Seized bronze bolt.

W

winever

Member
The bolt in my gooseneck is seized. I've been tryinh penetrating spray, not working. Got a solution? Thanks, Mike 76264
 
The usual first fix is to heat the bolt. Make sure you have removed all the pentetrating oil! (lots of water) and then heat the bolt with a small propane torch at low flame - this is an outside job - don't burn the sail if the sail is still on the spars. Try to unscrew. clamp the tip of your screwdriver in the jaws of a pair of Visegrip locking pliars to get extra leverage and torque. If no luck, heat again and then douse with cold water to see if you can break the seal with heat and cold. If still no luck, drill out the bolt and then drill both sides of the fitting with a 1/4" drill bit and replace the bronze bolt with a 1/4" stainless steel hex bolt and nylon lock nut. The s.s. bolt will not seize and you can adjust it with wrenches of the proper size. You could also use a quick adjust cam bolt in place of the s.s. bolt if you think you will be changing the position of the gooseneck frequently. Racers all use such a fitting as they adjust the gooseneck position to suite wind conditions (forward in light air and back in heavier air.)

I am guessing this boat has been used in salt water. Salt water is tough on brass and bronze and it is common for the bolt to seize if not moved for years at a time.

Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY
 
Alan, thanks for the info, I'll try that. I had the penetrating oil filling the well at the bolt end, twice, and still cannot move it. Can't quite picture clamping the screw driver in place, picture? One other question, if I heat the bolt won't that swell it? Should I heat the fitting the bolt screws into instead? Yes, I'll remove the sail first, don't want to mess that up. And I do plan to replace with an adjustable fitting. I looked online and see that Intensity Sails has one for $9.95, yet all the others I see, APS, Sorrensen, Layline, etc are $20+. ???? Had any experience with the Intensity one?
 
I used heat to remove my threaded screw and it worked well and I apllied the heat where the inturnal threds are. I replaced the screw with a quick release cam from a bike seat post. Check your local bike shop.
Minas man
 
I bought the Intensity Sails adjustable gooseneck quick adjust - it works great, and was priced right (for me!).

cheers,
tag
 
Tag, yeah, I saw that Intensity Sails adjuster, glad to know it works well. I finally just drilled out the bolt so the adjuster will be ordered next. If anyone is in the same fix I might mention some things. When I drilled it out I added a drop of oil now and again, it helped the bit get a bite. Also inside of the bronze fitting had a buildup of deposits from galvanic corrosion, very hard stuff. I dabbed it with CLR lime remover. It worked to remove the deposit, think soaking in it would be easier.

Thanks all for the help, Win ever.
 
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