I need to access the area behind the shower on my 1979 365 sloop. I've read previous posts about having to go in through the medicine cabinet to do this.
But how much of the cabinet does one need to remove? I can't even get the sliding doors off. My cabinet is assembled with soft bronze or brass screws that are refusing to come out due to corrosion. Before I start drilling out all the screws, can I just remove the right-hand panel? It looks to be under the other panels so I'm guessing not.
Sigh. Everything takes longer than expected.
Remove the cabinet sliding doors by pushing them up, perhaps bending them a little. Then remove the shelf, a couple of screws hold them to the cleats. Remove the cleats. Remove the screws holding the plywood panels and gently slip them out.
Now is the easy part....crawling into the opening to work on the shower fittings.
Good luck and maybe swab yourself with KY to help slip in;)
After all this, sand enough off the doors so they will slip out when you push them up. You will be back in there because Murphy will not let it be fixed the first time!
Thanks for the reply - I'm afraid to bend the sliding doors enough to get them out of their tracks - they really seem on the verge of breaking when I try. I'll figure it out eventually!
They went in, they will come out. Keep trying, fixing the shower problem is worth it. I thought the same thing about breaking them.
Not sure if this is what you're trying to work on, but I have access to the back of the shower faucet through an access panel at the foot of the pilot berth on my 1979 ketch. It is a tight fit if you have wide shoulders, but I (6', 235lbs) was able to get in there to change out the shower faucet. I didn't go through the medicine cabinet.
Just to follow up - I finally screwed up enough courage to bend the sliding cabinet doors enough to get them out. They are indeed a very tough material - lexan? - and didn't break. Then was able to get the shelf out, which allowed me to get the back panel out, which let me get the side panel out, which gave me access to the vented loop which is fastened to the wall just behind the right side of the medicine cabinet.
Everything takes ten times as long as you think!
I totally agree with you on "ten times as long as you think". Especially on the work back there. Changing the hoses on those loops is tough. I found that the barbs on the fitting were too big for the hose to go ove, even with quite a bit of pressurer. Needed heat and an expansion tool to get the new hose on. Several bad words were said.
Anyone have patterns for new pieces of the medicine cabinet? How thick is the plywood? Mine splintered upon removal. >:(
Fred