Hola fellow forum-ites,
As I have been completely rebuilding our
boat over the the last two years I have had to address this issue many times over. I removed any and all deck fittings such as
cleats, chain plates, winches, clutches, stanchions, hatches,
portlights,
windlass,
mast step, strongpoints,......etc etc etc. Since I fabricated and installed G10
backing plates for nearly all deck hardware this resulted in most of the fasteners being too short. Most of them were easily
solved with new and longer 316SS fasteners. Some, such as all the grab rails had the studs welded directly to the bottom of the rail. Easiest solution was to
purchase the right diameter bolt, obviously plenty long, then I cut off the old stud as well as the
head of the new and longer bolt. Then welded the new longer fastener to the bottom of the grab rail mount. Any local welder can do this
work in a short period of time for what should be a reasonable fee. Since my hardware was all 316ss I used 316ss fasteners as well as 316ss rod when welding on the new fasteners. Clearly you could also use all thread and just cut the length pieces you needed to weld on. Last step was a little polishing with a Dremel and some rouge to remove the heat signature marks form the welding process.
Safe Journeys,
~Jake
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