
1973 Mariner 2+2, #2607 - Completed 2014, 2015 and 2016 Texas 200
1969 Day Sailer I, #3229
Fleet 135; Canyon Lake, Texas
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Re: Installing Inspection Ports

Postby Alan » Sat Jan 21, 2017 12:29 pm

I used a Dremel with the spiral cutting bit and hole-cutting guide. With that setup, you drill a small hole where the center of the hole will be, and another at the edge. Place the point of the guide in the center hole and the cutting bit in the outer hole, fire it up and swing it in a circle.

I've made three holes this way, two of them perfect and one with a slight mistake along one section of the circle because I didn't tighten the hole-cutting guide enough. Fortunately, the inspection port flange is wide enough to cover up the evidence. :)
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Re: Installing Inspection Ports

Postby carl10579 » Tue Sep 19, 2017 5:00 am

Looks like I'm reviving an old thread. I recently installed one of these ports while repairing the centerboard on my Aquarius. I also just put one in the seat of my daysailer so I could tighten the bolts on the engine bracket that I just installed.

I found this guy on youtube installing an inspection port. What a klutz with a drill, ha ha, oh wait ---- that's me. :(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e92LFShePZw
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Re: Installing Inspection Ports

Postby GreenLake » Tue Sep 19, 2017 1:32 pm

Smoother than my process:
805
but I went for a larger diameter...

What I don't get from your video: there seem to be two trunks - an inner (fiberglass) and an outer (wood). Your inspection port seems to go only on the outer. (I watched with the audio off, and skipped around a bit so perhaps you explain that already).
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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Re: Installing Inspection Ports

Postby carl10579 » Wed Sep 20, 2017 2:10 am

Oh There is a cabinet of sorts built around the CB trunk. I disassembled it a little to expose the inner and found where to drill then put it back together marked then drilled through both the outer and inner then installed a gasket between the two. Fixed the cable and put it all back together.

Carl
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Re: Installing Inspection Ports

Postby GreenLake » Wed Sep 20, 2017 5:11 pm

Thanks for the explanation. I thought I'd seen you hold up a gasket package in the video, but never skipped to the point where you actually install it.

Having seen the water pressure that can build inside a CB trunk, I would have been less confident about a gasket solution... However, if your trunk is vented at the top, then that would perhaps be less of an issue because overpressure would not attempt to equalize past the gasket.
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