Stainless Line Guide "Skene Chock" bolt failure

[solanderi]

It is a 1985 45 C that had the Forward port Skene Chock "Stainless Line Guide" that directs the dock line to the adjacent cleat had one of the 2
bolts securing it fail. The head of the slotted bolt sheared off leaving the remaining portion in its backing plate (from other posters on the HOF
I believe there is a threaded deck plate).

It appears to be a 1/4 inch bolt but i could be wrong. So I applied PB Blaster from the top, waited 15 mins, crawled into the Forward anchor locker
where i could see a 1 inch portion of said bolt protruding from the deck plate, gripped it with a vise grip and broke the bolt.

Now I have everything still the same as when I started this adventure but with the added complication of only a 1/4 inch nub of said bolt protruding
below the deck plate in the forward locker.

So can anyone please help me with a solution.

Thank you,

Greg
1985 45C

 

[davidwigler]

Drill a small hole in the bolt and use a bolt remover with a socket wrench.

 

[davidwigler]

https://www.autozone.com/test-scan-...t-neck-screw-extractor-set-5-piece/535518_0_0

 

[solanderi]

As with all things boating, access is a bit challenging so the drilling a hole into the bolt may be a trick. I guess I can put the appropriate bit on a dremel to cut the hole for the bolt remover bit. Then apply the socket wrench.

Thank you,

I’ll post my results.

Greg

 

[SEVEN]

Go in from the top.

 

[Walter P]

Go in from the top.

If you have a dremel handy, you may want to try to use it to make a small dimple in the CENTER of
the broken bolt before you attempt to drill it out. It's important that the hole you drill does not go into
the threads of the bolt otherwise when you tap in the bolt extractor and try to turn it, it won't work.
If you're real lucky and have a left handed drill bit I would recommend you use it to make the hole. Some
times I have gotten lucky and had a broken bolt actually come out by only drilling it that way. After the
hole is drilled satisfactorily, tap the extractor into the hole in the bolt. At this point, I like to use a
ratcheting driver with it's impact action.

Frustrating? Yes but if all else fails you still have the option of just drilling the proper size tap hole for
the thread size and run the appropriate tap back in. If the threads are 1/4 x 20 use a #6 or 7 drill. If
it's 5/16 use a 1/4" drill bit followed by the 5/16 tap. I also like to tap using a cordless drill with the
tap firmly in the chuck.

After you succeed in removing the old broken bolt and/or re-tapping the new threads, be sure you
use a little "TefGel" on the threads first.

BTW, if you can access the bottom from the anchor locker, why not just use a bolt with a few washers
and a lock nut from underneath. Just drill out a complete through hole using the next size drill in your
drill index so you will have some space for the sealing caulk. Get a friend to hold the bolt from the
top and wrench away from the bottom. Don't be a gorilla and snap the bolt by over tightening.

Walt

Walt

 

[solanderi]

The slotted bolt ends up being a 3/8’s. I went to Home Depot and found 2 products, Speed Out and the other was just like what David recommended a bolt remover. So Speed Out vs Bolt Remover ? Any thoughts on that one please ? I will start from the top and see how that goes. Hopefully there is no epoxy or 5200 on the threads but it is what it is.

After the broken bolt is removed, it makes me think that the slotted bolt head lends it self to stripping but that is what is used all over the boat on the other deck hardware so that’s what I will use again. I will remember, Tefgel and no gorillas. Thank you for all the recommendations and guidance.

Greg

 

[jim rosenthal]

Good luck with this. I had to drill out all the bolts for the deck rail stanchions years ago; they were bronze and corroded in place, too wasted to remove; when I tried to turn them they broke off. I ended up drilling all of them out (there were thirty-six, I think, and it was wintertime) and when it was warmer, putting a plasti straw in each hole and pouring epoxy and silica in around the straw, then retapping each hole. Reinstalled them, possibly with TefGel. Years later I had to take them out for a paint job and they came out nice and easily.

 

[solanderi]

Hi Jim,

I have drilled a hole and gold ribbons of metal appeared so I believe I have struck Bronze instead of stainless. The Bolt out tool has not budged the broken bolt yet.

Did you replace with Bronze hardware ? West Marine only has stainless with a Phillips head instead of a slotted or flat head. What do you think ?

Thank you,

Greg

 

[SEVEN]

I replaced mine with SS square drive the West Marine sells.

 

[solanderi]

Well it seems like this is going the same route as Jim. The “Bolt Out” device buried into the bronze bolt as advertised but when I torqued on it the bolt it broke off just like Jim’s experience above. So I will continue to try to make headway on this at about 1/4 to 1/2 inch at a time and report back. Jim, is there a stainless backing plate here that will need to be re-tapped ? Thank you for as many details that you can offer.

Greg

 

[Walter P]

I personally love the square drive (Robertson) screws. You need to be careful with your source of SS
screws as many if not most are not 316 grade. I recommend checking with Steve at Sam's Marine to
see if he has what you need. Nothing as disappointing as doing all that work and having your hardware
developing rust stains, especially when it was sold as marine stainless steel. If Sam's has what you need
it may cost a little more but you will have the real McCoy. Remember the old saying.."If you want nice
clean fresh grade A oats it costs so much a pound. If you're satisfied with oats that passed through the
horse first, it will be a little cheaper"

Walt

 

[solanderi]

Thank you Walt,

I will call Sam’s first thing tomorrow. I wanted to keep the OEM look so I will see what Sam’s can offer and then make the next best choice.

I am being chased off the boat for now secondary to some thunder and lightning action. To be continued....

Greg

 

[Pascal]

You ll have to drill in out, you can be sure there will be a lot sealant in the thread. Or maybe you can the chock 1/2” and just drill new holes

Be careful using square head bolts as you can put a lot of torque on them increasing the likelyhood of the bolt breaking.

 

[solanderi]

I’m still rained out over here so I am just trying to visualize the next steps. Apparently the bronze bolts are pretty much frozen and I will just keep at it with the Bolt Out device until it’s all out. The part I’m still not understanding is whether there is a metal plate in the deck or not. Jim wrote that he had to “put a plasti straw in each hole and pouring epoxy and silica in around the straw, then retapping each hole.” So it was just re-tapping the epoxy or a metal backing plate. Sorry that I asking these basic questions. Thank you,

Greg

 

[Walter P]

Greg, there is a metal plate that Hatteras imbedded into the gunwalls. The metal however is not stainless
steel, it is aluminum. When you finally succeed in removing the old screws (which is a PITA) you should
still run a sharp tap into the old thread to clean it out. Most of the time you will find that a PO or the
factory squirted caulk onto the threads as well as under the fixture. The thinking is that water can find
it's way along a less than perfect thread....which is usually the case, and drip. My process is not to get
too carried away with caulk and keep it off the threads. TefGel should be on the threads. The way I have
done mine in the past is to caulk the underside of the fixture without getting carried away. Carefully
hold the fixture just over the fiberglass and give a little coating of caulk onto the bottom of the screw
head letting it get down only about 1/4" or so into the screw hole of the fixture. Start the screws in the
imbedded plate and LIGHTLY snug them down. They should only be snug, but seated so that after a few
days you can tighten them properly. This procedure will ensure a good seal whereas tightening it all the
way during installation may not leave enough "spring" in the cured caulk. It actually took me longer to
write this down than actually doing the job.....

Walt

 

[jim rosenthal]

I used stainless bolts. Phillips head, I think I got them from Chesapeake Marine Fasteners. Now I would look for 316 SS, probably McMaster-Carr. But 304 would be okay.

 

[jim rosenthal]

The Series 2 45C is one of my favorite Hatteras yachts, by the way....

 

[solanderi]

So unfortunately the saga continues. After breaking the tip of the “Bolt Remover” off inside the stuck bolt, I went to Home Depot to get a bit that will chew thru the “Bolt Remover” tip and then into the culprit bolt. I bought several sizes of the Titanium Milwaukee Tools bits that show pictures of I beams on the side figuring that must be the right product. There were 2 other choices per the HD salesman, one was carbide and the other one was what tradesmen use because they can reshape now them. So I went with the premium Titanium.

The premium Titanium bits only spin on top of the “Bolt Remover”. Despite using a punch to give the tolitanium bit something to grab as well as prevent bit walking all I did was make noise and watch the bit spin around.

Maybe I should have bought the carbide or tradesmen bits.

I called Sam’s and the have the exact OEM replacement bolts so I will do a Ft Lauderdale rum tomorrow for that.

Alex at Sam’s told me that I am drilling out “Chrome over Brass” if that is useful info. TTYL,

Greg

 

[SEVEN]

Make sure when you are putting in new screws that you add a thread compound that is meant for dissimilar metals. You’ll have electrolysis under the deck and who knows if you’ll be able to get them out in the future.