Another Question

[ttex]

I have four tracks on my boat. Jib tracks on the side decks and tracks on the cabin roof.

They were through bolted with washers and acorn nuts in the cabin.

I was thinking about cutting out the core where the tracks were, filling wth fiberglass and epoxy and then bolting the tracks down with lag bolts or big wood screws, something like that.

Bad idea? Just trying to limit my deck penetrations.

Oh and thanks for putting up with my dumb questions all the time!

[john61ct]

You'd get more / better answers if you titled the post with relevant keywords, such a general one gets bypassed by many just scanning.

[Cheechako]

NO! Bolts only. If you are not having problems now just leave them. Or take them up and reseal them.

[JPA Cate]

ttex,

I agree with Cheekako. Through bolts only. If you want, you can polish the fender washers on the inside, and use acorn nuts for a more finished appearance. It is hard to keep the tracks down, all the loads try to pull them up. Yes, re-bed them all. Get a friend to help, and be prepared to catch the compound on sometihng when it extrudes from the holes. The person below decks will need a trash bag and a bunch of paper towels, too.

Ann

[ttex]

Thanks everyone. Through bolts it is.

[Suijin]

Baba 35 you should have ceiling panels covering the bare fiberglass so a finished look is not as issue.

Check in advance, taking all the panels down to inspect access to the bolts. Some may be right over bulkheads etc and difficult to get to.

If you pull up all the tracks and there is no evidence of core rot or moisture penetration I would forget recoring and just bed the tracks back down with 5200. You'll be wormfood before it needs to be done again. Mine were put down with 5200 in 1986 and they are dry as a bone.

While you have the panels down consider putting in some insulation if there is room.

[ttex]

Originally Posted by Suijin

Baba 35 you should have ceiling panels covering the bare fiberglass so a finished look is not as issue.

Check in advance, taking all the panels down to inspect access to the bolts. Some may be right over bulkheads etc and difficult to get to.

If you pull up all the tracks and there is no evidence of core rot or moisture penetration I would forget recoring and just bed the tracks back down with 5200. You'll be wormfood before it needs to be done again. Mine were put down with 5200 in 1986 and they are dry as a bone.

While you have the panels down consider putting in some insulation if there is room.

Ya it had ceiling panels but I had to tear them all out because the PO did some naughty stuff and then hid it. I shall spare you the details.

I have already removed the tracks from the cabin roof and the deck as I had to remove fake teak garbage from the roof and am in the process of removing the teak from the deck so I can prep and paint.

And I am way ahead of you on the insulation as there is probably a whole inch of space between the fiberglass and the panels. Just need to figure out in what direction to go with insulation. Probably foam.

[HeinSdL]

Originally Posted by ttex

Ya it had ceiling panels but I had to tear them all out because the PO did some naughty stuff and then hid it. I shall spare you the details.

This is much more interesting than the bolt discussion! What did he/she hide, drugs, cash? What happened?