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PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 8:22 am 
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Guppy

Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2014 7:44 am
Posts: 5
I recently bought a 2003 Freedom 170. While this is the first boat for me and my family, we have been around boats a little bit in the past. I am no MacGuyver but consider myself fairly handy with DIY projects as I typically do my own maintenance for most things around the house and plan to read a lot and do the same with this boat.

After bringing our 170 home and going through a the mechanicals a little deeper, we took the boat out on a nearby lake for the day to give it a bit of a shakedown and take the edge off of our boat fever. Thanksfully, it seemed to run great and we found nothing of concern on the first trip out.

When we got it back home I noticed the windshield had separated from the hull about 1/8" at the walk-through area on the starboard side. I wanted to tighten that back down as I could see daylight between the base of the windshield and the fiberglass "dash" with what appeared to be a wood screw (based upon the thread pitch) passing through both the fiberglass and the windshield. My first thought was that there was either a machine screw from the windshield down through the fiberglass with a nut inside the boat or possibly a wood screw from the inside of the boat up into the windshield frame. Turns out it was neither.

After removing the bow cup holder and the bow seat back so I could get a good look at what was going on, I discovered there were no screws to be found underneath the windshield inside the dash. Instead, I found what I can only assume was FW that put an untreated piece of 1x2 or 1x3 wood up inside the dash and then used wood screws from the top side down through the windshield frame, through the hull, and into the untreated board. To get to the screw head, you have to pull the foam rubber weatherstripping out of the base of the window frame (not the stuff that holds the window glass in and not the "gasket" between the windshield and the fiberglass, you want the black ~1/4" wide "bead" of rubber just above the bottom edge of the window frame) so you can get to the screw heads. I removed the foam rubber and sure enough, there were a couple of wood screws in the bow area of the windshield frame that needed to be tightened down. A few turns of the screwdriver and the windshield was snug against the dash again. The foam rubber just compresses back into the windshield frame when you're done and re-covers the screw heads.

Not sure what would have caused the windshield to come loose as the threads seemed intact when I tightened the screws down, so I can only assume that years of trailering, bouncing on the water, and wood shrink from drying out allowed the screws to work out a bit. If it comes loose again I will look at replacing the wood screws with a machine screw and nylon locking nut on the inside of the dash.

I looked around the internet but didn't find much on this related to the Freedom/Horizon models so hopefully this helps someone. Sorry no pics.


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 10:21 am 
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Joined: Thu Sep 05, 2013 10:34 am
Posts: 350
Congrats on the purchase, and welcome to the forum!
Yeah - that's pretty much how every aluminum framed windshield I've ever seen is fastened. I've had to tighten them on various boats I've had in the past. Your theory is sound. Vibration is a killer. What I would do, however is to totally remove the windshields, clean all the gelcoat, and use 4200 sealer to bed the screws. I imagine they didn't even bed them from the factory if they were in a hurry that day.


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PostPosted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 1:09 pm 
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Guppy

Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2014 7:44 am
Posts: 5
Removing the windshield and cleaning the gelcoat sounds like a good idea. This boat has been kept outdoors for the past couple of years by the prior owner so the gelcoat is in need of a thorough scrub and polish anyway.

Just curious about your recommendation to bed the screws in 4200. Is the concern here that moisture will seep into the FG and cause delamination? Vibration-induced cracking of the gelcoat?


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PostPosted: Fri Aug 22, 2014 10:17 am 
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Mostly due to moisture getting in to the threads, and slightly due to the cracking. I've seen boats with that exact problem; the screws aren't sealed, water wicks in, fiberglass and coring material get saturated and rot from the inside. I guess it's much more of a problem if the boat is stored outside or moored without shelter. Plus, the 4200 will help keep the screw tight, and you won't have the issue you had.
The best way to do it would be to drill out the hole about twice as large as it should be, put tape behind the hole, and fill the hole with epoxy. Let it cure, drill a new hole for the screw, and then bed the screws. Problem is, that is a WHOLE bunch of work. The benefit over just bedding the threads with 4200 marine caulk without the epoxy "plug" is that it will eliminate the chance of cracking the gel coat at the hole. Even our '02 Vista has surface cracks around the windshield screws. One winter I'll take my own advice and fix it right.


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