Exterior handrail repair

[rschaffner]

For those of you with boats built before 1975, do you know how the exterior handrails are attached to the cabin top? Are they simply screwed into the roof, or bolted with a nut above the headliner (ouch)? One of my rails is loose at its aft end because the bolt or screw has separated from the rail. I haven't removed it yet, and I want to know what I'm getting into before I do. The only diagram I have found is from 1975, and apparently Ericson had begun installing interior handrails that are actually throughbolted to the exterior ones. Anyone know when they started doing this?

In the event that it is bolted, is there anyway to make the repair without having to remove the hard headliner?

Thanks,
Becky
San Pedro, CA
Selkie, 1973 32-2

 

[SER]

Does your boat have interior hand rails? If so I'd say that the EXTERIOR rails are thru fastened to the INTERIOR rails. Not the other way around at least that's the way it is on my boat. The exterior rails have plugs that can be drilled out to reveal the fastener. Use a smaller diameter drill bit than the plug and pick out the rest. This way you can replug post-fix with the same diameter plugs without having to step up to a larger diameter plug.
Where you go after the fastener is removed depends on the fastener type . If it's a screw going into an interior rail I'd [without removing the rails from the boat] drill out both rails , epoxy a teak dowel into the hole and pre-drill for a new screw. before refastening sneak some bedding under the rail.
Hope this helps.

 

[rschaffner]

Thanks for the suggestions. I should clarify, though-I have a 1973, which doesn't have the interior handrails. I can't tell from inside the cabin what type of fasteners it has because of the headliner.

Becky