[C320-list] Rebeding Chain Plates

[Arthur Miller]

The earlier articles mention at some point Catalina went to a solid deck in the area of the chain plates.  Does anyone know what Hull # that might have started with?
Art.   #680. 

Sent from my iPad

> On Nov 6, 2015, at 6:43 PM, Allan S Field <allan.field at verizon.net> wrote:
> 
> From my personal archives...
> 
> I had a problem with the middle stanchion on the port side.  The following
> is plagiarized from this forum (be glad to give credit to the original
> author...if I remembered who it was) :
> 
> 1.. Move your cushions far away from the big mess you are about to make and
> also get the table out of your way. Place some rags or an old towel under
> the work area.
>  2.. Remove the shroud.
>  3.. Remove the strut. Remember the sequence and position of the spacer and
> washers at the bottom of the strut. Mark the spacer so you know which side
> is up. A crows-foot socket makes loosening (and tightening) the nuts on the
> bottom of the strut a little easier. The strut holds a bit of tension
> between the deck and the beam that is built into the liner. Notice how many
> turns it takes before the upper nut on the bottom of the strut comes loose
> and releases that tension. This will help when you reinstall and re-tension
> the strut. Typically the nut will come loose after about 1 1/2 turns.
>  4.. Remove the 4 Phillips head thru-bolts. The threads may be galled so
> you might need to purchase new ones, 1/4 x 20 x 1.5".
>  5.. Remove the tang (step on it).
>  6.. Mask the deck around the trim plate so clean-up after caulking is a
> little easier.
>  7.. Pry the trim plate off of the deck.
>  8.. The hole in the deck is larger than the tang and is filled with caulk.
> Clean out all of the old caulk.
>  9.. If the deck has a wooden core, clean out any rotten wood, let the core
> dry and fill the void with an appropriate filler.
>  10.. Clean the deck and cabin liner surfaces with a razor scraper, gasket
> scraper, Dremel tool, wire brush or any other suitable tool, and wipe them
> down with acetone.
>  11.. Use a chamfering bit to lightly chamfer the screw holes and a file to
> chamfer the larger hole.
>  12.. Install the tang with the 4 screws but without the trim plate. You
> don't need to use any caulk on the underside of the tang. If the topside is
> sealed there doesn't seem to be any purpose to it. If the topside seal
> breaks, the underside caulking might keep some water out of the boat, but it
> 
> might also mask the problem while your deck rots.
>  13.. Fill the space around the tang with Boat Life's Life-Calk and let it
> cure overnight. Life-Calk is available in caulk gun tubes which are easier
> to use than the smaller squeeze tubes when filling a large area.
>  14.. Trim the dried caulk around the tang so that it is flush with the
> deck.
>  15.. Remove the Phillips bolts.
>  16.. Put a heavy bead of caulk around the tang.
>  17.. Put some caulk in each bolt hole.
>  18.. Put a bead of caulk on the deck around each bolt hole.
>  19.. Carefully place the trim plate in position. Use a couple of bolts to
> align it as you press it down firmly and force the caulk up between the
> plate and the tang.
>  20.. Put some caulk under the head of each bolt and push the bolts into
> the holes while pulling up on the tang. Don't push the tang down and ruin
> the seal.
>  21.. Tighten the 4 bolts. It would help to have someone on hand to assist
> with this step but it can be managed without assistance.
>  22.. Clean up the caulk and remove the tape.
>  23.. Attach the strut. Hand tighten the upper nut until snug, and then use
> a wrench to tighten it approximately another 1 1/2 turns.
>  24.. Attach the shroud.
> *****************************************
> 
> For those to timid to attack a leaking chain plate, here is what I found.
> The prepurchase survey reported moisture in the center chain plate port and
> starboard. 
> 
> I removed the shrouds from the plate. There is simply no other way. Mark the
> threads with tape then back off the adjuster counting the turns.  This will
> make retensioning the shrouds easier.  Now, completely remove the plate from
> the hull. Dig out all the old caulk to expose the cut edges of the deck.
> Those of you who have water entering the salon will almost certainly have
> water soaked balsa core in the deck.  
> 
> In later models of the 320, Catalina saw fit to make the deck solid
> fiberglass where the chain plates pass through. This was not the case with
> #26. The balsa core was so wet it crumbled without the support of the caulk.
> There is no choice but to remove the soaked core, fill the void with epoxy
> filler, and recaulk the entire opening.
> 
> One way is to bend a nail to create a 1/2" hook. Remove the head and put the
> nail in a power drill.  Use this to remove as much of the balsa core as
> possible.  Let the opening stand long enough to dry more of the core.  Use
> hair dryer or other mechanical means.
> 
> When dry, mix epoxy with a slow cure hardner and lots of filler to make a
> peanut butter paste.  (I recommend the West System product.) Next tape over
> the deck opening from the inside. Now, with whatever tools you can muster,
> force the putty into the space between the deck and liner taking great pains
> to fill in a circular manner so as to force out as much air as possible. Let
> fully cure. Then reassamble the chain plate with polysuflide caulk or
> polysulfide/silicone product.  
> 
> Another method I've heard about is to again seal the opening from the inside
> and complete fill the opening, the entire opening with an epoxy mix that
> will flow.  When hard, simply drill out a new opening through the now solid
> epoxy deck.  
> 
> Do not delay doing this another season. The rotting core will only get
> worse.  It's not really that bad of a job.  If you don't count yoursefe
> handy, do have a yard do the work.  Soft decks can make an otherwise clean
> boat very hard to sell.
> **************************
> Jeff's instructions give some fine details and will solve some of the
> problems I encountered. I'd add that I used a chamfering bit to bevel the
> screw holes in the deck. I'm told this gives a better "pocket" of caulk
> between the screw and deck. Chamfering is recommended with any screws
> through the deck.
> 
> I used a pocket knife to loosen the caulk then pulled it out with pliers.
> The excess old caulk on the deck I removed with a dremel tool and small wire
> brush. Use care to only remove the caulk and not burn the gelcoat on the
> deck not that appearance matters as this area should be under the plate.
> 
> Do not buy squeeze tubes of caulk. I use LifeCaulk by BoatLife. The stuff is
> very stiff in the tube and squeezing it out to fill the void is difficult.
> My store has tubes of LifeCaulk for use with a caulkiing gun. There are both
> the normal long tubes and short tubes. A short tube is enough for both
> center plates. Use a long tube if you are going to do all six. 
> 
> Doing it in two stages as Jeff instructs is the way to go. I did it in one
> step and believe me, Jeff's way is easier. That is fill the space around the
> tang to the deck, let it cure overnight, then do the plate and screws as
> Jeff says.
> 
> Finally, my experts advise to not tighten the screws fully in assembling the
> deck plate. Instead, just slightly more than hand-tight. Let it cure a day
> or two this way to establish a layer of caulk. Then, when the screws are
> tightened the caulk won't be squeezed out leaving to thin a bead under the
> plate.
> 
> Now, if some enterprising person would organize the suggestions in this
> thread, we'd have a nice technical piece for the 320 website.
> 
> ***************************************
> It is recommended to use the Woolsey Dolfinite Bedding Compound.  It does
> not set up like others such as 3M 5200 or ooze as Silicon products.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: C320-list [mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On Behalf
> Of ROBERT MILLER
> Sent: Friday, November 6, 2015 5:11 PM
> To: c320-list at lists.catalina320.com
> Subject: [C320-list] Rebeding Chain Plates
> 
> One of my chain plates has started leaking, and I'm looking for the best
> procedure to re-seal them. I found reference to step by step instructions on
> this job in the archives, but can't find the actual instructions in the
> archives or in the articles on the 320 owners site. Does anyone have these
> that they could share?
> Thanks,
> Rob Miller
> Alchemy #571
> Sidney BC
> 
> Sent from my iPad
>