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How thick is It

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frich
Captain

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USA
418 Posts

Initially Posted - 10/21/2003 : 12:43:10

I am planning on installing a double rope clutch this weekend alongside the teak rail on the cabin top. I want to drill with an oversized bit (1 size bigger than bolt) almost through the Cabin Top. I will then seal this up w/ epoxy, let harden and drill a smaller diameter through for the bolt.

Any ideas on how thick the cabin top is?

Appreciate all replies

Frank R
84 C25 Sk

Edited by - frich on 10/21/2003 12:44:09

Edited by - on

Sea Trac
Master Marine Consultant

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Vanuatu
1357 Posts

Response Posted - 10/21/2003 : 13:20:31

Frank,

My cabin top is about 1" thick. My triple clutches have 1/2" bases and I used 2" bolts, leaving 1/2" for a flat washer, a locking washer, a regular nut, and an acorn nut.

J.B. Manley
Antares '85 FK/SR #4849
Grand Lake O' the Cherokees
36°29'58" -94°59'59"

Edited by - on

Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 10/21/2003 : 13:23:54

[quote]
I am planning on installing a double rope clutch this weekend alongside the teak rail on the cabin top. I want to drill with an oversized bit (1 size bigger than bolt) almost through the Cabin Top. I will then seal this up w/ epoxy, let harden and drill a smaller diameter through for the bolt.
Any ideas on how thick the cabin top is?
Appreciate all replies
Frank R
84 C25 Sk

That sounds like a brilliant plan... but is it worth the effort? I thought the trick was to drill the oversized hole and then simply use a piece of duck tape or something to cover the bottom and fill it. The backup washer will cover the hole anyway so the appearance should not be an issue. I am getting ready to mount a triple clutch, deck organizer, wench, bow stem fitting with roller, gudgeon, new motor mount, remove and refinish all of my teak and possibly reposition my mast electrical socket. My concern is what type of bit should I use? I don't want to shatter the glass around the hole. By the way, when I told myy local Catalina dealer about this whole oversize hole thing he said it was a waste of time, "drill it, seal it". Sometimes I think that we owners of vintage boats need to develop our own techniques to keep these boat alive.

<img src="http://members.cox.net/fhopper/Catalina25/sigbow.jpg" border=0>Frank and Martha in Wichita KS. Lake Cheney

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Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 10/21/2003 : 22:10:12

Mine was about an inch... However, I couldn't get the Admiral to buy off on adding the wench.

Dave Bristle - 1985 C-25 #5032 SR-FK-Dinette-Honda "Passage" on the hard in SW CT

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Leon Sisson
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1893 Posts

Response Posted - 10/21/2003 : 22:10:18

<center><b>Keeping Boats Alive vs. Boat Dealer Priorities</b></center>

When a boat yard works on a boat, their priority is to get the job done as quickly and profitably as possible. The average customer doesn't want to pay what it would cost to do a more than barely adequate job, especially if the boat yard just down the road quoted them the price to do a shoddy job. The yard knows that the average customer isn't going to come back 5 years later and say, "Hey, this deck accessory you guys installed years ago leaked water into the core, and now has delamination and rot spreading around it!" In fact, a really cynical curmudgeon might point out that the more permanently old boats are repaired, the less future repair work those boats need, the longer they last, and the fewer new boats are bought. But you won't hear a cheerful optimist like myself express such a negative thought.<img src=icon_smile.gif border=0 align=middle>

As for sealing deck core around thru-bolts, I first drill to twice the bolt diameter. Then I temporarily seal the lower end of the hole with duct tape. I then wet out the inside of the hole with "neat" epoxy (resin mixed with hardener, but no thickeners added). Without waiting for that to harden, I then pour the hole full with mixed epoxy thickened with milled fiberglass, or other high density filler. When that has hardened enough to drill, I redrill the original hole through it, and slightly countersink the weather side of the hole. This creates a permanent build in weather tight compression bushing around the bolt. The countersink provides for an O-ring of sealant right where it will do the most good. I then use a large enough fender washer to more than cover the epoxy, and to spread the load further out onto the surounding original fiberglass. If there is a close tolerance installation position or bolt pattern to be retained, only do half of the fasteners at a time, using the other half to keep track of the bolt pattern location. I hope that's clear...

I've used the other method mentioned (drill a little oversize, wet out, let harden, redrill) for very lightly loaded fasteners which retain items with large bedded footprints (i.e. teak trim). With that method it's easier to maintain the original hole pattern for installing blind drilled parts (i.e. handrails, hatch slides). But I don't consider it to be as strong or reliable as the first method described above.

-- Leon Sisson

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Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.