Keel Bolt Inspection Technique

[Ajay73]

Starting to think about spring boat jobs, one of which is inspecting keel bolts. After re-reading all the posts on how bad the keel bolts can get I decided to add two keels bolts to my boat using the windowing technique. These would go in between the two pair of existing bolts.

Existing keel bolt inspection. I'm thinking of drilling a small diameter hole right next to and parallel with an existing keel bolt down through to the lead exposing just the slightest arc of the threads of the bolt. Hopefully, this would give me a look at the condition of the keel bolt in the area going through the bottom laminate of the hull. I would then apply wax to the exposed threads and fill this hole with epoxy after the inspection. One point of information is that I have eliminated the plywood stub and added glass per the Catalina drawing and specifications. This makes it much easier to perform the inspection as stated above. This approach seems a whole lot easier than, heaven forbid, dropping the keel.

Thoughts?

 

[The Garbone]

I am also looking at reinforcing my keel this spring.

As for drilling an inspection hole Do not, just leave them be. Sister in the new bolts and be done with it. I can see no reason to open up any unnessary holes in your keel/billge. Maybe clean up the existing bolt heads and reseal them but if you do not have a "Catalina Smile" I think prudence would suggest keeping drilling to a minimum.

 

[KingAirDriver]

You guys have got me concerned now... Why the need to reinforce the keel???

Is this something that I should concern myself with?

 

[The Garbone]

Its all the rage of discussion over on the 27 board. Catalina direct sells a kit for it.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IC27A/

I think it might be a bit of overkill but the alternative is pretty bad.

 

[Ajay73]

I am also looking at reinforcing my keel this spring.

As for drilling an inspection hole Do not, just leave them be. Sister in the new bolts and be done with it. I can see no reason to open up any unnessary holes in your keel/billge. Maybe clean up the existing bolt heads and reseal them but if you do not have a "Catalina Smile" I think prudence would suggest keeping drilling to a minimum.

I really need to see what the keel bolt looks like where it runs thru the bottom fiberglass laminate. That's only about an inch. After I do the inspection I will reseal the hole with epoxy. It will belike I never drilled the hole and I will have the peace of mind of knowing how the bolts look all the way down to the lead. This will also tell me if I need to sister in new bolts.

 

[damauney]

If you go back to all the threads about keel bolt damage with pictures you will see the bolt damage is not in the area going through keel stub floor but above that, under the nuts and lock nuts. That is what i found on my O'Day 35 also. That means it is easily inspectable on the hard by removing nuts, inspect, put on anti-seize and retorque. This applies to stainless steel nuts and studs in lead keels. I don't know about other materials. A thought.

Goodwinds
DaveM

 

[Ajay73]

If you go back to all the threads about keel bolt damage with pictures you will see the bolt damage is not in the area going through keel stub floor but above that, under the nuts and lock nuts. That is what i found on my O'Day 35 also. That means it is easily inspectable on the hard by removing nuts, inspect, put on anti-seize and retorque. This applies to stainless steel nuts and studs in lead keels. I don't know about other materials. A thought.

Goodwinds
DaveM

Dave, yeah, i've noticed that too. It's kind of hard to understand how it works out that way. They say the crevice corrosion starts when water lays in an oxygen starved environment/area. I can't imagine a more starved environment than that area around the keel bolt that runs through the bottom laminate. It's weird and hard to understand.

 

[damauney]

Part of my background is metallurgy/corrosion. Crevice corrosion also goes by the tightness of the crevice as well as moisture and oxygen starvation. Measurements I have made showed tighter crevice the more acidic the crevice solution, thus higher corrosion rate in stainless.

Goodwinds
DaveM

 

[KingAirDriver]

Hey dumb question...

Would there be any advantage to gluing in short pieces of say, 2 inch PVC pipe over the nuts and washers in the keel to keep the bilge water away from them and keep them dry?

I had some left over PVC from the turnbuckle covers I made, I cut them down to 6 inches long, 6 of them, and just haven't gotten around to installing them over the keel bolts. I plan on getting the bilge dry, clean, and painted, then using some 3M 4000 to glue down the PVC tubes.

Thoughts? Would there be any advantage to this?

 

[The Garbone]

Not a bad idea. I have to rebed my windows and hardware so my boat stops making water in the rain. The PVC thing sounds like a good stop gap to keep the bolts dry.