I need to re-bed the grab bars on my Hunter 30. All of the screw heads are covered with teak plugs. Do I just drill them out or is there another way to get them out?
Removing Grab Bars
- Thread starter Nereussailor
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Grab bars
I have drilled out plugs for other repair jobs. Use a smaller drill and pop out the plug after the hole is made. Sometimes they come right out? Z
I have drilled out plugs for other repair jobs. Use a smaller drill and pop out the plug after the hole is made. Sometimes they come right out? Z
just did this....
I just did the same job on my '78 Hunter 30. If your handrails are varnished, make sure you use a heat gun to remove the varnish surrounding the teak plugs, or they'll take out some of the surrounding teak from the rails when you remove the plugs. Once the varnish on the plugs is gone, they're easy to remove with a drill, but be careful not to drill into the underlying screw head. The handrails on the H30s are not throughbolted. They're simply screwed into the deck. This means there's a hole through the fiberglass deck, through which water can enter the plywood core of the deck. Water BAD!! When the handrails are off the boat, drill the screwholes oversize (about 1") and fill them with epoxy. After the epoxy sets, you can redrill the screw holes and mount the handrails into solid epoxy with no way for water to enter the plywood core.
I just did the same job on my '78 Hunter 30. If your handrails are varnished, make sure you use a heat gun to remove the varnish surrounding the teak plugs, or they'll take out some of the surrounding teak from the rails when you remove the plugs. Once the varnish on the plugs is gone, they're easy to remove with a drill, but be careful not to drill into the underlying screw head. The handrails on the H30s are not throughbolted. They're simply screwed into the deck. This means there's a hole through the fiberglass deck, through which water can enter the plywood core of the deck. Water BAD!! When the handrails are off the boat, drill the screwholes oversize (about 1") and fill them with epoxy. After the epoxy sets, you can redrill the screw holes and mount the handrails into solid epoxy with no way for water to enter the plywood core.
Easy Plug removal
Cut the head off a 1-1/2" wood screw and clamp the top end of the screw in a variable speed drill. Center the screw in the plug and slowly screw it in. It will remove the plug once the wood sctew bottoms out on the screw below, leaving a clean hole for removal of the larger attaching screw and for replacing the wood pluggs when you re-install the rails.
Cut the head off a 1-1/2" wood screw and clamp the top end of the screw in a variable speed drill. Center the screw in the plug and slowly screw it in. It will remove the plug once the wood sctew bottoms out on the screw below, leaving a clean hole for removal of the larger attaching screw and for replacing the wood pluggs when you re-install the rails.
Thanks!
Thanks for the tips I knew someone out there had done this before and had an easy way to do it. Dave
Thanks for the tips I knew someone out there had done this before and had an easy way to do it. Dave
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