great mysteries of the sea

[Squidly-Diddly]

Just managed (mangled, really) the handles off my Tarpon 16i. The were attached with about 1/4" bolts with Nylock nuts on inside.

Mystery is how did they get the nuts and washers on the inside? I could see MAYBE the side handles if they had some special factory jig, but how about STERN handle???

I'm thinking I'll hog the holes out to about 1/2" then install M12 threaded rivets. Google AI says it wont work because the rivets need a hard surface and plastic is too soft. I'm gonna do a few rivets only grabbing "air" to see how they form without hard metal to crush against.

Plan F would be weld all the holes closed and go with this style of handles with dual rivets. Seems like it would tend to put all the stress on only the inner-most rivets, but seems to be highly rated product. I'd have put the rivets side-by-side instead of in-line but maybe I'm wrong.

 

[montero]

As you can see, screw mounting that way is a poor idea. They were probably pre-installed before the kayak halves were welded together, if that's how it was done.
I would weld 1/4-inch-thick plates (better bit thicker) on the outside with flange nuts embedded from below . The problem is the welder.

 

[montero]

Or less ideal .Put C-shaped handles inside . Use ss or alu .
It would be best if the long C-piece was flat and the short C-pieces were threaded.
A wide metal washer on the outside, preferably with a second flexible washer, will slightly reduce the risk of tearing the PE.
You could also make rotating wings on the short C-pieces, which would be unfolded at 45 degrees and screwed in from the outside.

 

[Skip Johnson]

You might try some of the plastic fasteners made for gypsum drywall (sheetrock) substituting ss screws for the plated steel that normally come in the pack.

 

[Tops]

You might try some of the plastic fasteners made for gypsum drywall (sheetrock) substituting ss screws for the plated steel that normally come in the pack.

I bought a used Sunfish where someone used the blue plastic cone drywall fittings to repair the mounting screw locations for the bronze upper rudder bracket. Long story short the screws backed out while sailing, I lost helm control, and I ended up opening up the deck to replace the bow handle and upper and lower rudder mounting blocks.

 

[kapnD]

Doesn’t that hatch adjacent to the location open up to belowdecks?

 

[HelmutSheina]

This is 304, not sure if they come in 316 but would this work? I use them to fix towel rails on gypsum sheet.

[Hot Item] High Quality 304 Stainless Steel Toggle Bolt M3-M8

Size: 2mm-10mm, 6#-3/8" Surface Tratment: Polishing Transport Package: in Cartons, on Pallet. Specification: Non Standard Toggle Wings, Toggle Bolts Trademark: WELL BOLT Origin: China

m.made-in-china.com

 

[montero]

Need big holes for this.