Engine mount lags stripped... Sharing my fix

[Peters Wet]

Hello folks, I'm doing some repairs to my Catalina engine bed rails and thought I'd share how it's going. First this is only for the situations where the lags have stripped but the bulk of the lumber is still in good shape. Also this works best when the engine is removed and you have some room.
I'm using a 2 1/8 inch Forstner drill to make a deep round hole right through the Fiberglass and down until good wood is found. I then use a 2 1/8ths hollow hole saw to cut plugs out of different thicknesses of marine plywood and assorted thicknesses of hdpe (starboard) stock, dollar store is a great source for these. sand the assorted discs produced by the hole saw with 40 grit and epoxy them into the drilled hole in the stringer, you can even add some Fiberglass cloth if you choose , you may need to do some sanding to get a flush thickness at the top of the whole in the stringer. Using a mini grinder with two inch discs feather the Fiberglass covering out an additional inch or so and layer Fiberglass over the laminated plug, after drying time has elapsed drill your lag bolt hole to spec and reinstall your engine mounts. This should be stronger than original , my lags torqued up very well and I have high expectations that the repair will last many years. Cheers


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum