pop-top snaps

[rick simmons]

this i am sure would pertain to all fiberglass boats at one time or the other. a couple of the snaps around the cabin top to whitch you attach the canvas top (when you have the pop-top up) onto have come off. with the snaps gone there are little hole in the fiberglass which i now cover up with electrical tape to keep any water from leaking in. i have purchased new snaps to replace the missing ones but the cabin top appears to be hollow, therefore the new snaps have nothing to screw into. i hope someone has a remedy for this problem. my boat is a cat-22 and i like to keep it looking as good as possible and the missing snaps to me are unslightly. i hope to hear any idea and thanks to all you reply

 

[Steve Dion]

Epoxy fix-it kit.

Rick:Just go to the hardware store and get an epoxy repair kit. You may have seen them they have the two tubes in a syringe. Just squeeze out enough of the mixture on a piece of cardboard. Mix it with a toothpick or something that you can dispose of.Mask off the area with some masking tape so just the area to be repaired is going to get epoxy on it. You can use the toothpick to daub it into the fractured area. Let it cure and redrill the screw hole. It should be stronger than new.

 

[LaDonna Bubak - Catalina Owners]

One more tip

You might want to use some kind of filler to thicken up the epoxy. You can buy expensive filler or use something from your shop, like sawdust. If you don't, you might have epoxy running down the cabintop or worse yet, inside the cabin itself!LaDonna

 

[Jack]

Made the same repair this summer

We have a 1991 Beneteau 370 and had the same problem with a few of the snap screws for the dodger. I took two tooth picks, cut them in half, placed all the tapered ends together and coated them with epoxy and lightly hammered them into the hole. I used a razor blade and cut off the tooth picks flush with the cabin and screwed the snap back in. Worked great! Good luck.Fair Winds,Jack"Cabaret"Oceanis 370