I am getting ready to rebed the chainplates on my 1987 Hunter 34 and had a few questions. It does not look like there is access to the underside unless I cut the headliner. How difficult is doing this without this access? Another question is what are the 4 screws holding the faceplate attached to? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am talking about the chainplates holding the shrouds.
rebedding chainplate on H34
- Thread starter jim22335
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Rebedding chainplates
Jim, We have a 79 H30 that we just rebedded the chainplates on. Those 4 little screws, on our boat, screw through the fiberglass into the core. Sail magazine had a very good article on rebedding chainplates that we followed. The article had good pictures to show the process the author used. So far we have filled the openings with thickened epoxy. As soon as we paint the deck then we will redrill the slots and install the chainplates & seal them. I can't answer the headliner question as I am not familiar with the H34. Our headliner is molded fiberglass & we would probably should have cut through to get at the underside better but we were able to seal everything up with tape so......that's what we did.
Jim, We have a 79 H30 that we just rebedded the chainplates on. Those 4 little screws, on our boat, screw through the fiberglass into the core. Sail magazine had a very good article on rebedding chainplates that we followed. The article had good pictures to show the process the author used. So far we have filled the openings with thickened epoxy. As soon as we paint the deck then we will redrill the slots and install the chainplates & seal them. I can't answer the headliner question as I am not familiar with the H34. Our headliner is molded fiberglass & we would probably should have cut through to get at the underside better but we were able to seal everything up with tape so......that's what we did.
I've done it. Here's how.
First off. The connection at the deck does little. One could argue that it secures the top of the plate to keep the rod centered. But the main function of the four little screws is to keep the plate from unscrewing when the boat is in service. The load of the spar is carried by a steel beam inside the hull at the bottom of the inner rod, NOT AT THE DECK. The steel beam is free floating and can never be removed without cutting open the hull from the outside because cutting the inner liner means having to build back the liner glass in the most difficult and critical place of the boat. Forgettaboutit. Any how, back to the chain-plate. To re-bed (assuming you have a leak into the main cabin) the plates with the mast up, rig a preventer to keep the mast where you want it. Remove all shrouds attached to one plate. (Do one side at a time if the mast is up. Don't push your luck) Remove the screws. Get a big wrench and snuggle up to the plate. Treat it like a keel bolt and twist. (counter clockwise) The only thing holding it in place is caulk. After it breaks free, count the number of turns. It helps to know how many during re-install time. The rod you are turning probably won't tell you when it's free so after about ten or so turns, start pulling up on it after each turn so your counting means something. When it is free, remove the old caulk and reinstall with new goo. I used 5200. Mask around the chain-plate on the deck. It helps with cleanup. A trick is to wait to apply caulk around the shaft until the treads start to engage the steel plate of the hull liner. That keeps goo off of the shaft where it isn't needed below. If you want to get fancy, instead of using enough 5200 to reach the interior, just use enough to do the job topside. Then use white silicone to fill around the shaft from below. Looks nicer. Look, this is a lot of verbiage to describe a really simple job. The only thing you are doing is rebeding. Like a hatch. That's all these boats need. They are not like the boats in that article. None of that bad stuff can happen to this design.
First off. The connection at the deck does little. One could argue that it secures the top of the plate to keep the rod centered. But the main function of the four little screws is to keep the plate from unscrewing when the boat is in service. The load of the spar is carried by a steel beam inside the hull at the bottom of the inner rod, NOT AT THE DECK. The steel beam is free floating and can never be removed without cutting open the hull from the outside because cutting the inner liner means having to build back the liner glass in the most difficult and critical place of the boat. Forgettaboutit. Any how, back to the chain-plate. To re-bed (assuming you have a leak into the main cabin) the plates with the mast up, rig a preventer to keep the mast where you want it. Remove all shrouds attached to one plate. (Do one side at a time if the mast is up. Don't push your luck) Remove the screws. Get a big wrench and snuggle up to the plate. Treat it like a keel bolt and twist. (counter clockwise) The only thing holding it in place is caulk. After it breaks free, count the number of turns. It helps to know how many during re-install time. The rod you are turning probably won't tell you when it's free so after about ten or so turns, start pulling up on it after each turn so your counting means something. When it is free, remove the old caulk and reinstall with new goo. I used 5200. Mask around the chain-plate on the deck. It helps with cleanup. A trick is to wait to apply caulk around the shaft until the treads start to engage the steel plate of the hull liner. That keeps goo off of the shaft where it isn't needed below. If you want to get fancy, instead of using enough 5200 to reach the interior, just use enough to do the job topside. Then use white silicone to fill around the shaft from below. Looks nicer. Look, this is a lot of verbiage to describe a really simple job. The only thing you are doing is rebeding. Like a hatch. That's all these boats need. They are not like the boats in that article. None of that bad stuff can happen to this design.
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