Ask A Pro
Category: Power Boats
Asked By:
H. E. Greenbacker
Date:
12/02/2010
Boat:
Helen B. Hale
I have a 1970 Chris Craft that has sliding doors to the cockpit. The rollers on the bottom of one door are worn out. How door the doors come apart so they can be replaced? I have not been able to take the door off the track.
Answer:
"
Hello Mr. Greenbacker,
Well this was a tough one and I had to do a bit of work including talking with a friend who is a shipwright. It's hard because we can't "see" the problem, but here is what I learned. The track for your door works with rollers, to remove the door you need to get to those rollers first and remove them. This will then allow the door to be lifted out. My shipwright friend says all rollers work with an adjuster to keep a snug fit, so you should first try adjusting the roller height, this might save you a lot of work.
If the adjuster trick doesn't work, then the problem is going to be gaining access to the rollers. Chris Craft usually hide the mechanism behind some sort of skirting/vanity board. The skirting, which is probably glued in place, needs to be removed to gain access. Sadly, the only solution is going to be to somehow carefully pry the skirting off. I suspect you are not going to be able to avoid getting out the sand paper and varnish brush when the job is complete. Personally, I would recommend replacing the board with tapped screws to provide a more user friendly means of removing it in the future.
Good luck,
Captain Ian Fagg
"
"
Hello Mr. Greenbacker,
Well this was a tough one and I had to do a bit of work including talking with a friend who is a shipwright. It's hard because we can't "see" the problem, but here is what I learned. The track for your door works with rollers, to remove the door you need to get to those rollers first and remove them. This will then allow the door to be lifted out. My shipwright friend says all rollers work with an adjuster to keep a snug fit, so you should first try adjusting the roller height, this might save you a lot of work.
If the adjuster trick doesn't work, then the problem is going to be gaining access to the rollers. Chris Craft usually hide the mechanism behind some sort of skirting/vanity board. The skirting, which is probably glued in place, needs to be removed to gain access. Sadly, the only solution is going to be to somehow carefully pry the skirting off. I suspect you are not going to be able to avoid getting out the sand paper and varnish brush when the job is complete. Personally, I would recommend replacing the board with tapped screws to provide a more user friendly means of removing it in the future.
Good luck,
Captain Ian Fagg
"Comments:
Larry F. Browne | Boat: Luckiest Dreamer | 03/03/2010
I know I don't fit into the Pro category but do enjoy following it and have a bit of experience maintaining several boats over the years. I had the same problem and found the track that the rollers rest on were attached to the sill with screws. Removing them was easy and the ones that were covered by the door were easily uncovered by either closing the door or opening it. Once removed the door and the track were easily removed. The rollers were in a pocket in the bottom of the door and were full of rust. since my boat was old (1961) the rollers were no longer a stocked item. I found rollers that were designed for patio doors in my local hardware store and were the same size. I was able to rework them to fit. If that is not possible a machine shop may be able to copy the old ones.
Good luck
Larry B
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