Hinge removal on transom door top

[Hatisfaction]

I want to replace the hinge on the top of the tramson that closes after shutting the transom door. Problem is I cannot get to the back of the screws to see what is holding them and nothing will budge the screws from the outside. We have even tried an impact driver with no success.Has anyone ever had to do this job befor ??? I'm thinking I may have to drill the screw heads out .Without cutting out the fiberglass to actually see how the hinge is held I cannot tell if the screws have nuts on the back or if they are into a threaded plate in the glass..any and all suggestions are appreciated.
thanks

 

[SKYCHENEY]

I'd bet there is a threaded aluminum plate in there. If so, the only way to get them out would be to drill them out and retap the holes.

 

[Hatisfaction]

thanks. thats what I suspected.. I'll give that a try.

 

[Captcoop]

I replaced my hinges last year with SS. The screws are in a threaded insert. I removed mine with a large screw driver that had a place to attach a wrench for leverage. The screws were I think 3" long and it took a lot of WD 40 and time to remove. I replaced all 3 hinges with SS and it was a days work. Once the screw was out enough to get a grip on I used a stud remover tool to complete the removal. Good Luck

 

[outbound]

on our boat i drilled the heads off the bolts. then used heavy duty vise-grips to turn bolts, had only one bolt that needed to be drilled out(pita). good luck

 

[67hat34c]

if you have to drill the heads off and cant get the bolts out then i recommend using dremel with tungson carbide tip to cut the bolt out, you will have way more controll with the dremel than you will have with a drill, drill will tend to slip off the bolt

 

[Hatisfaction]

thanks for the tips,,sounds ,like a good off season project.!!