cleaning & polishing ports

[mrtoad]

is there a secret to cleaning & polishing the ports / inside

thanks

mr toad

[wes]

You are not going to like this answer . I removed my 22 year old ports, completely disassembled them, used a bench grinder with bronze wire wheel to take off 22 years of tarnish, followed with cotton polishing disk and polishing compound also on the bench grinder. All the laminated safety glass had de-laminated over the years and was cloudy, so I had my local glass shop make me some new ones which I then re-bedded in clear silicone when I re-assembled the ports, then re-bedded the ports into the fiberglass hull using 3M 4200. Needless to say it was a cold winter with no sailing opportunities and I was bored. Hope to never do this again, or at least not for another 22 years.

Wes

[mrtoad]

wes - thank you so much

but

maybe there is a second opinion

[Shawn]

"maybe there is a second opinion "

Go with the salty weather look!

Shawn

[noonmark]

What Wes calls tarnish I call patina...

[gfspencer]

What Wes calls tarnish I call patina...

+1  My boat is a '94.  I've never done anything to the ports.  I might clean them with MAAS one of these days.  If you have some old Brasso try that.  (The new formula does not get good reviews.)

[wes]

My excuse is that I really needed to replace those clouded pieces of glass, and I had some water stains on my interior teak around several portlights so they needed re-bedding. I hate to re-bed anything without giving it a thorough cleaning and rebuilding. That's just the kind of (OCD) guy I am .

Wes

[Bob23]

Yes, Mr. Toad: There is a second opinion:
    Listen to Wes and Shawn. I did the same thing as Wes to the 6 portlights on my 1985 23/2. Sorta. I did not remove the frames from the boat, just the opening sashes from the frames. I sail in salt water so the "patina" is a given. Everything gets tarnished. Personally, I like the dull patina as opposed to the shiny "like new" look.
    Bob23

[skip1930]

Well mrtoad asks " is there a secret to cleaning & polishing the ports / inside "?

Yep. Elbow grease, a soft cloth and lots of high quality metal polish. I use W J Hagerty & Sons 26004 Hagerty 100 All Metal Polish and purchase it from jewelery stores.

Additionally it lays down a protective barrier, lasting for months.

skip.

[ciswindell]

Ketchup...it worked better than several products I bought specifically for cleaning them and a wire brush on a drill combined.  Leave it on for 15 minutes and then wipe and rinse.  The price is right.

[Bob23]

Wow! Just Ketchup? I'll try it this afternoon. Thanks!
Bob23

[skip1930]

Ketchup is acidic and would attack the tarnish. Sounds plausible.
Clean and shiny.

skip.