Teardrop Doors and Hatch Progress

I've finished the trimming of the 2nd side door (1/8" on the flat sides) since my last post. I also sanded the edges to take the any spare snaggers or hard edges off. Both doors still need surface sanding for aesthetics and a myriad of others things like aluminum trim, EPS and hinges. That's for later. I moved on to the hatch in the meantime.

I pulled up the old "hurricane hinge" and cleaned it up. Old silicone sealer, wood veneer and other scum had to be cleaned off. I also had to trim some of the aluminum on one side for a different fit on the current hatch. Weird, but I think this hatch is more "square". Good.

I shaved down some of the top hatch interface with a belt sander for an equal surface and straight lines, then dry fit the hatch door portion of the hurricane hinge.

Perfect. I applied EPS to that horizontal surface you see above, and waited a bit for it to dry. I said I wasn't going to do it in February, but I bit the bullet, set the propane heater on high and managed to get a temperature of 50 degrees in the garage. It doesn't seem to drop below 40 at night, so it's fine.

I added two beads of silicone caulk to both sides of the angle here for under the surface of the hinge. I then screwed it down with 3/4" screws. I added some clamps to... squish the "topside" of the hinge down and distribute the silicone throughout that interface. Whatever, this sounds silly right now that I think of it. The shit was in there, no need for squishing.

Hey, I also ordered a solution for the upper galley sliding doors. I found some hardwood tracks on Amazon (as opposed to plastic units I've used before). Link below:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DSZ3IW/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Once the tracks arrive, I'll build up the sliding doors with 1/4" birch that I have in stock.

Until next time,

Gus