loose handrails

[double trouble]

Hello to all,

I just bought a 1973 53' SF and have read all 200+ pages, very informative! The question I have is how are the handrails mounted. Mine have some screws that won't tighten up. It appears there is no access on the interior walls.

Thanks in advance, I know you guys will have the answer based on what I have been reading in your threads.

Double Trouble

[yachtsmanbill]

Hatteras in their infinite wisdom, mounted mine (1974 58 TC ) with a big, but short wood screw right into the fiberglass. I pulled some and drilled and tapped into the raised gun'l. There is an aluminum plate built into mine. Clean the stanchion base and bed with 5200. As I move along I drill and tap the handrails as well. I feel FG holds a machine thread better than forcing a wood screw into it. IMHO. My Roamer was bolted and nutted but I did the same (D&T) and can now remove the bases for painting etc. ws

[spartonboat1]

Yachtsmanbill: I always thought the Roamer's were a nice boat, the but hull form below the waterline a little uninspiring. Maybe that was due to the difficulty of forming sheet aluminum/steel (which metal was yours?). At any rate, how would you rate the ride of your Roamer vs. the Hatt?

[yachtsmanbill]

The steel boats to me are uninspiring as well. At about .135 (12 ga.?) once they rust you need to fix. Mine is aluminum; hull #6, and at .220" has some heft to it.
The forestep is deep and sharp and unfortunately flares out to almost flat at the negative deadrise on the transom.Truly a planing hull with a keel thats 1" X 12" for stability... like a knife.
All of these boats were built on a jigged frame on 18" centers. The hull plating had washers or rings welded on the inside and then pulled into place with come-a-longs, then the rings were removed once MIG welded in place. I think the trickiest pieces were at the bow, with the rest almost flat plates. They did an admirable job fairing them, and from the outside look like a 'glass boat from a mold. A fellow Roamer guy here sandblasted the fairing off for a resto... what a mistake that was !! All the other metal boats ie. Marrinets, Breauxs, Kingscraft etc are on 36" frames and show welds and distortion through the paint.
I have had mine from Chicago to Mackinac island, an 800+ mile run (depending on the itinerary) at least 10 times in all kinds of conditions. BTW- This was by compass and dead reckoning. Not even a LORAN ! 6 channel BIMINI VHF and a AM radiotelephone. Yup, Ive got white whiskers. The great lakes as you know can really throw some curves at you. Never questioning the boat, only repeating for hours on end,
" Oh LORD, thy sea is so great and my boat is so small..." Even on a returning run, one of the old 283s broke a 1/4 of a valve head off.. bang bang Patooey. Spit it out the back and kept going on 15 bangers. Made the 3 day trip home and began the 454 repower that week !!
The ride? Even in a brutal following or quartering sea she is VERY manageable. I do miss the mechanical steering tho... Went SeaStar hydraulic for the flybridge addition in '90. ws

[double trouble]

yachtsmanbill,
The rails I was referring to are mounted above the salon windows. It appears that they were not machine screws, I am guessing that there is no backing plate. How hard is it to remove the paneling?

Thanks for your input!

double trouble

[yachtsmanbill]

If yours look like these, its the same thing... a large wood screw into a piece of wood embedded into the fiberglass. I only had the end off as it appeared to have some moldly stuff around it. You can see it in the pic. Cleaned and re-bedded. I was surprised that it wasnt nutted, ws

[Paul45c]

A lot of sportfishers (like mine) have solid fiberglass that is drilled and tapped for machine screws through the stanchion flanges. It's pretty stout, as they seem to drill them so that there's a little bit of side load on all the screws (at least it always seemed that way to me when I'd rebed and refasten them).

[Beckytek]

If the screws are loose and you don't want to take off the headliner, drill all the holes with oversize bit and fill them with thickened epoxy. Use a syringe to fill the holes from the bottom up so you don't leave any voids. Now redrill and tap with the proper size bolt when the epoxy cures. Your handrails will be stronger than original. Ron

[Trojan]

If you can get to the under side you don't need to fill the holes and tap them. Just nut and bolt. We need a fix from the top side down that works. Where are all our executive engineers? Hatteras did us no favors on this one. I also have 4 loose stanchions.

BILL

[MikeP]

If you can't get to the other side, I'd install helicoils - it would be easier than filling/redrilling and a lot stronger.

[yachtsmanbill]

C'MON !! I use the drill and power tap them as well. I recommend a low torque drill so you dont bust the tap. Use both hands and dont bend it as you go in and out, maybe more than once. KEEP IT STRAIGHT!! Dont run the tap in too far or the shank will wipe out the new threads. A 1/4-20 into 1/2" of glass is way strong. Bed them with 5200. If youre worried about pulling the threads out, use a 1/2-24 (sae) more threads per inch. The 1/4" part is just for example. I run the screws in with the drill too, and have never pulled out any threads.
FWIW-- When I tapped the Roamer stuff, I went to the next size. The holes were already bolt sized so I couldnt tap them. As it turned out, CC and all the other builders used Reed and Prince fasteners, and consequently, their angles on countersunk stuff was 48 degrees, so I re-CS'd them at 45 degrees. This was of course before replating happened.
When I fabbed new struts and rudder boxes in STAINLESS, I D&T'd the aluminum, used 5200 AND nutted and washered the bolts on the inside as well. Those were 1/2" bolts in 1/4" alum. ws

[yachtsmanbill]

If you can't get to the other side, I'd install helicoils - it would be easier than filling/redrilling and a lot stronger.


The only problem with H coils or "keenserts" is that they will rust, theyre galvanized steel. Unless you can find them in stainless or monel. Another thought... If you have to pull the headliner, make a drilled and tapped backing plate, and 5200 it in place, like a big flat nut. The 5200 will keep it in place if you ever pull the screws again. ws

[MikeP]

Helicoils are available in SS - here are the last ones I used to do an engine repair:

http://www.northernautoparts.com/ProductModelDetail.cfm?ProductModelId=14637