New Chainplates for my T37 #49 HELP PLEASE!

theoden · **Joined:** 18 Jan 2021 20:46 **Posts:** 43

Arrrgh!

I’ve started down the road on this project. I’m attempting to pull out the cabinet outboard of the head and I’m already stuck.

The cabinet gets bound up at the upper aft corner on framing supporting the headliner. I’m loathe to take out the headliner because of all the trim pieces holding it up. I think I just need to trim the top of the cabinet some. It’s already been trimmed some, I guess on the original install.

Any advice for the starboard side - there’s a lot of trim to come off. I anyone has pictures I’d appreciate seeing them. And how is that tie bar attached? Is it something I need to worry about?

theoden · **Joined:** 18 Jan 2021 20:46 **Posts:** 43

Dave -

Thanks so much. I'm where you were on removing things in the head. Only additional piece I've removed is the lower aft trim piece that runs port/starboard on the bulkhead next to the head since it was in the way. I'll be working on it again this weekend (I hope).

The starboard side looks like a doozy - lots to remove. I guess that vertical ss rod is a stabilizing support of some kind for the abbreviated bulkhead.

madmike · **Joined:** 06 Sep 2020 10:08 **Posts:** 113

We thought the starboard side was easier than port. We had similar experiences with the head cabinet and trimmed its top a little further to make re-installation easier.

On starboard, we removed the vertical piece that forms the inboard edge of the pilot berth and the pilot berth headliner. That required drilling out a few teak plugs to access the screws and removing the forward hand rail. Then it was easy to unscrew the trim plywood that covers the ugly bulkhead. After that was out, removing the chainplates was easy. We didn't touch the vertical tension rod or the big aluminum backing plate that it attaches to.

We had to cut the horizontal threaded rod from the starboard aft lowers that runs under the cabinet shelf. We replaced it with a regular (short) bolt through the main bulkhead, just like the other bolts.

theoden · **Joined:** 18 Jan 2021 20:46 **Posts:** 43

Mike -

Very helpful - thank you.

theoden · **Joined:** 18 Jan 2021 20:46 **Posts:** 43

Arrgh!

Well, I've successfully removed the head cabinet with a little judicious application of the oscillating tool.

I'm stuck on the starboard side. I've removed everything except the upper trim piece along the hull and the doghouse trim where the handholds are. They seem to be the only things preventing removal of the large cover pane..

Has anyone managed to get this out without removing one of those? They are well bunged and long - looks to be a giant pain.

All ideas welcome.

WayneH · **Posted:** 23 Jan 2022 21:08

Easy Bung Removal Tool

Get a 2" drywall screw and cut the head off. Chuck the headless screw into your drill. Drill down the middle of the bung. When the screw hits the head of the screw under the bung, the bung pops out. Usually, in one piece.

I picked up a bung cutter kit with three different sizes of cutters. Make your new bungs over-long. Cut them off with a chisel. The "TRICKS" here are to cut with the grain and with the beveled edge of the chisel against the wood panel. A sharp chisel will cut the bung flush in one stroke.

I'm not a master boatwright but I worked with one for a whole summer. Picked up a hint or two.

madmike · **Joined:** 06 Sep 2020 10:08 **Posts:** 113

I removed both of those trim pieces. The only scary piece was the handhold, but it wasn't actually very hard to remove or replace. The one shortcut I took was cutting the long trim strip between the two handholds so I didn't have to touch the one over the galley. That took 5 seconds with the Dremel Multimax. It's less pretty with an exposed butt joint, but more practical for future repairs.

I just drilled through the center of the bungs, then pried the remainder out with a small screwdriver. It wasn't hard.

Also to make future access easier I've been replacing all the Tartan brass screws with 316 and leaving the bungs out. Adds a little "functional industrial" look to the "traditional, handcrafted marine" aesthetic. Very Happy

theoden · **Joined:** 18 Jan 2021 20:46 **Posts:** 43

Dave -

Thanks for the encouragement - I will try to gently convince it to come out without removing anything else. And if that fails, I think I'll remove the trim out at the hull first and try again.

Mike - looks like you took the headliner down as well.

I have managed to get the bungs out using the screw method, though they don't always pop out whole. Appreciate the advice on how best to replace them.

Mike - why did you need to cut and remove the horizontal threaded rod?

And how much core rot did you find when you removed the chainplates?

As always, greatly appreciate the help.

madmike · **Joined:** 06 Sep 2020 10:08 **Posts:** 113

Theoden,

Yes, we had already removed the headliner from the saloon to install some new running rigging hardware. 6 months later its still off, but we're making a plan to replace it with some closed-cell insulation and plastic sheet instead of the water-permeable masonite. As new owners of the boat, it's been helpful to see what's "behind the curtain" everywhere.

We removed the pilot berth headliner when refreshing the chainplates to see the extent of core rot from the boarding gate stanchion and mid-saloon starboard portlight. Turns out saturated balsa is easy to see from below: it's black. The core around all the chainplates seemed mostly OK. The worst chainplate spot on our boat is the port forward lower.

In both cases headliner removal wasn't required to get access to the chainplates.

The threaded rod had failed from corrosion inside the bulkhead (photo attached). That meant there was no way to remove the nut at its forward end, so we had to cut it with a hacksaw to make it short enough to pull forward into the hanging locker. Since it was already destroyed it seemed like a good idea to replace it with a regular bolt. That will provide a stiffer restraint to the bottom of the aft lower chainplate, which is where all the load seems to go (the shroud is pulling up on the diagonal part of the chainplate; the top 4 bolts seem way less important than the bottom one.

How about the lightning ground wires? What we've got is 12 awg solid copper with many bends snaking all over the place. Recommendations I've read are 6 awg stranded cable going to the keel with as few bends as possible. Has anyone made that change?

Maineiac · **Posted:** 06 Sep 2022 08:25

A rather disconcerting 5" long hairline crack opened up at my port fwd lower, so I tore the head apart. Chainplate is fine, a tiny bit of darkened wood at the bottom of the knee. It appears to have been wicking water up from the sink top. So I think it's deck rot. Pouring rain, so I'll wait and find a moisture meter when things dry out. Left my good one in the Virgin Islands.

Who has done large area deck repairs? I'm thinking multitool a section of deck out around the offending area once I've established a perimeter, clean it out and re-do the core with West System and appropriate core material. Anyone got photos of such a large repair?

I went back and watched Soulianis's repair and I think part of the key is re-attachment of the cut out section absolutely solidly to the surrounding material and the core.

Tartan37.com

New Chainplates for my T37 #49 HELP PLEASE!

Who is online