20’ Hourston Pain in the Glass

[Fritz]

Hello any and all Hourston folks,

I am on the hunt for side window track and will include photos and measurements of what I am after. These seem to have been heavily damaged by the previous owner with a flat blade screw driver, most likely when the window jammed . How the glass survived I have no idea. These window frames do not appear to have been built by Taylormade but Caweroy? The felt for the tracks is standard storm door weatherstripping. I have sent emails to both Taylormade and AJR in Vancouver.

Oh! The grey plastic tracks are approximately 6 feet in length.

Any guidance or information would be much appreciated.

Kudos,

Fritz

 

[kingblazer84]

Hello any and all Hourston folks,

I am on the hunt for side window track and will include photos and measurements of what I am after. These seem to have been heavily damaged by the previous owner with a flat blade screw driver, most likely when the window jammed . How the glass survived I have no idea. These window frames do not appear to have been built by Taylormade but Caweroy? The felt for the tracks is standard storm door weatherstripping. I have sent emails to both Taylormade and AJR in Vancouver.

Oh! The grey plastic tracks are approximately 6 feet in length.

Any guidance or information would be much appreciated.

Kudos,

Fritz

if you find roberts old 26 build I believe he found the supplier for those rails!

 

[Corey_lax]

Y583 Uncovered Rigid Polypropylene Pile Lining

Find a complete selection of specialized and decorative hardware for the glass, window, and door industry.

www.hitechglazing.com

This might work

Y58396 - CRL Rigid Polished Double Marine Channel 15/16" Wide - 96" Length

CRL Rigid Polished Double Marine Channels are designed for use in boats and buses

www.crlaurence.ca

 

[Fritz]

Y583 Uncovered Rigid Polypropylene Pile Lining

Find a complete selection of specialized and decorative hardware for the glass, window, and door industry.

www.hitechglazing.com

This might work

Y58396 - CRL Rigid Polished Double Marine Channel 15/16" Wide - 96" Length

CRL Rigid Polished Double Marine Channels are designed for use in boats and buses

www.crlaurence.ca

Thank you,
This is close but not the same. However have you used this in a Hourston lower track? I believe the slider system is the same as a 23’ standard cabin (the 26’ is very different from photos).
I will send this outfit an email with some pics and measurements.

Please let me know, I really want to get my roof back on.

Cheers

Fritz

 

[Corey_lax]

Thank you,
This is close but not the same. However have you used this in a Hourston lower track? I believe the slider system is the same as a 23’ standard cabin (the 26’ is very different from photos).
I will send this outfit an email with some pics and measurements.

Please let me know, I really want to get my roof back on.

Cheers

Fritz

I’ve never used it but the width of the track looks close. The height is different but your glass should still fit. Send @EZZ70 a message and see what he bought when he re did his.

 

[Corey_lax]

FYI Hitech will sell to anyone. CRL would need to go through a glazier.

 

[Fritz]

Okay,

After a whole bunch of bull5h1t, I finally have a fix for these Hourston side windows, firstly though some facts!

The window frames on the early Hourstons have no commonalities with the later model Taylor made components and there is no availability of parts............. period........... end of sentence.

The original window frames are anodized and any polishing you do will remove the anodized coating and you will never be able to stop having to polish the frames. I cleaned mine with cut castorol super clean and Palmolive soap and hot water rinse to remove any traces of the acid.

However for rebuilding the frames, if you look at the attached photos the pile brush seals are standard storm door weatherstripping. The tracks are designed like card slots on the inner faces and you can slide in the new brush seals. The replacement brush seals were adhesive backed and with the coated paper over the adhesive backing on the seals they were just slightly too big to slide in the track. I used a small acid brush to apply a tiny film of Mercury outboard 2-4-C grease into the slots in the track which defeated the sticky backing enough to replace the seals.

The damaged plastic track was replaced with a sliding door replacement track shown in the pics below. I had to run this polycarbonate track through my router to match the profile of the original plastic track. Because the replacement modded track does not have the card slots for the brush seals I used West Systems epoxy to bond the new weatherstripping to the sides of the invited "T"

I hope, after my headache some one else out there in TV land will benefit from this write up with pics. It was totally worth the hassle they slide beautifully but close firmly. My windows will no longer rattle, open on their own, jamb open or shut at embarrassing times or loose a window out of the track into the Sea!

 

[Fritz]

Okay,

After a whole bunch of bull5h1t, I finally have a fix for these Hourston side windows, firstly though some facts!

The window frames on the early Hourstons have no commonalities with the later model Taylor made components and there is no availability of parts............. period........... end of sentence.

The original window frames are anodized and any polishing you do will remove the anodized coating and you will never be able to stop having to polish the frames. I cleaned mine with cut castorol super clean and Palmolive soap and hot water rinse to remove any traces of the acid.

However for rebuilding the frames, if you look at the attached photos the pile brush seals are standard storm door weatherstripping. The tracks are designed like card slots on the inner faces and you can slide in the new brush seals. The replacement brush seals were adhesive backed and with the coated paper over the adhesive backing on the seals they were just slightly too big to slide in the track. I used a small acid brush to apply a tiny film of Mercury outboard 2-4-C grease into the slots in the track which defeated the sticky backing enough to replace the seals.

The damaged plastic track was replaced with a sliding door replacement track shown in the pics below. I had to run this polycarbonate track through my router to match the profile of the original plastic track. Because the replacement modded track does not have the card slots for the brush seals I used West Systems epoxy to bond the new weatherstripping to the sides of the invited "T"

I hope, after my headache some one else out there in TV land will benefit from this write up with pics. It was totally worth the hassle they slide beautifully but close firmly. My windows will no longer rattle, open on their own, jamb open or shut at embarrassing times or loose a window out of the track into the Sea!

Here’s some more pics of the process now that I’ve figured out how to downgrade image quality in my photo library.

The orange squares are pieces of a crazy carpet used to release the locking tabs on the snap in glazing. I don’t recommend removing the plastic from the tracks but I had to because of previous owner vandalism.

Also of note on the Hourston’s you can actually take the side windows out by removing 2 polycarbonate packers from the slots in the lower track (the grey 1/4” logs in the pictures).
Hope these pics help others

 

[Fritz]

Here’s some more pics of the process now that I’ve figured out how to downgrade image quality in my photo library.

The orange squares are pieces of a crazy carpet used to release the locking tabs on the snap in glazing. I don’t recommend removing the plastic from the tracks but I had to because of previous owner vandalism.

Also of note on the Hourston’s you can actually take the side windows out by removing 2 polycarbonate packers from the slots in the lower track (the grey 1/4” logs in the pictures).
Hope these pics help others

More pics and the hat bushings were 3D printed by a friend for the slider knobs on the windows. The original rubber ones go hard, crack and cause the knob to fall out of the windows

 

[Doubleheader]

Okay,

After a whole bunch of bull5h1t, I finally have a fix for these Hourston side windows, firstly though some facts!

The window frames on the early Hourstons have no commonalities with the later model Taylor made components and there is no availability of parts............. period........... end of sentence.

The original window frames are anodized and any polishing you do will remove the anodized coating and you will never be able to stop having to polish the frames. I cleaned mine with cut castorol super clean and Palmolive soap and hot water rinse to remove any traces of the acid.

However for rebuilding the frames, if you look at the attached photos the pile brush seals are standard storm door weatherstripping. The tracks are designed like card slots on the inner faces and you can slide in the new brush seals. The replacement brush seals were adhesive backed and with the coated paper over the adhesive backing on the seals they were just slightly too big to slide in the track. I used a small acid brush to apply a tiny film of Mercury outboard 2-4-C grease into the slots in the track which defeated the sticky backing enough to replace the seals.

The damaged plastic track was replaced with a sliding door replacement track shown in the pics below. I had to run this polycarbonate track through my router to match the profile of the original plastic track. Because the replacement modded track does not have the card slots for the brush seals I used West Systems epoxy to bond the new weatherstripping to the sides of the invited "T"

I hope, after my headache some one else out there in TV land will benefit from this write up with pics. It was totally worth the hassle they slide beautifully but close firmly. My windows will no longer rattle, open on their own, jamb open or shut at embarrassing times or loose a window out of the track into the Sea!

This is very helpful thank you for sharing! Do you have links to the exact products you used for ordering purposes? I think this task is in my near future…

 

[Fritz]

This is very helpful thank you for sharing! Do you have links to the exact products you used for ordering purposes? I think this task is in my near future…

I'm very sorry to here that lol,

Just to be clear my boat is a 1978 and has Dewroy window assemblies (they have a tiny captains wheel logo etched in the corners of the glass).

The photo of the weatherstripping shows the dimensions and product info on the plastic bag (for size) it was purchased from Home Depot and was a bit of rip off. You can buy the same material in longer lengths (it appears) on Amazon. I used 6 bags of that weatherstripping (they are 14ft lengths) for both side window frames . However the original brush seals were cloth backed. These new seals have a flexible acrylic backing that the brush is bonded into which is a major upgrade in my opinion from having rotten cotton.

My plastic had been busted to pieces by a flat blade screwdriver on the starboard side. I do not recommend removing the plastic. The part number of the track I bought is: Randall Manufacturing 1/4" plastic sliding door track (6ft length) ASIN B07ZWG73K9 from Amazon and will have to be trimmed to fit. I would however recommend once the pile weatherstripping is removed to scrub the hell out of the tracks with a deck brush. You will be surprised how much gross crap is in there.

If you take your side windows out in situ use some 2x4 and shims to keep upward pressure on the window frame. From taking my roof off I believe the side windows (the glass that is) were not installed during roof installation as the upper plastic track was not drilled for the holes were the roof screws to the side window frames (if that makes sense).

This is not a fun job, but it was totally worth it.