95 330da 12x12 taylor made hatch question

[capt steve]

so the riser assembly was all stripped and wouldn't hold it open. I found a nice replacement riser assembly from taylormade and was all set to swap it out and be on my merry way. so I find out the thing is super riveted to the frame! I tried to drill out the rivets , no dice. long story short, now the while thing is lunched up. if I take the whole hatch out of the deck and grind everything off and get it ready for the new assembly, how the hell do I attach the new one? are there special rivets? I got a bunch of replacement screen dogs as well , but I guess taylor made decided to use some sort of rivet on those as well! anybody ever perform these types of repairs? at this point I would like to just replace the whole thing , but I cant find any 12 x 12 whole hatches! if anybody knows a source please share

 

[Korkie]

Will one of these work?
https://www.starmarinedepot.com/lew...MIw7K2v6K41QIVkyWBCh1UIQLFEAQYAiABEgL3S_D_BwE

 

[capt steve]

i actually saw that one on my extended search. I think that may be a solution if I cant repair my current. just curious if anybody has had success with these

 

[capt steve]

how much of a pain is it to break the seal around the existing hatch ? plus cleaning up the old sealant. any suggestions? would I use 4200 for the new one?
thanks

 

[Winch1995]

'95 270 with prolly same hatches....the threaded knobs stripped out of the female part that tightens up on the rod.

I got a cheap tap and die set and drilled that hole out and tapped it for 5/16 thread. I am not a machinist either. It wasn't hard. Lowes sells the 5/16 knobs.

I no longer ride around with my hatches up. That is what caused the problem in the first place, plus it's some kind of pot metal.

Try Hazard Fraught for the tap and die.

 

[capt steve]

i should have tried that before I destroyed the present riser arm. the new one looked so nice and new I was set on replacing the whole thing

 

[Winch1995]

You may want to regroup. Replacing the hatch looks like a major job.

 

[capt steve]

tell me about it. im thinking I may shave down the remnants of the old riser and use some mega 2 part epoxy to attach the new to the inside of the frame. its retarded the way they use the rivets for everything. if it were screws I wouldn't be having this convo.

 

[Little Ducky]

I have the same problem with the hatch on my 1998 290 Sundancer.

Might look up the tap set and give that a try when I get around to fix it.