www.iFourWinns.com

I just ordered new deck hatches for our 2002 348 Vista and we are having some issues installing them. The new hatches appear to be slightly larger than the old ones. I think this may be due to a new manufacture of the hatches, we couldn't order the exact same hatch when we called Four Winns. Anyone had a similar issue? What did you do to resolve?
Thanks

I'm faced with the same issue. Someone recommended that you tape a plastic garbage bag on the inside of the cabin ceiling to collect dust and use a drum sander 2-3" from the outside and carefully sand away the excess. You would need to mark your new dimensions on the top deck before sanding.

Regardless of your methods, let me know how the project turns out (fit and function) - pictures would be great. Thanks!

_________________
2002 Vista 298 VP 5.0Gxi

It ended up not being too bad. My father in law did the work and had to cut an additional 1/4 inch of fiberglass around the diameter of the hatch. After that he was able to reseal the fiberglass and then place the hatch in and seal that to the deck. On the inside he cut back the ceiling and restapled it to the top and then placed in the decorative ring. The other note was that the screw holes did not line up so he ended up filling in the old ones and drilled new holes for the new hatches. He did the project over 2 days and in total spent about 5-6 hours on the project. I will get some pictures and post them up.

_________________
Heath - 348 Vista
Erie, PA

I finally have pictures of the hatch install. If anyone is interested let me know how I can add the images to the posting. For some reason, I was unable to attach them.

_________________
Heath - 348 Vista
Erie, PA

Please provide the install pictures. Thanks!

_________________
2002 Vista 298 VP 5.0Gxi