? re. reinstalling deck hardware

At the end of last sailing season we purchased a vintage 1965 fiberglass sailboat 19' (Paceship Moutte) in length. The deck paint was solid but badly faded. So I've gone out and purchased enough primer and Interlux Brightside (one part polyurethane) to give the boat 2 coats of each. I'm in the process now of stripping the old paint off the deck. The perfectionist in me wants to remove all the deck hardware and do a great job. I am concerned about reinstalling the deck hardware.

My main concern is that some of it may be actually bolted to the deck -and- that without separating the deck from the hull I won't be able to re-bolt the hardware back on due to lack of access.

I know for sure that the rear port cleat is bolted on because I can see it, but can't reach it. Is there some type of general fix or work around for this? Or should I just let these sleeping dog lie?

You assistance is appreciated.

Have a Great Day,
Jim

 

Hi Jim,

If water's getting in around the deck hardware, removing and re-bedding it would be a prudent idea. However, a lot of production boats have parts assembled while the hull and deck are separate- which can make it very hard to get to things once the deck is installed. If that's the case, and it's not leaking, I'd probably just not bother..... of course, you could always try welding a socket wrench at a funny angle on the end of a four-foot steel rod.

 

Thats a real pain in the *** if not impossible without some serious extra work.

If you don't or can't remove you can scribe a line around the foot print of the offending piece of harware this will help to provide some tooth for you paint, carefully sand the deck, mask the hardware and it should help the paint not to release of peel.

Do your self a favor and really clean around all the harware with a strong solvent and a brush to get rid of any wax and contamination prior to sanding.

Post some photos of your progress