Keel Bolts

[Buchido]

I have an older Catalina 27, and was wondering if there is a way to tell if the keel bolts need to be replaced. The top of the bolts look in good condition but can you take them out one at a time to inspect/replace the rest of the bolt and just rely on the remaining 5 bolts to keep the keel on the bottom?

I haven't been able to find any good info on this. Catalina direct does sell replacement keel bolt kits but it seems you have to redrill the hole. I can see that being necessary if the bolt is seized or strips threads when you remove it. Or maybe the bolts aren't able to be removed? But I would only want to resort to that if the bolts were in poor condition and needed replacement.

Lastly, any thoughts on epoxying the bolts to prevent corrosion. I heard some people do it but others say that it will lead to a more corrosive annoxic environment.

I know I would sleep easier if I could figure out the condition of the keel bolts.

Thanks,

Steve

[boatman61]

Well.... theres a school of thought that you place the blade of a long screw driver against where the bolt comes through the nut... stick your best ear to the handle then give the nut a fair tap with a small ballpin hammer.. should be a nice clean sound... do this to all noting the sound... any dull thuds may be considered suspect.
No Guarantees...

[Buchido]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Well.... theres a school of thought that you place the blade of a long screw driver against where the bolt comes through the nut... stick your best ear to the handle then give the nut a fair tap with a small ballpin hammer.. should be a nice clean sound... do this to all noting the sound... any dull thuds may be considered suspect.
No Guarantees...

Interesting idea but I wouldn't want to bet on my hearing ability.

So I'm guessing there is no way to remove the keel bolts to inspect them?

In that case how about x-ray/gamma ray like they do on welds or castings to look for imperfections. Has anyone thought of trying that?

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Buchido

Interesting idea but I wouldn't want to bet on my hearing ability.

So I'm guessing there is no way to remove the keel bolts to inspect them?

In that case how about x-ray/gamma ray like they do on welds or castings to look for imperfections. Has anyone thought of trying that?

Quite common. Do a search, I've talked about methods for inspecting keel bolts without removing them several times on various threads. Ask your surveyor for local sources.

[DeepFrz]

It depends on whether or not they are threaded into the keel or if they are a J bolt. If threaded in then you may be able to get them out one at a time. If they are J bolt then the only way to check them is to drop the keel.