Boom Rivet (mainsheet pulley) Repair

PJASS

PJASS

New Member
Hi all, I upgraded my mainsheet system to the Harken blocks last year. In doing so I may have slightly oversized one hole on my boom, as I keep getting a loose rivet that pulls out about 1/4 inch on one of the s/s straps. I suppose that's an accident waiting to happen. Someone told me the fix for that is to drill it out and replace it with a bolt that would go through the boom completely.

Anyone out there been there/done that? What dia./length bolt to use?

Thx, PJ
 
you can use a bolt or slightly larger rivets, you'll likely need a "Big Daddy" rivet gun to install bigger rivets, I installed bigger rivets on several booms and it worked great
 
when the saddle & mainsheet block at the end of the boom was ripped off in strong winds, I could see that the boom had corroded around the rivets. The boom is over 30years old.
3/16th inch bolts went through the boom to secure the saddle back on.
I then learned the mainsheet block can only go on one way, because when you fit it upside down it acts like a ratchet; you can let the sail out but it jams when you pull it back in again!
I've also found the nyloc nuts sitting on top of the boom are obstructing the little block I have on my outhaul, which limits how tight I can pull it on. I'm looking at changing the hook+block arrangement to get around this.
 
I had the same problem with the block at the end of the boom where the holes had corroded and enlarged. My solution was to place stainless steel washers behind the holes inside the boom. I covered them in duralac jointing compound first to stop the corrosion getting any worse. Then just used normal 4.8mm monel rivets.
 
Don't forget to put some sort of anti-corrosive in between, since you should be using stainless steel rivets. Putting them next to the aluminium on the boom can cause corrosion pretty easily since they're dissimilar metals.
 
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