53 survey is next-worryed about rotten core

[Fanfare]

Re rebedding screws:

Pull the screws out. Use electric screwdriver. Inspect screw. After 40 years many are rough looking and threads gone. Replace with stainless if required. Also makes the heads of the screws look shiny. Clean up the hole, especially for the curls of old sealant hanging out. Plus the amount of dirt will surprise you! I have tried to work the new sealant down into the hole to seal all around inside. It would be nice to inject sealant somehow--maybe I'll look for a large-gauge hypodermic needle or equivalent. Probably need a throw away. Look for a sealant which is not a glue like 3M 5200 is. This will need redoing in 10-15 years. Don't use silicone because nothing else will ever stick there. Reinsert screw. Might be best to let cure before final tightning, but probably doesn't matter much. Immediate tightning means you can wipe excess sealant off the head- otherwise you may have to trim it. Voila! Few hours of hot work and nobody but you will know about it.

[mike]

FWIW, one additional suggestion to Jim's, is to inject Fast-Cure CEPS into the screw holes, let it set for a day, then use a sealer as suggested. The CEPS will act as a barrier, preventing further water intrusion should the sealer fail or not get distributed properly when inserting the new screws.

[MikeP]

I know we all have our own bedding methods which probably all work fine - here's mine:

I remove the screws with a power driver. I'm probably in the minority but I'm a 5200 fan and use it for all screw bedding. I coat the screw threads LIBERALLY with 5200, turn the screw in by hand(no power driver) until the head is about 1/8" above the surface, then back the screw out almost all the way. You will notice that the adhesive that was mushing away from the screw as you turned it in will now pull back to the screw and into the threads. THEN I run it all the way in. This carries more sealant into the hole and ensures there are no voids in the screw mating/sealing surface. This method (and the 5200) in my mind insures I have done the best job I can do since I don't ever care to redo it. This method is MESSY; there will be a lot of excess 5200. Lots of rags/acetone and rubber gloves will be helpful but you'll still probably be wearing a good bit of 5200!!!

If necessary, the screws can be removed from the cured 5200 without any undue difficulty - the screws will just feel like they have nylock nuts holding them as you unscrew them. But the "ease" of disassembly does NOT apply to items glued together with it (fairing blocks, panels, etc.)! Its reputation as a superb adhesive, being messy as heck and being nearly impossible to remove from a surface once cured are all well deserved!

[SKYCHENEY]

Funny, I just rebedded the screws on my swim ladder tonignt and I use exactly the same method as MikeP. Either he is brilliant or we both need to have our heads examined. I do agree that the 5200 works well for bedding screws, but be careful on other applications that you may want to take apart again someday.

[Red Hatt]

The survey ended with in an hour after it started. The moisture meter pegged on the out board starboard side of the bridge aprox 7ft. by 4rft. also lots of moisture was noted above the galley windows- the fiberglass had ripples above those windows. the surveyor said its like opening a can worms most of the time when you open it up its alot more rott there than you think. I don't want to go there at any price. Thanks guys for all your help. I'll start looking for another one in bette condition. IT was a 1980 model.

[hyperfishing]

Yep, one 58 yachtfish I looked at had the entire top deck rotten core taken out, cleaned, filled with closed cell foam. Cost for the job? $60K. Ouch!