Floor storage hinge screws pulling out of fiberglass...

[DoubleThrust]

I repaired the easy one or two I could barely get a nut on the back of years ago, but the rest are now becoming a full blown issue. I don't know enough about fiberglass hardware to know what the best solution is...

How do I get some kind of backer or nut on the back of fiberglass when you can't reach the back side? What comes to mind is one of these type of devices, but I'm not sure if anyone has used this type of thing successfully on the floor storage. Anyone with the older generation 21' hull should have the same floor arrangement. ------------------------------------------------------

Of course I could always just drill the hinges and put bigger fiberglass style screws in, but a properly backed and washered machine screw would make me much happier because it would be really done right...

Thoughts anyone?

 

[tdonoughue]

Well, what you have there is called a butterfly anchor. It will require you to drill quite a large hole to get it installed, and you will probably need a big washer on there to keep the bolt from going with it. And no prayer of it being watertight or even resistant. Very hard to caulk that. And if you want to pull them someday, you need to buy new ones and the butterfly part will fall off in your bilge and never be seen again. Oh, and you will need to find them in stainless...

I have had similar issues on the deck with the little screws for the carpet. I use a lollipop stick. Poke it in the hole, cut it flush with the surface and use your same screw. Cheap and effective for all stripped screws.

 

[Gym]

I would fill the existing holes with epoxy, drill a pilot hole and reuse the same screw.

 

[DoubleThrust]

Ok so negative on the butterfly anchor or something similar...

Epoxy & redrill is an interesting idea....

 

[scokill]

This might be a good read.

https://jetboaters.net/threads/screws-pulled-out-of-rear-hatch-hinge-suggestions.2023/#post-31554

 

[tdonoughue]

It is what we might call the "right" way. But for some reason whenever I strip a screw the epoxy is 1+ hours from me and I have no patience even to wait for it to set, no less to go get it.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Epoxy is the way to go. Anything else will be temporary and possible allow more water in to your plywood core and cause more rot.

 

[DoubleThrust]

Yeah I'm thinking two trips to boat storage is what it would take for me to do the epoxy job right for sure. One to fill the holes, the second to drill them. I suppose I could drill them on the water, but I'd have to leave the party crew at home for a Saturday I suppose, it's hard enough doing everything myself (new boat crew this year LOL) without having to do on water repairs. (This crew is still in the "man you're edgy about your boat" mode, with no clue how much work it is to keep it clean and operational and safe... for their enjoyment that they get to walk down the dock and jump into LOL - but I digress).

So epoxy & drill is the "right" way... I really want a nut on the back of the damn things, the hinge setup clearly puts too much torque on the hinge face and that's what they're all pulling out. Not beefy enough Yamaha! That needs to be a little closer to "over-engineered" please.

This fix is going to get int the "art" of mechanical repair I can tell. I just want to solve a problem completely if I'm going to spend time on it vs knowing in 3 years it could be a sloppy problem again LOL... does the epoxy solution tend to last?

 

[DoubleThrust]

Epoxy is the way to go. Anything else will be temporary and possible allow more water in to your plywood core and cause more rot.

Ok... it seems epoxy is getting consensus as the proper repair. I'm guessing just hitting up the Home Depot for regular old epoxy is acceptable?

 

[DoubleThrust]

This might be a good read.

https://jetboaters.net/threads/screws-pulled-out-of-rear-hatch-hinge-suggestions.2023/#post-31554

Yes, that's a great thread on the topic, thank you.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Most epoxy solutions should be ok to drill.

You'll be surprised how quick that stuff sets and can be drilled. You might get it all in one 4 hour visit

 

[DoubleThrust]

Fantastically, I was able to get nuts on the back of one of the hinges I previously thought I wouldn't be able to. Very happy about that, it will be unlikely I'll have to worry about that one again.

The other screw on the other hatch having an issue is the one that screws the plastic block for the strut mount inside the floor storage area. That one is going to get an epoxy solution, but also a much longer screw because not nearly enough actually goes into the boat, and I checked and there's plenty more depth available. So a double fix will be the solution there. Hopefully by the end of the day the damaged hatches are a thing of the past.