Dive Door in c.1980 25 Guardian or Frontier

Repair or modification of Boston Whaler boats, their engines, trailers, and gear
delaneyg242
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Joined: Wed Sep 15, 2021 7:57 am

Dive Door in c.1980 25 Guardian or Frontier

Postby delaneyg242 » Wed Sep 15, 2021 8:00 am

I may undertake a restoration of a c.1980 25 Guardian or Frontier boat.

The hull which I may buy does not have a dive door. I would plan to cut [a dive door into this hull].

I do not know much about the process [of modifying a Unibond hull to have a dive door].

Give me links to articles or threads or posts of any kind that could aid me in the process [of cutting a dive door into a Boston Whaler Unibond hull].

Also, if readers have any [information], I would appreciate hearing it.
Thanks

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Phil T
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Re: Dive Door in 1980s Guardian Frontier

Postby Phil T » Wed Sep 15, 2021 8:14 am

Given the structural foam construction of all Boston Whalers, modifying a hull to include a dive door is not feasible, practical or suggested.

You can't just cut the gunwale out of the side of the boat.

Extensive structural modifications are required to the inner and outer fiberglass layers. Only a professional fabricator with a well rounded understanding of Boston Whaler construction should even attempt this modification.

Failure to adequately modify the hull and gunwale will result in a hull failure.

The dive door(s) were a factory option for this reason.
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jimh
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Re: Dive Door in 1980s Guardian Frontier

Postby jimh » Wed Sep 15, 2021 8:30 am

delaneyg242 wrote:Give me links to articles or threads or posts of any kind that could aid me in the process [of cutting a dive door into a Boston Whaler Unibond hull].


Try this link to search results for articles that have appeared on CONTINUOUSWAVE.COM that mention adding a dive door.

You can easily perform this search yourself and use other arguments.

As PhilT has mentioned, due to the Unibond hull construction used in molding Boston Whaler boats, a significant change in the hull like cutting out a large portion of the hullsides, cannot be made easily or capriciously. Unless properly done, the hull would likely develop major structural cracks or failure.