Micheal,

Welcome to the world of old Westsails!

You will find that there are almost as many opinons as there are Westsails.  For re-bedding deck hardware, I am old school and prefer polysulfide, but there are many new compounds on the market like 3M 4000 for example. 

You should expect to find that every deck fitting is in need of rebeding.  Make sure to check all the deck fills.  Your decks are cored and leaks in them can lead to rotting core issues, the bulwarks are solid fiberglass.

Your stanchions should have been installed with fender washers as backing pieces, the deck/bulwark layup is very thick and it is likely not necessary to make up backing plates if you have fender washers already inplace.

The cabin top Handrails are normally thru bolted with a bolt, washer and nut and will require removal of the outside bungs (to access the screw heads) and removal of the headliner to access the nuts.  Mark the handrails (port/starboard and fwd/aft) before you remove them.

Rebedding the standard bronze portlights is fairly easy as one needs only to remove the fasteners and gently slide a thin putty knife under the outside flange to remove it. There is no need to remove the entire portlight. Just remove all the old bedding from the underside of the outside flange and any remaining bedding on the cabinside. Apply a coating of new bedding around each screw hole and around the edges of the flange. Make sure to get a good bead all around the inside edge of the flange where it meets the portlight.  Slide the flange back on to the portlight. Reinstall the fasteners and tighten things back up.  I always put a small amount of bedding on the threads of each screw just under the screwhead to prevent any water from running down the screw threads.  Clean up the excess bedding and your done.  Mark the top of the portlight flanges before you remove them as the screw holes are not all spaced exactally the same.  Experience is the ability to realize you've made a mistake afterword...I have experience with this issue...

Have you looked at the condition of the gaskets on the portlights?  They may need to be replaced.  That is an easy job and Bud has the replacement material.

Rebedding the sampson post is a bit more involved, as removing the old bedding is challenging around the bowsprit.

Check the old posts on this forum, I think I recall someone was looking into having new hause pipes made, but they needed a minimum number to make it affordable.

My 2 cents,

Kevin  

Michael:  To Kevin's excellent reply -- I'll add that the caprails are an excellent source of water (leaking - added just for Norm:) ) into the boat.  Rain seems to find the smallest crack in the sealent and collects at the lowest point under the caprails and leaks into the boat.  The last straw on my boat was when the plates were found floating in the cabinets on the port side from the last rain storm!!

Another serious issue is that if the bedding breaks down around deck fasteners - the plywood core can become soft as the water stands around the hole.

Hope this helps.

Jay

 

Norm,

"Rebedding the standard bronze portlights is fairly easy as one needs only to remove the fasteners and gently slide a thin putty knife under the outside flange to remove it. "

I might add this tip.  When you remove the machine screw fasteners keep track of where each screw goes. 

I removed all my portlights entirely when I had my deck/cabin repainted. When I began replacing/rebedding them I discovered all the screws were of different lengths with up to a 3/8"+ difference between the shortest/longest screws (longest ones were aft getting shorter as you moved fwd).  Even each portlight can have slightly different screw lengths (by a thread or two).  This was due to the factory precisely trimming/detailing each screw after installation so the end would be flush with the nut.

I'd recommend recaulking them one at a time, taking a piece of cardboard and punching holes to match the hole pattern of the bezels and as you remove a screw place it in the appropriate hole in the cardboard.

Also (and this is VERY important) note the orientation of the bezel.  Each portlight has a 'serial number' with a numbered bezel that matches the portlight.  The number on the bezel will be stamped on the backside just to the left of the topmost screw hole.

Either mark the '12 o'clock' (top) position of the bezel with a bit of tape (easiest) or when reinstalling orient the bezel such that it's serial number is at the top.