Betty Lou gets new stainless grab rails

alpinista · **Posted:** 28 Sep 2012 13:49

I recently re-bedded all the hardware on Betty Lou's coach top. Tired of refinishing the teak grab rails, I decided to replace them with stainless. I had the new rails fabricated to match the old rails, but the new studs didn't match up perfectly with all the old holes. The old teak rails were drilled originally at several different angles, making some of the coach top holes off center by as much as half an inch. I filled and redrilled any holes that didn't match the new rails, and the new stainless neatly concealed all old holes. Fab of the new rails: $400.00 each, for a $1600.00 total.

If anyone needs replacement teak rails, you are welcome to mine.

Next up, new stainless port lights!

Jay

Tortuga's Lie · **Joined:** 27 Oct 2006 10:32 **Posts:** 827

That's pretty nice........no teak to refinish on the rails. This is an upgrade that I have thought about, especially now that the originals are getting thin due to 35 years of sanding and refinishing!

Timshel · **Joined:** 29 Dec 2010 10:24 **Posts:** 191

Looks good Jay,funnily enough I have also had stainless rails made and plan to fit them over winter [ hauling Thursday if all goes well]. Question,how did you get at the fittings in the head,particulaly the one that seems like it may be right over the saloon/head bulkhead ? The ones in the passageway I plan to measure then cut 2'' holes thru the liner and put in plugs later.
Thanks, Bruce.

alpinista · **Posted:** 01 Oct 2012 16:01

Hey Bruce -

I used the same strategy for the grab rail bolts above the forward saloon headliner, except that I used an 1.5" hole saw. I'm using 1.5" metal plugs painted white that are easily available at a hardware store. It's tricky to measure the exact hole position, but close seemed to be good enough. The only spot that was hard was one on the starboard forward rail. One bolt is directly under the door frame to the vee-berth, and so the headliner hole was offset about 1.5" (made it tricky to get the hardware onto the bolt).

Good luck!

Jay

Tartan37.com

Betty Lou gets new stainless grab rails

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