Ranger 26 Keel Bolts

[Andrew Smith]

I am considering buying a 1979 Ranger 26. The boat has been laying unused in saltwater for the past 2 years. It is in good condition - needing some cleanup and minor maintenance. The one big problem I see is several of the keel bolts are corroded all the way through. Has anyone on this forum replaced the keel bolts on a Ranger 26. Can anyone share a page from a manual that shows diagrams and specifications of the keel bolts? Thanks for any assistance ...

 

[Drexell]

Re: Ranger 26 keel bolts

We replaced all of our keel bolts on our '72 Ranger 26 a few years ago. Once we were able to remove the nuts, we drove the bolts down through with a pin and a sledgehammer. We made sure to replace a couple of bolts at a time so as to not break the keel/hull seal. We didn't have any leaking at the joint so we opted to leave well enough alone.We used stainless flat head machine bolts (5/8" I think) with flat washers and lock nuts. If I had to do it over again, I'd probably opt for moly bolts/nuts instead of stainless.The only cleaning was to remove old sealant/debris from the holes and make sure that the bevel on the keel flange hole was clean and smooth to allow the new bolt head bevel to mate upThe old bolts had a few wraps of cotton wicking around just below the head so I replaced them in a like manner, along with a generous helping of 5200. Hope this helps

 

[Andrew Smith]

In or out of water

Drexell, Thanks for the reply. It was very helpful. Since our prospective boat is in the water I am not seeing half the picture, so I would like to ask a few more questions. When you knocked the bolts down with a sledge, do they emerge within the keel, or is there some kind of lip or flange on the keel that allowed the bolts to be removed from under the boat without cutting a window?(I have seen some pictures of windows being cut into keels on the web for other boat models) Could you have done the job while the boat is in the water? and what was your keel made of? Cast Iron? Lead? Steel?Do you have any digital photos of the project you would be willing to share?Thanks,Andrew