Keel bolts
Brian I just replaced the nuts on the keel bolts on my 1975 Catalina 30. The part of the stud that was not covered by the nut was pretty well gone. The ones that were in water most of the time were the worst. No matter how bad the exposed part of the stud was, the threads were still like new. No rust at all. What I did was split the nuts by drilling the shoulder parallel to the stud, then driving a cold chisle between the hole and the outer edge of the nut. Then a 1 1/8" deep socket spun them off pretty easy and didn't mess up the threads. I chased the threads with a 3/4-10 stainless steel nut. Then put on lots of Never-seize, new washers and nuts, then torqued to the recommeded 50 to 60 Ft./pounds. Then painted them each with a thick coat of Never-seize. Each bolt took less than an hour to replace. Usually more on the order of 30 minutes unless I broke the drill bit (Happened twice). I was able to change seven out of the eight. The eighth bolt is under the engine. That one looked ok as it was rarely wet. The Tech Rep at catalina recommened replacing the nuts with stainless steel. A marine mechanic advised being careful mixing metals and making sure your studs and nuts were not the "least noble" metal available for electroysis. Good luck. John Gajdos "Chiara Mia"
