I sheared my rivets off my mast base when stepping

[Bill in KW]

While my wife and I were lowering the mast on our H23, we allowed the mast to drop a couple feet. The mast base (which is secured to mast by three VERY small rivets) came free from mast. Does anyone have any recommendations as to whether we should simply replace with same size rivets or should we put more substantial hardware on?Thank you for your input.

 

[R. Wheeler]

Rivets

Check the fit of the same size rivets, if they fit tight, use the same size. I took off my mast base last year, and used the same size to replace it. Worked fine.

 

[Ward Niffenegger]

I Agree

I think Wheeler is right on target with his advice. I wouldn't drill to the next size unless you needed to.

 

[Michael Bell]

Don’t be afraid to...

If you need to enlarge the rivet holes, the only concern would be how much material is left on the base after drilling. When I snapped the mast base off my H26 (long and horrible story), I had to go over-size due to the holes being reamed out. The existing rivets were all ready larger than what I could install, and being to cheap to have anyone else do it for me, I drilled and tapped the base piece. So far so good – and the added benefit is being able to remove the base piece if necessary. Like when you need to ram a new wire harness through (no more halyards in my mast!).So, start with original size – move up if necessary.

 

[Ray Bowles]

Check the type of metal used in the rivet.

I'm not sure what the metal make-up is of the rivets for your boat but there are all aluminum, aluminum/steel and steel rivets. It could make a difference which type and length you use. Good luck. Ray

 

[Chris]

Good point on the materials

My original rivets were SS. After I needed to remove the base to run some wires, I used aluminum rivets. I know they are not as strong, but won't cause corrosion problems, so I hope I'm OK. If you had aluminum rivets, you may want to replace them with SS for extra strenght though....Take Care!