www.iFourWinns.com

Horizon owners(or any one for that matter) I need some help installing my new transom doors. Last year, I bought new transom doors for my H260 with the speaker cut outs. Fortunately Four Winns installed the hinge hardware for me. Unfortunately the holes don’t quite line up so the doors don’t fit right if I use the original holes.

What I need is some suggestions on how mark new holes for the hinges. If I leave the hinges attached to the new doors but not attached on the boat side I can get the doors to align up and fit right. But then I can’t access or even see the holes on the hinge plate to mark on the boat. I bet Four Winns uses some sort of a jig during the manufacturing process. Can any body think of a way to mark the holes? I am stumped I spent the better part of a day last year trying to think of a way but bagged the idea so we could go boating. I would like to get this done before the spring.

These are the best pictures I have of what I am dealing with.





As you can see when the doors are closed I can’t see the hinges to mark them. If I hold the doors in the open position I have no way of knowing if they will fit right when I close them.

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2008 Horizon 260 VP 8.1 Gi

That's a bugger. It'll be tricky, but...

1. Take the old door off.

2. Cover the area where the holes will be with blue masking tape.

3. Place the new door into it's closed position, using foam, wood scraps, or whatever along the edges to fine tune the position of the door so that it's flush with the rest of the deck, equal gap all around, etc.

4. Using a removable marker of some sort (or just continue the masking tape a couple of inches up onto the deck), mark the edges of the hinges on the deck (in other words, so that you can remove the door later and still know where both edges on both hinges meet the deck. But don't remove the door yet. This will give you the "X" dimension for the hinges.

5. Use a ruler graduated to at least 32nd's, get your eyes down as close as possible to the level of the deck, and use the ruler to measure how high above the deck the tops of the hinges are. This will give you the "Y" dimensions for the hinges. The tricky part here might be that the hinges could be at an angle to the deck (top of the hinge not parallel to the deck). If so, take a measurement at both edges of each hinge. I recommend using a true ruler, not a measuring tape, so that the end can be rested firmly on the flat part of the deck. The end of a tape measure might slip down into the crack and give you an inaccurate measurement.

6. Remove the hinges from the door. It would be a good idea to mark them so that the same hinges go back into their same locations on the doors (i.e, 1, 2, 3, and 4), in case the holes in the hinges vary slightly from hinge to hinge.

7. Now hold each hinge up against the deck, matching up the edge marks and the height(s) as measured in step 5.

8. Mark your holes. Now you're ready to drill. Drill through the tape; it'll help support the gel coat and keep it from cracking while you drill. Start the drill in reverse until you get most of the way through the gel coat. Then switch to forward and finish drilling through the fiberglass with moderate pressure. Finish by lightly relieving the gel around the holes using a countersink. This will prevent gel cracking later as the deck/door flexes, etc.

My only fear is that the old holes will overlap the new ones. In this case, you might want to seek the help of a good fiberglass repair guy before you do the drilling. That might be the easiest thing to do in the first place.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Mike, Good job with the explanation.

Thanks. Glad I don't have to do it.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Well Mike thanks you certainly did write that well. I had figured that a method like that is what I needed. I started to work it out last season but decided that I would rather go boating instead. (It made my head hurt thinking about it.) I am comfortable with the drilling into the gelcoat but, not so comfortable with my geometry and measuring skills though. (Just too many variables and poor outcome if not just right.) As written it certainly sounds easy but I know it will be a PITA. I was hoping someone might have an easier way.

Oh and I do think the hinges are not quite parallel to the deck.

As far as the fiberglass work I could see enough to know that I will have some overlap in the new and original holes. Originally I was going to patch the hinge attachment on the boat side and add some backing plates for added strength. Your post made me rethink this some. I think now I will get the holes on the doors fixed and use the original holes on the boat. This way I can still use the old doors if for some reason I don't want the speakers any more, and I can use the boat while the new doors have the fiberglass work done.

So nobody has any other ideas?

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2008 Horizon 260 VP 8.1 Gi

Your thinking to me is perfect. I would do just like you mentioned above. Great idea. Once you have the holes fixed on the new doors, just take your time and mark it out like Mike said. With the hinges attached to the boat and the new doors laid in place and spaced evenly you should be able to make a pencil mark on the new doors where the hinges line up and then remove the hinges from the boat, hold them in place on the new doors and make your marks for the screw holes and then drill. It looks to me like the top of the hinge is flush with the boat and top door surface (when closed) so this is how you would hold the hing against the door to make your screw hole marks.

I hope this makes a tiny bit of sense.

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2008 H210SS VP 5.7 Gi/SX
2011 Ford F150 FX4 EB

I would see if Al has any suggestions.

http://www.boat-project.com/

Yeah Al posts frequently on a another boating forum I visit. I plan on posting there too. But unless you are familiar with the door set up it is a little hard to explain.

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2008 Horizon 260 VP 8.1 Gi

How about a small person with a flashlight and pencil inside the compartment with the lid closed

I say that in jest, but I was a small kid and always got sent into small places to do hard stuff like that.

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Terry
Current: 07 Crownline 255 CCR cuddy - 350 Mag MPI/B3 "Casi Cielo"

Previous:97 245 Sundowner 5.7GI/SX

Tow vehicle: 1986 GMC 2500 Camper Special 454/TH400

A bit of an update. Firstly we may be planning a move soon so this was put on the back burner for a while. I had some quality time with the boat this past week and have determined that the panel that the doors are mounted is a separate piece that can be removed from the deck. And more importantly there is access for me to reach the mounting hardware. It will be a lot of work but they should come off pretty easy. This will allow me to fit the doors in place and I should have a good sight line to line up the holes on the door.

I'll update when I start the project but I thought this might help any one else thinking of this upgrade.

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2008 Horizon 260 VP 8.1 Gi