How do I repair a loose snap that screwed into the hull

Uplate said:
I need to do a few of these. I guess this is the method I will try. some PO used the Molly/Wall fastner, which really screwed the pooch. the screw head was too big fo the snap to even work...so a useless exercise in futility.

I have some RC modelling expoxy laying around. I figure expoxy is epoxy...No?
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+10 - I've done it the same way. Works fabulously. :thumbsup:
 
Late last summer I had to fill in a bunch of holes around the back of my bridge where the old studs were for the lift the dot fasteners. I ended up getting the thing that looks like a hypodermic needle (for flushing wounds) out of the first aid kit and filled it with epoxy. It fit in the holes perfectly and I was able to fill them up with the epoxy well. I used a gel coat repair kit on top of it, sanded it, compounded it and now you can't tell the holes were ever there... although you don't need to worry about the gel coat repair, the injector thing worked well... I think Stan or Skip came up with that hair brained idea while watching me trying to put epoxy in a little hole with a tooth pick and it worked well.
 
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I've got all sorts of awesome tools for drilling and filling holes. But my material of choice is white Marine Tex. Matches my faded old gel coat perfectly!
 
Nope... he gets a fresh kit every 2 weeks to replenish what he has used...
 
Four Suns said:
Late last summer I had to fill in a bunch of holes around the back of my bridge where the old studs were for the lift the dot fasteners. I ended up getting the thing that looks like a hypodermic needle (for flushing wounds) out of the first aid kit and filled it with epoxy. It fit in the holes perfectly and I was able to fill them up with the epoxy well. I used a gel coat repair kit on top of it, sanded it, compounded it and now you can't tell the holes were ever there... although you don't need to worry about the gel coat repair, the injector thing worked well... I think Stan or Skip came up with that hair brained idea while watching me trying to put epoxy in a little hole with a tooth pick and it worked well.
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Gary-

I have seen epoxy that comes in a twin tube. Harderner and Epoxy squirt out at the the same time for equal part mixing. You still have to stir. You must be using the Hypo to inject pre mixed.?

So my questions is...if there is a big air gap behind the hole, what do you put in to keep the epoxy from dripping down on the inside of the hollow hull? Maybe a paper towel or something stuffed in (Foam) to keep the epoxy near the hole and not running down. You have to keep this from happening to create a solid plug in which to drill.


From my old RC days, I remember a trick to add baking soda to epoxy to make it more thick and not runny.

Nice to revive a post almost two years old!
 
rondds said:
I've got all sorts of awesome tools for drilling and filling holes. But my material of choice is white Marine Tex. Matches my faded old gel coat perfectly!
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Ron- I assume the Marine Tex has a white-ish finish color.

I had thought abouth using JB Weld in the hole and then covering with Gel coat...probably not an elegant solution since the JB is a grey product but bonds anything to anything in my experience.

Where do you get the Marine Tex? Online?
 
I've been using plastic screw mollys, like for yiour home dry wall work. I drill out the failed screw hole a little, then tap in the plastic shield/molly and then screw in the snap. This works great, uses the same hole, holds very well and is quick.

A box 100 of these costs about 2.00 Bucks.
 
Asureyez said:
I've been using plastic screw mollys, like for yiour home dry wall work. I drill out the failed screw hole a little, then tap in the plastic shield/molly and then screw in the snap. This works great, uses the same hole, holds very well and is quick.

A box 100 of these costs about 2.00 Bucks.
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Chad, Makes sense, but hard to beleive that the platic anchors have enough grip in thin wall Fiberglass.

cheap enought to give it a try though!
 
Gary is not far off track in his lateset approach. You can buy 'hypodermic' like injectors from any place that carries a full line of West Systems. They are made for injecting glue. mix your glue like always, then pour it into the injector base, stick the top in and start gluing! Because they are made from a plastic that epoxy won't stick to, they can be used several times. These are perfect for filling screw holes.

Henry
 
fwebster said:
The problem with any caulking, sealer or glue, except epoxy, it that it is a temporary fix. Sooner or later the snap is going to come loose again. When it does, the calking reidue left behind will prevent you from getting a good bond with resin or epoxy.

Most snaps are #6 screws; get a few #7 screw snaps. If you want a different approach, use pop rivits, as long as you can reach behind the snap to install a backing washer on the rivit before crimping it. But my favorite method is to use thickened West Systems Epoxy to fill the hole, then redrill, countersink the gelcoat and install a new snap.
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Thanks Frank-

I wnt to WM today and bought a small West systems kit that has everything you need for this type of work. Epoxy, thickener, syringes, mixing cups, gloves all for around 22 bucks.

Their website has some great videos of how to use their products as well.

thanks everybody!
 
Where do you get the Marine Tex?
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Marine Tex comes in grey and white. I picked it up in West Marine.
 
Great ideas on how to fix the snaps! However, I can not find where to order the snaps. I can find how to order the snaps for the covers, but not the snap that goes on the haul. Anyone have any good websites to order the snaps?
 
Got a few more questions. How do you know if you are using metal studs or wood studs? And how do you figure out the size? If this helps I have a 99 180BR Sea Ray.

Thanks!
 
I use a plastic insert that you find at local hardware. Tap into the old hole. Cut off then screw the same snap in there. Takes about 30 seconds and brand new. The 5200 etc thing is too messy and does not hold as good as these do.
 
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