sailorman37
Member II
From what I understood during the first exchange, the quote was just for the U bolt. I really don't want to pay that kind of money so I'm going to try two other ideas. First is a salvage yard and the second is a plain stainless U bolt. I'll add nuts and file them off till I have the basic shape of the original.
The aluminum blocks as shown in the picture have holes for the bolt threads. Most of the corrosion and pitting was on the face towards the fiberglass at these bolt holes. There really was not a lot of corrosion or pitting in the center depression for the tie rod. The tie rods have mushroom ends that allow for tension on the rod. Not too concerned about the face pitting on the aluminum block. Also, the aluminum cylinder at the other end of the tie rod looked good.
The SS backing block showed what I believe to be crevice corrosion. I don't think it was stress cracking from the tension. The face was also towards the fiberglass where deoxygenated water must have sat for long time. I made up a new SS backing plate and hope to have it welded back on to the vertical piece. We'll see how that goes.
The aluminum blocks as shown in the picture have holes for the bolt threads. Most of the corrosion and pitting was on the face towards the fiberglass at these bolt holes. There really was not a lot of corrosion or pitting in the center depression for the tie rod. The tie rods have mushroom ends that allow for tension on the rod. Not too concerned about the face pitting on the aluminum block. Also, the aluminum cylinder at the other end of the tie rod looked good.
The SS backing block showed what I believe to be crevice corrosion. I don't think it was stress cracking from the tension. The face was also towards the fiberglass where deoxygenated water must have sat for long time. I made up a new SS backing plate and hope to have it welded back on to the vertical piece. We'll see how that goes.