1994 Outrage 24 Remove Loose Bow Rail Screws

[Big Bend Brian]

[The] bow rail [on a 1994 OUTRAGE 24 boat] is loose. I tried to remove the screw fasteners, but they just spin. I can’t remove any of them.

Q1: Are these fasteners bolts or screws?


[I]I have tried leveraging the screw upwards. I’ve popped off one of the pan heads.[/1]

Give me advice to remove the rest of these screws without popping the pan heads off and leaving the screw body in the fiberglass.

If these are bolts there is no access to remove any nut. This should be an easy repair. I sure can’t figure out how to remove the screws Any help would be much appreciated--Brian

[NLA01]

Remove all screws that you can. Put a small wedge under the rail base and pry up on the base while turning the screws. This would remove the whole rail while you are doing this. Find a way brace-up rail in the boat as you are working to keep the rail from fall in or out of the boat.

Prying on the base will help the screw heads not break and and give you leverage.
Archie

[Phil T]

I use this technique a lot. ARCHIE almost has it. One more thing must be added: place a small (very small) block of wood under the shaft of the prying screwdriver to provide leverage when pushing down on the handle. Often the handle of another screwdriver works well. As you do this, turn the Phillips-headed driver.

You can't drill out the hole twice as large as original because the rail is still inplace. You can improve holding power by inserting end of smaller allen wrench into hole and gouging out foam a bit. Tape off area 3 to 4-inches around, fill hole half-full with gorilla glue (expanding polyurethane-based glue) and retap for screw.

[edit- to remove misspelling]

[Big Bend Brian]

Phil T thank you. I’ll try what you’ve suggested as well.

Thanks Archie too. So far all the screws spin and none have come out. I’ll try what you suggest.

Update: my local Boston Whaler dealer contacted BW and I was given this diagram depicting wood locations. It appears there are mahogany inserts that are ¾” thick by 4” x 15’ strips (under where the bow rail supports lay). They didn’t offer any idea of how to remove the screws.



Brian

[jimh]

It may have been new information for you but it is VERY typical that any screw fastener used on a Boston Whaler boat will be located so that it screws into an underlying reinforcement below the laminate surface, typically marine plywood or in some cases a composite board, often MELONITE.

Repair of loose rail base fasteners is a topic of many questions, so an answer has been prepared in the FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS article in the REFERENCE section of the website. If you are new to the website, you may not realize that there are many very well written and illustrated articles in the REFERNCE section. The forum is not the only resource of information. See

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/FAQ

As many textbooks on algebra would say, removal of the loose screws is left as an exercise for the student.