Small refit Merry Fisher 805

[jakew009]

I think the windows are finished..

All that is left is painting the strip around the curved bit of acrylic to protect the sealant from UV, and then sticking them back into the boat.

Below is a bit of a pictorial description of how to glue them back together for anyone else who has the misfortune of doing this job in the future.

Note the bits of green tape that are used to help you align the frame. It's much easier to dry fit it all first as it's a nightmare when it's all covered in sikaflex.



You need to use the Sikaflex primer on the edges of the acrylic pieces, and also paint it inside the frame pieces. You need to be pretty accurate when you do it.







You need to completely fill the lower groove that the acrylic sits in, and then put a bit more in each side. This is fractionally too much.





The glue squeezes out when you put the acrylic in. It's difficult to get enough to know you are fully filling the gap, but not too much that it goes everywhere. Get a battery powered silicon gun unless you enjoy pain.



You have to first fit the rear vertical piece, and then slide the rear acrylic piece in. It looks like it would be easier to attach the acrylic to the upright piece first, but it's not possible (I tried, and had to clean all the sikaflex off and start again). You need a block of wood and a hammer to tap the vertical piece onto the acrylic whilst someone pushes from the other end.



Do not do it like this! It's not possible to slide this piece into the frame like this.



You know it's far enough in when this little hook piece is almost touching the end of the frame.



Showing it dry fitted up





Finished



Once you have glued the frames in, you need to put another little bead of sikaflex in if you haven't fully filled the frame, and then go along with a square blade to leave a neat edge. Once the Sikaflex dries, you can then go along with you finger and rub off any sikaflex that's left on the window. It comes off pretty easily with a little rubbing. If you have any big lumps you can cut them off with a scalpel.









Bit of a difference between old (on left) and new (in triangle shape piece).

 

[Bouba]

I think the windows are finished..

All that is left is painting the strip around the curved bit of acrylic to protect the sealant from UV, and then sticking them back into the boat.

Below is a bit of a pictorial description of how to glue them back together for anyone else who has the misfortune of doing this job in the future.

Note the bits of green tape that are used to help you align the frame. It's much easier to dry fit it all first as it's a nightmare when it's all covered in sikaflex.



You need to use the Sikaflex primer on the edges of the acrylic pieces, and also paint it inside the frame pieces. You need to be pretty accurate when you do it.







You need to completely fill the lower groove that the acrylic sits in, and then put a bit more in each side. This is fractionally too much.





The glue squeezes out when you put the acrylic in. It's difficult to get enough to know you are fully filling the gap, but not too much that it goes everywhere. Get a battery powered silicon gun unless you enjoy pain.



You have to first fit the rear vertical piece, and then slide the rear acrylic piece in. It looks like it would be easier to attach the acrylic to the upright piece first, but it's not possible (I tried, and had to clean all the sikaflex off and start again). You need a block of wood and a hammer to tap the vertical piece onto the acrylic whilst someone pushes from the other end.



Do not do it like this! It's not possible to slide this piece into the frame like this.



You know it's far enough in when this little hook piece is almost touching the end of the frame.



Showing it dry fitted up





Finished



Once you have glued the frames in, you need to put another little bead of sikaflex in if you haven't fully filled the frame, and then go along with a square blade to leave a neat edge. Once the Sikaflex dries, you can then go along with you finger and rub off any sikaflex that's left on the window. It comes off pretty easily with a little rubbing. If you have any big lumps you can cut them off with a scalpel.









Bit of a difference between old (on left) and new (in triangle shape piece).

You have an incredible set up there.....like a window manufacturer

 

[jakew009]

You have an incredible set up there.....like a window manufacturer

Heh it's funny the main reason why the boat has been on the backburner all summer was that back in June this building came available and we decided to up sticks and move into it as we were like sardines before.



If it wasn't for that little hiccup the boat may have been slightly closer to being finished

The only benefit has been the old building has been a handy boat workshop.

 

[njrs_123]

Yet more endlessness

Anyone who is thinking about a boat project... don't do it

Decided to get the new bumper strip mounted, what a tedious job. 80 odd screws that all had to be drilled out, countersunk, sikaflexed and screwed in.






Bending the PVC strip around the tight bends at the bow was a bit of a pain in the ass




On the home straight


Temporarily put a bit of the strip on to check it fits ok. I 3D printed the end caps as I wasn't about to pay £200 for a set of 6 Will print some white ones now I have the size worked out.



Also removed the last of the 20 year old vinyl decals... so the boat is now completely free of that awful green colour I think it will look a lot more modern with the white bumper strip and a black Merry Fisher decal.

The next big job is replacing the damn side windows and then I am on the home straight. But I think replacing the windows is going to be a pig of a job. Anyone ever done an 805 side window before? Any tips?

Yet more endlessness

Anyone who is thinking about a boat project... don't do it

Decided to get the new bumper strip mounted, what a tedious job. 80 odd screws that all had to be drilled out, countersunk, sikaflexed and screwed in.






Bending the PVC strip around the tight bends at the bow was a bit of a pain in the ass




On the home straight


Temporarily put a bit of the strip on to check it fits ok. I 3D printed the end caps as I wasn't about to pay £200 for a set of 6 Will print some white ones now I have the size worked out.



Also removed the last of the 20 year old vinyl decals... so the boat is now completely free of that awful green colour I think it will look a lot more modern with the white bumper strip and a black Merry Fisher decal.

The next big job is replacing the damn side windows and then I am on the home straight. But I think replacing the windows is going to be a pig of a job. Anyone ever done an 805 side window before? Any tips?

Fantastic thread and your images and text have been invaluable in undertaking work on my own project 805. Indeed, if you have any other images, I’d be very keen to see more of your work. Is there any extra after page 5? For now, can I just ask about the bumper strip change. I’ve been looking at options and ordered a sample of the same ‘Click’ system you fitted. As such, I wanted to ask if you fitted the plastic track and rubber strip cold or heated the plastic strip to enable bending around the curves and soaked the rubber in warm water to make it easier to apply? I’ve seen both cold and warming processes being used on other systems and wanted to seek your advice. Kind regards

 

[jakew009]

Fantastic thread and your images and text have been invaluable in undertaking work on my own project 805. Indeed, if you have any other images, I’d be very keen to see more of your work. Is there any extra after page 5? For now, can I just ask about the bumper strip change. I’ve been looking at options and ordered a sample of the same ‘Click’ system you fitted. As such, I wanted to ask if you fitted the plastic track and rubber strip cold or heated the plastic strip to enable bending around the curves and soaked the rubber in warm water to make it easier to apply? I’ve seen both cold and warming processes being used on other systems and wanted to seek your advice. Kind regards

Hey

I've been really busy with work so not had much time to update.

I fitted the plastic track cold but I did do it in the middle of summer so it was naturally warm. It might be a different story trying to do it at the moment!

When I was fitting it I did try heating it up with a heatgun but I found there was very little threshold between 'rigid' and 'completely floppy'. It also seemed to deform more when heated and bent (ie. the two sides seemed to splay out more).

When I first started fitting it I thought there was no chance that it was going to successfully go around the bow with it's fairly tight curve but the reality is it was easy. Just use plenty of screws.

I haven't actually put the rubber itself on yet as I was going to leave that to the end to keep it clean. I think it would definitely benefit from soaking in a bucket of boiling water before fitting.

 

[njrs_123]

Yet more endlessness

Anyone who is thinking about a boat project... don't do it

Decided to get the new bumper strip mounted, what a tedious job. 80 odd screws that all had to be drilled out, countersunk, sikaflexed and screwed in.






Bending the PVC strip around the tight bends at the bow was a bit of a pain in the ass




On the home straight


Temporarily put a bit of the strip on to check it fits ok. I 3D printed the end caps as I wasn't about to pay £200 for a set of 6 Will print some white ones now I have the size worked out.



Also removed the last of the 20 year old vinyl decals... so the boat is now completely free of that awful green colour I think it will look a lot more modern with the white bumper strip and a black Merry Fisher decal.

The next big job is replacing the damn side windows and then I am on the home straight. But I think replacing the windows is going to be a pig of a job. Anyone ever done an 805 side window before? Any tips?

Evening, sorry to trouble you once again and thanks for your previous message. Following your lead, I have today ordered the same 38mm Click fender system, and in doing so, agree that the associated stainless end caps are very expensive. Therefore, in noting you 3D printed your end caps, I was wondering whether it would be possible to purchase 4 in number off you or could I purchase the file to 3D print myself? I have a colleague who has access to a 3D printer. Your help would be greatly appreciated. Kind regards.

 

[jakew009]

Evening, sorry to trouble you once again and thanks for your previous message. Following your lead, I have today ordered the same 38mm Click fender system, and in doing so, agree that the associated stainless end caps are very expensive. Therefore, in noting you 3D printed your end caps, I was wondering whether it would be possible to purchase 4 in number off you or could I purchase the file to 3D print myself? I have a colleague who has access to a 3D printer. Your help would be greatly appreciated. Kind regards.

Fusion

You should be able to download it from there.

I can print you one but it needs a little more tuning. At the moment it is a bit small. It's on my list of things to do.

 

[jakew009]

Almost a year to the day I started this thread and the windows are finally back in

Not sure anyone really cares any more but I will keep documenting it as it gives me motivation to keep going

This winter has been hopeless, we moved to a new factory and the boat was still at the old one. Combine that with being generally too busy with work and I've not done much since November.



Managed to buy some of this special brush strip from China to finish the windows. Took months to arrive.


The brush strip just slides in, the old one was absolutely rigid but the new one is very flexible and easily bends around to feed it in.



Window prepped up and sikaflex being applied. I sourced a new rubber extrusion that is what you can see from inside the boat.



We put slightly more sikaflex onthe second side and I think it was a better job. The first side is fine but I think it would have been better with more sikaflex, but once it was in, it wasn't coming out again easily.


The tolerances on the window hole are very agricultural and they are not really the same on either side.


We were able to prop it with bits of wood from the railing and straps to suckers internally.


The front corner will be covered by a black trim piece that just gets stuck on. The middle join will be vinyl wrapped black (can't easily remove it to spray it).


So nice to be able to actually see out.


The windows went back in almost exactly the same as they were before.




I think it is going to look so much more modern with all the silver and green removed and just being black instead.

Now I just need to crack on with the other half a million jobs!

 

[Greg2]

Good job!

 

[Pleinmont]

Looking good!
You should be on the NY Honours list once you've finished...
What an epic job.

 

[jamie langstone]

I am still very interested and i will be tackling the windows next year in my 805 . keep up the good work

 

[Mileholm]

Yes - and please keep sharing.

 

[jakew009]

Worked for nearly 3 days and hardly anything to show for it

Firstly had to organise the big pile of stuff and sort out the crap that I ripped out. Been keeping some of it thinking it may be of use to someone else but in reality it all needs to go in the skip (who’s gonna buy an old cable steering unit?)

Then did some sanding and fibreglassing, the number of dents / holes / scratches that need fixing is gradually reducing now at least.

Then decided to wet sand the hull to get the chalky crap off and back to decent gel coat. I polished it last year but it didn’t last very long before going chalky, hopefully this will help.

Before I could polish it I spent 6 hours scraping the glue from the awful green vinyl strip I peeled off just above the waterline. I had to soak it in industry cleaner and then scrap it off with a Stanley blade a little bit at a time.

I think 20 years of sea water had turned the glue into something 3M would be interested in.

Then polished the hull to take out all the sanding scratches. Had to mask off the anti foul first so I could Polish where the glue I had just removed had been.

Then decided to fit the new fender strip (according to this thread I fitted the track in May 2024). That was a pain, had to use copious amounts of fairy liquid and a big rubber mallet.

I think it looks a lot better with all the green gone and the new fender strip. Need to think about what vinyl I put back on the hull.

Will do new Roca pantograph windscreen wipers tomorrow afternoon hopefully.

 

[jakew009]

The other good news is the windows haven’t called out and don’t leak.

I also found the latches so they now lock again.

The bad news is I seem to have stored the corner covers for the windows in a very very safe place.

But I was thinking about just remaking them anyway out of some sheet metal so may be forced to do that. They are only cosmetic and got a bit damaged when we removed them.

 

[Bouba]

Looking really good . It’s important to replace the rubber strip because it hides the join between hull and topside

 

[jakew009]

Looking really good . It’s important to replace the rubber strip because it hides the join between hull and topside

The original strip was an aluminium thing with an awful green rubber extrusion inside it.

The aluminium was all battered by the highly skilled previous owners and the green was terrible even back in 2004.

When I took it all apart I inspected it white carefully and it all seemed still well sealed so I left the actual join well alone. I’ll put a bead of sealant along the bumper strip to stop crap forming behind it and dripping down.

 

[jakew009]

Bit behind with posting updates

I wanted to replace the wipers with pantograph wipers. The original wipers were dreadful things and given what a wet boat the 805 is I wanted something better.

The original wipers are Doga. Apart from being cheap nasty noisy agricultural things they are also almost impossible to source.

The originals looked like they could have been fitted with pantograph arms as there was a second stub but I had no luck trying to find anything suitable and they were still noisy.

The originals and their pathetic wipe pattern and awful park position (and parking wasn’t automatic - but that turned out to be because Jenneau didn't bother to wire it up properly).


When driving you had to look right at them (taken on original sea trial):



Hole for wiper is in front cabin and it’s right. The old wipers were basically held in with silicon which is why they were so noisy as they knocked around the hole.



The angle of the grp on the top deck didn’t match the angle of the grp in the hole. This meant when you put the wiper through the pantograph plate didn’t sit properly. The old wipers fixed this by using a tube of silicon but that was rubbish. So I made some wedges.





Test fit. It’s really tight getting them in but you can still open them to adjust.


Wedges were glued in.


Pantograph plate now fits nicely.




The mounting hole on the Roca W4 wasn’t in a good position and I couldn’t get to it when installed without modifying the headliner in the cabin. So I glued a new aluminium plate on:




All mounted and in its park position:



And a much better view from inside



Not sure if this video will work (probably need to click on it)

I'm also fitting one of these things: Marinco 76080 to give intermittent wipe and auto wash (as well as synchronisation of the wipers).

 

[jakew009]

Also finished mounting the autopilot pump and plumbing it in

These hydraulic fittings are nice because you can twist the pipe before tightening it down. I had the hoses made up by a Hydraulic Megastore with stainless fittings.



Mounted some cable tie bases to hold the pipe to



Mounted a board to put the pump on



I've tried to tuck everything away to maximise space in the lazarette.






Pipes installed



It's getting quite busy back here with the heater as well.



All buttoned up, another job done.

 

[jakew009]

Finished installing the heater pipe

Started by mounting some cable tie bases again, had to glue these as the hull is pretty thin.




Then got some socks to try and retain as much heat as possible without losing it all in the lazarette. This was the downside of mounting the heater right at the back of the boat and having a long duct run.






Got it all tied up. I did think about replacing the cable ties with metal ones but I think it will be fine...




Nearly ready for the diesel tank to go back in.



Got the combustion air inlet mounted as well.

 

[Bouba]

Bit behind with posting updates

I wanted to replace the wipers with pantograph wipers. The original wipers were dreadful things and given what a wet boat the 805 is I wanted something better.

The original wipers are Doga. Apart from being cheap nasty noisy agricultural things they are also almost impossible to source.

The originals looked like they could have been fitted with pantograph arms as there was a second stub but I had no luck trying to find anything suitable and they were still noisy.

The originals and their pathetic wipe pattern and awful park position (and parking wasn’t automatic - but that turned out to be because Jenneau didn't bother to wire it up properly).


When driving you had to look right at them (taken on original sea trial):



Hole for wiper is in front cabin and it’s right. The old wipers were basically held in with silicon which is why they were so noisy as they knocked around the hole.



The angle of the grp on the top deck didn’t match the angle of the grp in the hole. This meant when you put the wiper through the pantograph plate didn’t sit properly. The old wipers fixed this by using a tube of silicon but that was rubbish. So I made some wedges.





Test fit. It’s really tight getting them in but you can still open them to adjust.


Wedges were glued in.


Pantograph plate now fits nicely.




The mounting hole on the Roca W4 wasn’t in a good position and I couldn’t get to it when installed without modifying the headliner in the cabin. So I glued a new aluminium plate on:




All mounted and in its park position:



And a much better view from inside



Not sure if this video will work (probably need to click on it)



I'm also fitting one of these things: Amazon.co.uk to give intermittent wipe and auto wash (as well as synchronisation of the wipers).

Well done !
Sometimes you wonder if French boat builders apprenticed at British Leyland
A video of windshield wipers is a pretty interesting thing....you don’t know if it’s on a loop or it’s a very long video