Bent Hand Railing

raybo3

OK I need a little help. I was in a slip and untying my boat when a wind gust blew my boat into the boat next to me and bent my hand rail. I have a guy the will repair it but I need to know how to access the nuts that hold the flange in place. Thanks in advance for any help. 

randy56

@Handymans342 changed his, he will know.

Handymans342

Wow you are in for the job of the century bro. You will have to call me

zaverin1

Lol

Liberty44140

I re sealed one of my stanchions years ago. Mine was just above the shelf over the setee. I removed the shelf and then cut a small square hole in the liner to get to the nuts. Then glued a new piece of vinyl in to patch the liner. Since it’s above the shelf you’d never know the patch is there. Used butyl tape to seal.

Black_Diamond

Doable. Have to cut into the headliner. Get into the anchor rode area for those two. The worst ones are on the port side by the head. Virtually impossible to get to without cutting into the wall. 

It may be easier to take out a section by cutting the rail and have it rewelded in place. 

raybo3

@Black_Diamond yeah a friend of mine has a guy and he will do it in place. I just have to get to the one flange that is bent. I was kind of figuring that I would have to cut the liner. No big deal its on SB side in the v-berth. Thanks for all the reply's everyone. 

Black_Diamond

You can feel where the fasteners are before cutting. They are slobbered with caulk you need to pry off. Use butyl tape to reseal. Good luck!!

raybo3

Black_Diamond said:

You can feel where the fasteners are before cutting. They are slobbered with caulk you need to pry off. Use butyl tape to reseal. Good luck!!

Thank you 

Black_Diamond

You can see where I cut to gain access. Careful feeling for the fasteners minimizes any cut errors. 

raybo3

Thanks Chris thats a big help

LaRea

Do you have any rust stains weeping from the stanchion bases?  That was a problem with my 342.  If yes, now's a good time to re-bed them, despite the pain.  

raybo3

LaRea said:

Do you have any rust stains weeping from the stanchion bases?  That was a problem with my 342.  If yes, now's a good time to re-bed them, despite the pain.  

Yes but only on the one that got bent. That might be the only good thing to come out of this. BTW is the railing 1 1/8"? 

Liberty44140

Yes, mine is 1 1/8

raybo3

@Liberty44140 thanks.

LaRea

Black_Diamond said:

They are slobbered with caulk you need to pry off. ...

What @Black_Diamond said is key:  Until you chisel off the caulk, you can't get a wrench or socket onto the bolt.  Simply reaching the bolt is only half of the battle.  Then it's a blind wrestling match. 

I did mine using nothing but cuss words and a one-handed box knife.  I wonder if a Dremel might have been a better choice.  Just need to cut a place for the socket to get seated.  

aero3113

Can you use a pair of vice grips over the caulk then loosen the screws? Do the same to tighten the screws?

raybo3

So it looks like 3 little screws is going to be a giant cluster f#(k. lol A buddy of mine has a guy that has done this before and is coming next week. I will post what happens. Wish me luck.....lol

GMSLITHO

Can you just drill the heads off and replace the screws 

LaRea

You could drill, but you'd still have to remove the caulk to install the new bolts.  

raybo3

@GMSLITHO you just gave me a thought. What if I drill the heads off the screws, repair the railing and just glue new screw heads for looks. I would assume that that stanchions would fit nice and tight.......... LOL

GMSLITHO

If you drill the heads off you could knock out the old screws and replace with new ones I don’t think epoxy would be strong enough 

Black_Diamond

You will almost certainly need to replace the screws. Most of mine were bent from tightening against a non flat surface (nut/washer side).

LaRea

@GMSLITHO you could definitely remove the old bolts by drilling off the heads.  Then what?  You need a flat surface for the new nut and washer.  So the old caulk has to come out, one way or another.  

@raybo3 you want a long-lasting solution?  Remove every bit of the caulk on the underside, and install a drilled-in-place backing plate that covers all three bolts, with butyl tape on both sides of everything. 

Easy for me to say ... but I would have done that, had I known then what I know now. 

raybo3

I was only kidding about putting glue on the screw heads. I have someone coming this week to weld the on a new piece of stanchion. I will keep everyone posted.  

GMSLITHO

Weld ? From the picture it looks like it’s lifted ou some from the deck what I meant from drilling the heads off you could then knock out the studs no problem with just a small hole in the liner then replace with new screws 

raybo3

@GMSLITHO look a little higher on the stanchion it is bent up pretty good. It is going to have to be cut and a new piece added with a new flange on the bottom. 

GMSLITHO

got it