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PostPosted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 8:21 am 
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Site Rank - Deck Hand

Joined: Sun Oct 29, 2006 2:11 pm
Posts: 3
We have a 4 yr old Getaway used at a Boy Scout camp for teaching sailing. the tramp track has pulled its screws out of the hull side. the first time this happened the original fasteners were replaced with larger diameter ones, thinking that the greater surface area of the threads would bite into fresh plastic and provide better-than-original holding power. They have now torn out again. The opposite hull with the original fasteners is still solid. We are trying to come up with the best repair technique. As I understand it, epoxy does not bond with the polyethylene hull material, so filling the existing torn-out holes is not an option (and cleaning the holes with a slovent is not compatible with the plastic either). The original holes into the hull do not go all the way through to the interior, so use of a backer material would necessitate penetrating the hull. Also, the interior of the hull appears the have a bit of a filet at this location, making the exterior and interior surfaces non-parallel, further complicating use of a backer material on the interior (and its difficult if not impossible to get at). A Hobie dealer suggested using hollow wall anchors to provide a backer for the fasteners on the inaccessible interior. That seems like a poor idea to me for a variety of reasons. Any one have an already tried solution to this? Would West System's G/flex work to fill the existing holes and rebed the screws? Would large pop rivets deform within the existing holes sufficiently to provide holding power? Any other blind fasteners that would work (and not be too expensive; there are some 30-odd screws and we have no budget ) Any help would be most appreciiated. And camp is in session, so we need to get the boat back in service quickly. Thanks Rick


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PostPosted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 10:21 pm 
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Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2008 6:40 pm
Posts: 27
Location: Northern IL
How about rivets with washers on the inside, if you can remove the hull cooler and get a washer on each rivet. :wink:

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PostPosted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 2:06 pm 
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Joined: Sun Oct 29, 2006 2:11 pm
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the hull is thick in this area with an interior fillet right at the turn from the side to the deck, so rivets would have to be very long to reach all the way through the material. And the rectangluar cooler is a molded part of the hull with only a deck plate in the bottom for access to the hull interior. I can only reach the backside of maybe 6 of the ~30 fasteners. I'd prefer not to penetrate the hull to minimize chances of developing leaks. Would the West System method of hollowing out some of the core around each hole and filling with epoxy work with these plastic composite materials?


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PostPosted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 3:58 pm 
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Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Mon May 09, 2005 10:25 am
Posts: 4176
Location: Jersey Shore
You could probably either slide the track foreward/aft an inch or so and drill new holes into the hull or leave the track where it is and drill new holes in the track & hull an inch or two away from the present holes. This would get you into fresh plastic.

sm


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