I'm going to share a project I did, because I don't think of myself as the most handy guy but I manged to successfully rebed a chainplate on my C310. I've had a leak around one of the big chainplates that is bolted to the starboard bulkhead down below, so this year I decided to delay going in the water so I could get some projects done, once of which was this effort.
In trying to figure out where to begin, I read this article (thanks to Jesse!):
https://marinehowto.com/bed-it-tape/
So I purchased Bed-It Butyl Tape and used it for the job. First, I had to take all the bolts off.
Next, I had to pull the bar up through the deck, which is when I discovered some type of silicone sealant had been used by one of the 2 prior owners.
So I cleaned and scraped and got it all cleared out. I used Acetone to clean the screws and the bar and the plate. In this photo I was about 50% of the way done with scraping off the old sealant.
Then I just followed the process from the web site I linked to above, wrapping the screws top and bottom, and putting buytl tape under the plate that screws into the deck (there are no washers or nuts for this small plate, the screws just go into the deck. I then took several wraps with the tape around the bar where it goes through the plate and made sure it was nice and sealed. I then continued with the slow process of taking a lot of time (24 hours) to slowly work the screws into the deck. (I just realized I don't have a picture of the final result, I'll have to get one this weekend). Really, the web site procedure is easy to follow and made this job a snap.
The end result is that right after I completed the job I left the country and wasn't on the boat for nearly 3 weeks, and the last week it rained almost every day. When I got on the boat I checked where the leak had been and it was completely dry! I also took a hose and ran water all around the chainplate and then checked again and it remained dry! I was very happy that it worked!
My mast will go up on Sunday and I'll see if everything still holds for the season. Based on the results so far, I highly recommend the buytl tape and the website instructions.
In trying to figure out where to begin, I read this article (thanks to Jesse!):
https://marinehowto.com/bed-it-tape/
So I purchased Bed-It Butyl Tape and used it for the job. First, I had to take all the bolts off.
Next, I had to pull the bar up through the deck, which is when I discovered some type of silicone sealant had been used by one of the 2 prior owners.
So I cleaned and scraped and got it all cleared out. I used Acetone to clean the screws and the bar and the plate. In this photo I was about 50% of the way done with scraping off the old sealant.
Then I just followed the process from the web site I linked to above, wrapping the screws top and bottom, and putting buytl tape under the plate that screws into the deck (there are no washers or nuts for this small plate, the screws just go into the deck. I then took several wraps with the tape around the bar where it goes through the plate and made sure it was nice and sealed. I then continued with the slow process of taking a lot of time (24 hours) to slowly work the screws into the deck. (I just realized I don't have a picture of the final result, I'll have to get one this weekend). Really, the web site procedure is easy to follow and made this job a snap.
The end result is that right after I completed the job I left the country and wasn't on the boat for nearly 3 weeks, and the last week it rained almost every day. When I got on the boat I checked where the leak had been and it was completely dry! I also took a hose and ran water all around the chainplate and then checked again and it remained dry! I was very happy that it worked!
My mast will go up on Sunday and I'll see if everything still holds for the season. Based on the results so far, I highly recommend the buytl tape and the website instructions.
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