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Just bought a 1988 Montauk, the previous owner ran her without the railings on. Now, they are re-attached, but the screws holding down the Front Port and Starboard rails, screwed straight down into the deck, are stripped, screws are fine, but they're not holding..... What are some suggestions for re-attaching? Bigger screws, fill the holes.....but with what? Please help, this is the first boat I've owned and I don't want to screw this up. Also, we NEED the rails down, with the HP that this boat has, they're good for catching our kids from being flipped out!
This question has been answered here a thousand times already, but here it goes again.
The screws are #10, so drill out the holes 3/8" (twice the screw diameter) all the way until you hit foam.
Pack the hole flush with "white Marine Tex" epoxy, wet sand flush, buff up gelcoat area as necessary to original shine. the Marine Tex will bond to both the fiberglass skin and the wood underlayment.
Center punch the center of each filled hole, and re-drill for the #10 screws. Be sure you drill a large enough hole, so the threads only bite into the epoxy.
This will be a permanent fix that will last forever, while at the same time not letting in any water, since the screw is totally encased in the epoxy plug. The white fill will not show under the rail base.
I did this exact repair on the bow rail bases of my Outrage 25, 20 years ago, and they are still rock solid.
I drilled the holes a little larger and injected with a syringe the holes with a 2 part "wood rot" repair material. This material from Jamestown Distributors is good also for holding screws. Make sure dry with rotten wood, if any, out with drilling if possible. Get air out as material drains in. I went hole to hole over 45 minutes as the wood rot material ran in. This process was for vertical holes. I used 5200 on horizontal holes, packed in as much as possible. Seem VERY SOLID now, as screws would not strip out with substantial torque.
Thanks for the reply Paul, and instructions. I'm new to the site, and found it hard to search for these. I greatly appreciate the feedback.....will give it a whirl once I pull the boat out (sounds WAY easier to complete on land, no?).
It is also helpful to run a countersink bit on the holes after you've done all of this. It relieves the stress on the hole, prevents spiderweb cracks from forming and also helps to bed the rail to the deck with whatever sealant you choose.
I clean and ream the holes and use a small hardwood shim splinter (sometimes 2 small splinters) with 2 part epoxy. I save Finnegan's method in case this one fails.
