CONTINUOUSWAVE

I have a 1998 Dauntless 13 and am the original owner. The anchor locker hinges have three stainless screws with a plastic [barrel nut] on backside. The [barrel nut] has a Phillips head with a flat flange approximately 1/16-inch thick x 1/2-inch diameter, with a 1/2-inch-long x 5/16-inch diameter body; the inside diameter is approximately 1/4-inch-diameter. I would like to replace with the plastic [barrel nuts] but I cannot find them, nor can I find the original part numbers.

The plastic ones lasted 21 years and I like the fact that they will (presumably) fail before any other damage occurs if used improperly.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Les

Welcome to CW.

I would review McMaster-Carr's offerings.
https://www.mcmaster.com/sex-bolts

If you don't see what you are looking for or want an easier route, contact Sue Lodel, Parts Manager @ Twin Cities Marine. She is the Whaler parts guru. Tell her we sent you.

http://www.beacontcm.com

Thanks Phil. I found the sex bolts but they are steel, i really want plastic. Although I may have to go to steel.

I just went through somewhat of the same repair on my Dauntless 160.

I had lots of gelcoat to fix on the non-skid part of the anchor locker hatch and was going to paint it with non-skid deck paint anyway.

The hinges had come loose and water got into the wood or whale board that the anchor locker hatch is made of. The material was damaged and I had to destroy the original barrel nuts on the back side of the hinges to remove the hinges.

I drilled over size holes for the hinges, filled them with epoxy then drilled and tapped them.

I then just used stainless bolts.

See:

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/refere ... barrelNuts

For plastic barrel nuts, try Sue at Twin Cities Marine

I don’t see much advantage to using a plastic nut on a stainless steel machine screw. Perhaps the high cost of the stainless steel barrel nuts was a reason for Boston Whaler to change to plastic. At $6 each, the cost of a dozen barrel nuts per boat and a few thousand boats could add up to significant money.

I like the idea of plastics because it is the weakest link in that connection. With that being said; it is the first to break/ strip, not causing damage to hatch.
On that note- I will give Sue a call.

Thanks

After contacting Sue, I found out [from Boston Whaler} that "Boston Whaler never put plastic barrel nuts on their boats"

Since I am the original owner of this 13 DAUNTLESS and the boat was never sent to service, i tend to disagree with that statement. My assumption is, the production team drilled the hole oversized and instead of tossing the cover, they improvised and made it work. I will do the same.

I purchased some drywall anchors, ground off threads, cut to length, threaded end and installed. Looked just like the old ones and worked perfect.

Some would say, why not buy the steel or bronze [barrel nuts]? After discussions with Sue, the stock components were different dimensions and probably would fail quickly.The head size was 3/8-inch and the body was 1/4-inch. THe hole size on my boat was 5/16-inch, leaving 1/32-inch per side, for the head to grip---too close for me.

The job is complete. If i get another 21 years from these, I will be a happy boater. And recognition to Sue for all her help. Sue was great.

Your speculation that there was some damage or mistake in final assembly at the Boston Whaler factory seems possible, but very unusual. Maybe the selling dealer did something wrong and made a repair.

You could easily fill an oversize hole in the hatch with resin and filler. Once the resin had cured, you could redrill the hole to the proper size.

The OEM barrel nuts are a flat head design made of chrome plated brass and made by the Beckson Company. I did the same repair on the hatches on my 210 Outrage last summer. They look like the ones on the right side of the photo. They are sold by some obscure dealers online and maybe you can buy them direct from Beckson. They are not cheap and I suspect that my originals lasted 14 years, that the new ones will do the same. It should be noted that Boston Whaler coated all of the surfaces of the barrel nuts before installing them with white RTV. I suspect this was to prevent corrosion. I would not be impressed with plastic barrel nuts in any event, they are not Whaler quality.

Beckson sells directly to individual customers. I don’t know if you can place an order on line, but you can call them on the telephone and place an order.