One keel hanger bolt is bigger than the rest...

[Minnesail]

Hi,

This will be my third year with my 1974 Catalina 22, and I decided to drop the keel and inspect the all the hardware before launch. (And also grind all the rust off the keel and paint and prime...)

Anyway, one of the keel bolts is bigger than the other three! I looked up into the keel cavity and it looks like a new "threaded weldment" has been in. I can see fiberglass work and new epoxy. It looks like really good work.

But that's still scary! What's the likeliest scenario here? That a bolt got stuck, was drilled out, and that meant a new weldment? And why the different size? Did Catalina change sizes at some point and maybe the previous owner used the newer, larger size?

Thanks in advance for you help!

(P.S. Wow, what a project getting the keel off and ground down...)

 

[Zach Grammon]

Not sure how it would help, but I still have my old keel bolts out from my '73, so I figured I could take a picture of them alongside the Catalina Direct replacement bolts.
Pretty much the same.

The scenario you mentioned seems the most likely to me, but I'm having trouble understanding what the new epoxy/fiberglass work was for? If they put in a new threaded weldment, then wouldn't the bolt just need to be the same length? Does the thread start where the originals start, but extend farther due to the new threaded tubing?

 

[Minnesail]

Thanks for the picture! As soon as I get home from work I'll measure mine against it.

I didn't do a good job of explaining myself though. They bolts are the same length, but one is a larger diameter. Enough bigger that it didn't quite fit through the hole in the keel hanger casting, so that was also drilled out a little larger.

Do you know what diameter of the original bolts?

 

[Minnesail]

I seee from http://www.catalinadirect.com/index.cfm/product/196_104/keel-attachment-threaded-weldment.cfm that the standard bolt size is 5/16" 18. When I get home I'll see what mine are.