Aft Cabin Headliner Partial Removal, Starboard Side, H41AC

[dkinzer]

While replacing my lifelines last week, I noticed for the first time that the bracing arm on the starboard aft gate stanchion was significantly bent. I went through the photos from the pre-purchase survey and found, as I suspected, that it had been damaged before we bought the boat.

When I removed the stanchion (in order to re-bed it) the arm sprang out of alignment about one inch at the base. I was able to muscle it back so that the screw hole aligned with the threaded hole in the hull. I put a double layer of Bed-It tape on that joint in an attempt to compensate for any remaining misalignment.

I'm now considering replacing that gate stanchion and I'll probably have to replace the base plate that is through-bolted to the gunwale. I believe that I'll need to drop a portion of the headliner in the aft cabin on the starboard side in order to get access to the nuts on the underside. It's not obvious how one would go about doing that. Any tips or hints?

 

[JoeWhite]

I do not have this vessel, but just looking at your photo it appears that all you have to do to remove the station is to remove the 2 screws at the base of the front bar and the bolt at the back plate.

 

[dkinzer]

Yes. I've had it off as I had said. I suspect, however, that the nipple on the base is bent, too. If so, I'll need to remove the base to either straighten it, repair it, or replace it. I won't know until I remove the stanchion again if the base needs to be dealt with.

 

[jdrutten]

Wow! Exact same thing happened to me. I didn't even see that my gate stanchion was bent and the survey didn't pick it up either (among other things). It's nice to have company at least. But my stanchion has a base at the bottom of the vertical pole that allows the rest of the stanchion to be removed without removing the base. I ended up replacing my stanchion but was able to flatten my base and reuse it. My base is secure with bolts from above and go through a threaded aluminum plate embedded in the fiberglass. It looks like your stanchion is integrated into the base? So presumably, no embedded aluminum plate.

Regardless, I'm not sure if you have the "whispersoft" headliner or not, but if you do, here's a thread with some photos that may help:

Healiner removal

I have found a couple of threads on removing the headliner in a Hunter. I've tried a couple of different methods, but none successful. I'm more a paint by number kind of guy. Does anyone have photos and procedure for dropping the headline? Pictures please

forums.sailboatowners.com

 

[dkinzer]

My base is secure with bolts from above and go through a threaded aluminum plate embedded in the fiberglass

The stanchions on my 2007 H41AC are the two-piece style. The base has two 3/8-16 studs that go through the gunwale and are secured with washers and nuts from below. Then, the stanchion itself fits over a nipple that extends upward from the base and is secured by a 10-24 through bolt and a 1/4-28 machine screw that goes through one side of the stanchion tube and into the nipple on the base. (See attached photo.)

The gate stanchions fit the bases just like the plain stanchions do but they have a brace that extends down to the surface of the gunwale. It is held in place by a machine screw from the top, presumably threading through an embedded metal plate.

Last summer, I broke off one of the regular stanchions including breaking the nipple off of the base. I was able to buy a perfectly compatible base and stanchion tube from the Hunter Parts site. Fortunately, that base was port side amidship so I was able to get access to the nuts underneath by taking down the handrail panel in the saloon and the headliner there pulled away from the fiberglass fairly easily (held in place by a tacky glue) and went back into place easily after the new base was installed.



Thanks for the link to the headliner article. I'll see if that has information useful to me.