motor mount holes

[jimbow912]

i have a 85 sea ray cc. the 4 bolt holes that the motor mounts bolts down on the boat 2 on both sides they seem that they are striped out what will be the best way to fix them

 

[jimbow912]

stringers i just found out what they are called:huh:

 

[vernh59]

What do you mean "stripped out?" Is the wood wet in the stringer? If the wood is dry and the stringer is in good shape I think I would fill the whole with Epoxy "Kitty Hair" and re-drill the hole.
Pictures are always helpful.

 

[speakrdude]

I mix up some West Epoxy and dilute 25% with Acetone. Mix thoroughly. Almost as thin as water. Pour in each hole, and keep topping off as needed. The mixture is slower to harden as the Acetone flashes off, but after it fills every void, nook, and crevace, It is rock hard. Just pilot drill new holes. Good as new! Always important too check engine aligment afterwards.

 

[fwebster]

Thinned West Systems isn't as strong as just pure epoxy. I frequently thin it to get coverage and to get the epoxy to soak into dry wood, but in this case since the engine mounts are bigger than screws and must withstand a lot of vibration, I would use a slightly different approach.

Since you are filling a blind hole, I would first drill out the hole with a drill bit slightly larger than the existing hole to remove all the old rust filled wood to get to a good solid interior surface. Blow it out, then use thinned epoxy (resin, hardner and about 25% acetone) to coat the inside and bottom of the hole. Use a brush and apply several coats, but don't try to fill the hole with thinned epoxy. When it begins to kick, mix up another batch of epoxy, don't thin it, but thicken it with #404 high density filler to a consistancy about like cheap catsup, then inject it in the whole using a syringe so you are filling from the bottom up. Done this way, the thinned epoxy soaks into the wood and forms a chemical bond with the thick epoxy that holds the threads on the engine mount lag screws.

 

[Bt Doctur]

1 Remove engine, cut open stringer beds, replace with new wood or replace stringer up to good wood
2 remove engine, drill hole to 1 inch dia., resin/epoxy in a 1 inch hardwood dowel,pilot drill new holes
3 support engine, remove mount, epoxy and glass to fill hole
The important thing to remember with any repair is the amount of stress/torque on the motor mounts. Loose/rotted mounts will lead to engine coupler failure from the motor torquing over.

 

[jimbow912]

how much will it cost to fix to have some one cut out and put new wood in and reglass it

 

[fwebster]

Have the stringers gotten wet and rotted, or have the lag bolts holding the engine mounts just gotten loose from wallowing around while not tight? If the stringers are dry and not rotted, then you can jack up the engine to get a little room, remove the mount from the engine then follow post #4 & 5. If the stringer is wet and rotten, then you are in for an expensive ride and it will be impossible for anyone here to estimate the cost until you determine how much of the stringer is wet and must be cut out and replaced.

 

[jimbow912]

i just bought the boat and was going over thing and the bolts were lose i tryed to tight them up but they wont grip the first one i pulled out was 5'' long then i went out to get a next size thicker when i came back to replace them the first bolt i pulled was the first one to replace it did not really grip much and when i pulled out the other one that one was 3 1/2'' long?? so i put the 5'' in and that worked when i went down past the 3'' and it sound like it went into some good wood so what can that tell me?

 

[fwebster]

Try this........remove the lag bolts and wrap a piece of paper towel in a small stick. Run it down in thew hole and see if it comes back out dry. Then take a probe, like a small scrww driver and test the bottom of the holes to see if they are solid and not spongy. If the holes are dry and solid, I would first try the approach in post #5. That is the simplest and least expensive approach that should work well if the stringers are not rotted. Run the boat this year and see if the repair holds. If it doesn't, all you have lost is a little time. You can always go to the major surgery approach later since it requires cutting away the stringer hole and replacing the wood.

Good luck with it...........

 

[jimbow912]

thanks ill try that