Deck cleat screws

S

soarsey

New Member
I recently managed to pull one of the screws holding the cunningham and outhaul cleat deck plate out of the deck. The thread of the screw hole has been damaged as I can no longer tighten the screw back down again.

Does anyone know the best way to repair this problem? If I drilled out the hole and replaced the screw with a bolt this would be stronger but would it then be class legal?
 
soarsey said:
I recently managed to pull one of the screws holding the cunningham and outhaul cleat deck plate out of the deck. The thread of the screw hole has been damaged as I can no longer tighten the screw back down again.
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My suggestion is to fill the stripped hole with thickened epoxy and re-drill.

If you can get to the underside of the deck, I'd put a piece of tape over the hole, fill it entirely with unthickened epoxy using syringe and let it sit for a few minutes to allow the wood to absorb as much epoxy as possible (you may even need to refill the hole a couple of times). Next, suck as much of the excess unthickened epoxy out of the hole and inject (from the bottom up) epoxy thickened with some kind of structural filler (my favorite, WEST 404 High-Density Filler). You may see some unthickened epoxy come out first, keep injecting until it's been displaced. Let the epoxy cure and redrill the pilot -hole (sized for hard wood) and drive the screws.

If you can't get to the underside, I'd do much the same thing. Instead of filling the hole with unthickened epoxy, I would try and work it into the hole with a Q-tip or something. Then, work some "peanut butter" consistancy thickened epoxy (colloidal silica thickens any resin/filler mixture very effectively) into the hole to fill it completely.

If the hole isn't completly stripped (i.e. you can still tighten the screw a bit before it starts to spin), there is a "one-step" fix. Get epoxy into the hole enough to saturate the surrounding wood, then drive the screw into the wet epoxy and let it cure (with the hardware in place). Coating the threads with epoxy is also a good idea.

BTW, I believe the backing-plate is illegal.

Good luck.

Cheers,

Geoff S.
DN US-5156/Laser 145234/Renegade 510
 
just re-tap the hole...any local hardware store that knows what there talking about will have the parts and be able to tell you how to re-tap the hole, though i have never tried it in fiberglass it works well in everything else.
 
I don't have access into the hull to through-bolt so I'm trying a homemade tap. Drill out the hole to 1/4" to remove any old loose or rotted wood. Then add epoxy to the hole and insert a homemade teak dowel flush to the deck. Let the epoxy cure. Drill the new hole, caulk and set.

I'll let you know what happens the next big blow.
 
[email protected] said:
I don't have access into the hull to through-bolt so I'm trying a homemade tap. Drill out the hole to 1/4" to remove any old loose or rotted wood. Then add epoxy to the hole and insert a homemade teak dowel flush to the deck. Let the epoxy cure. Drill the new hole, caulk and set.

I'll let you know what happens the next big blow.
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Make sure the old wood is absolutely dry before you do the job. Otherwise the epoxy will not work as expected.

My 0.02$
 
[email protected] said:
I don't have access into the hull to through-bolt so I'm trying a homemade tap. Drill out the hole to 1/4" to remove any old loose or rotted wood. Then add epoxy to the hole and insert a homemade teak dowel flush to the deck. Let the epoxy cure. Drill the new hole, caulk and set.

I'll let you know what happens the next big blow.
Click to expand...

Update. This is still holding but I haven't been in a knockdown yet. I did find this product however and I think it is probably a good solution.

http://www.rockler.com/findit.cfm?page=5551
 
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