Aluminum / Steel corrosion seize

[Ritdog]

I have an Oday25. It has two 6" aluminum cleats about 1.5" high with SS machine screws that I think are aftermarket additions.

The screws are corroded into the cleat very solidly. Any suggestions on how to get those out? I'm thinking heating the screw only with mapp gas and turning them out, but am unsure if that will weaken the cleat.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Joe11688]

I have an Oday25. It has two 6" aluminum cleats about 1.5" high with SS machine screws that I think are aftermarket additions.

The screws are corroded into the cleat very solidly. Any suggestions on how to get those out? I'm thinking heating the screw only with mapp gas and turning them out, but am unsure if that will weaken the cleat.

Thanks in advance!

I had the same problem years ago when the metal inserts for the plastic knobs on my Gray Marine forward hatch was corroded on the stainless steel bolts. I tried everything from heat from a torch, to boiling them in hot water, and WD-40. I finally got the inserts to turn by using a combination of these methods. The plastic knobs press over the threaded insert and allow the hatch to tighten do and lock in place.
When you're able to remove the bolts, use "Never Seize" on the new bolts where the come in contact with the Aluminum and you shouldn't have a problem.
Stainless steel and Aluminum can create some real problems when they are put together. I had to cut 2" off the bottom of my Z-Spar mast about a month ago because Rig-Rite had installed a stainless steel mast plug in my mast back in the 1990s when I had a new mast made up by them with a Kenyon stainless steel Tabernacle. I was able to Mickey Mouse my mast and make up the 2" with Trex so I could use my boat, but it's only temporary until I can get an Aluminum mast plug. Good luck!
Joe

 

[RAD]

When I removed the 2 aft cleats from my boat I removed the nuts from below then took the whole cleat/bolts as a unit and tried to remove the bolts in the shop......to much time wasted so I bought new cleats from EBay that matched perfect....I probably still have them in a box somewhere thinking I'll get the bolts out

 

[Merlin Clark]

When I removed the 2 aft cleats from my boat I removed the nuts from below then took the whole cleat/bolts as a unit and tried to remove the bolts in the shop......to much time wasted so I bought new cleats from EBay that matched perfect....I probably still have them in a box somewhere thinking I'll get the bolts out

RAD,
We had a ultrasonic cleaner at the weapons shop I used to work at and it was great for cleaning parts without harch chemicals. probably work well for freeing up that hardware.
I saw one at HF the other day: http://www.harborfreight.com/25-liter-ultrasonic-cleaner-95563.html and if I had a good reason/excuse to buy one I would. They have a smaller size for $29 but it is very small.
A good selling point with the Mrs is these things do a great job on jewelry.

 

[RAD]

RAD,
We had a ultrasonic cleaner at the weapons shop I used to work at and it was great for cleaning parts without harch chemicals. probably work well for freeing up that hardware.
I saw one at HF the other day: http://www.harborfreight.com/25-liter-ultrasonic-cleaner-95563.html and if I had a good reason/excuse to buy one I would. They have a smaller size for $29 but it is very small.
A good selling point with the Mrs is these things do a great job on jewelry.

Thanks for that input....they just built a HF store in the neighborhood and all my buddy's who don't play with tools for a living are spending tons of money over there and telling me about how great HF is (been buying through there catalog for 30 yrs now) and some day when I got a pocketful of cash I'll wander over there.....I'm like a kid in a candy store in a tool warehouse

 

[Ritdog]

Thanks Joe

Thanks for the info on freeing up my seized cleat screws- I wound up heating them with mappgas, then putting them right into boiling water for 5 minutes, then hitting the screw bottoms with a hammer over large a socket with an intermittant soak in PB Blaster, then reheating, soaking, etc. ---took about 10 minutes apiece.

 

[Joe11688]

Thanks for the info on freeing up my seized cleat screws- I wound up heating them with mappgas, then putting them right into boiling water for 5 minutes, then hitting the screw bottoms with a hammer over large a socket with an intermittant soak in PB Blaster, then reheating, soaking, etc. ---took about 10 minutes apiece.

They have some stuff on the market that comes in a tube that you can apply to the bolts which will insulate the metals so they don't corrode.
At least you could throw the cleats away and buy some new ones if you couldn't get the bolts out. I'm faced with a problem where the corrosion was so bad at the base of my mast that I had to cut 2" off the bottom of my mast. I brought my mast down to a marine welder and he quoted me a price of $300 labor just to weld a piece of mast in with flat stock aluminum welded to the seam. Then I said to myself, " I don't think so." I went home and cut the 2" off the bottom of my mast and I used two pieces of Trex to make up the 2" and it worked. It's kind of heavy though and I want to change it over to an Aluminum metal plug instead of the Trex. I just haven't figured out how or what to use yet.
As it stands now, the Mickey Mouse job is temporary.
I had a Teak board under my Tabernacle and I replaced it with Trex and this is going to be permanent. The rest is temporary.
If anyone has any ideas, let me know. I'm going to check out a couple of marine consignment stores in the Newport RI area and see what I can come up with. My friend Wayne said that he may be able to get me a piece of solid Aluminum which is 2" but I'll need to shape it. Here's some pics of it. The mast plug is stainless steel and was installed back in the 90s by Rig-Rite. Stainless Steel and Aluminum don't mix. My Mickey Mouse set up is not only a little heavy, but it looks fugly.
Joe