Midship Cleat

[Rocinante33]

I have always wished for a mid-ship cleat. So for my last birthday I asked for and received one of these track mounted items from Schaefer. It arrived and is very robust and well polished and seems well made. The problem is that my factory mounted toerail track has flathead screws that are not real well countersunk. The edges of the screw heads protrude a bit so that I cannot slide the cleat past the second screwhead in a long line of many screws. The old, original stand-up block (also a Schaefer item) slides across these with no problem whatsoever. So it looks like I have two choices; file the heads on all those screws down so it clears (and risk file marks to the anodized track) or, buy a Dremel tool or a die grinder and grind on the underside of the stainless cleat inside the side rails so it will clear the screw heads. Is there anything else I can do?

 

[WhiteNoise]

You could also rebed the tracks, a little bit of work but not the worst thing to do from a maintenance perspective. Before reinserting the bolts, use a countersink bit to deepen the countersunk holes in the track itself. Enough to allow the bold heads to be below the level of the track.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

-Chris

 

[Glyn Judson]

Rebedding track screws.

Chris, I don't know about Keith's E33 or for that matter your E30+ but I can tell you from past personal experience that when replacing the Genoa track, accessing a total of over 70 fasteners was a BIG deal. Some of them were hidden behind interior wood that required a lot of removal. There were even several of them on both sides between the cabin and the cockpit lazarettes that were inaccessible by this boy and I had to send Marilyn in there to get them. Marty did the same thing on his E31 and I'm sure he could attest to the same difficulty accessing all the fasteners. Beyond that your suggestion to Keith is sound. Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA

 

[tenders]

I'd find a rotary abrasive disk a bit narrower than the opposing edges on the bottom of the cleat and mount it on an ordinary grinder. I'd be surprised if it took you more than 15 minutes to whisk down the underside of the cleat.

It could take quite a while to trim down all of the protruding bolts, and you'll forever see your grinding marks. Maybe there's just one or two you'll have to hit anyway that are particularly egregious.

 

[Emerald]

Hi,

I wouldn't file the heads down. If you ever need to remove the fasteners, you'll want as much bite as you can get.

 

[Loren Beach]

Whether spring-loaded or the screw type I have had several different brands of cars hang up on their tracks over the decades. Usual problem was that the pin was too long by a whisker.
Easiest fix is often to just file/grind off the end of the pin a 32nd.
If the whole underside of the car is dragging or catching on the edge of he fastener, that's certainly more of a problem.

LB

 

[Rocinante33]

Thanks for all the replies, guys. I looked at it again today after our sail. There are 34 screws per side on my boat. Re bedding would, as Glyn said, entail removing some cabinetry and is not a task I want to tackle now. I bought a cheap air powered die grinder and some discs for it today and I will attack the stainless this week. It is not the pin protruding, BTW. I will file and grind the underside of the base of the track mount portion of the cleat. Maybe it has a high spot, if I'm lucky. It is pretty hard material to file, but we'll see how it goes.

 

[WhiteNoise]

Wow!!! 34 per side and remove cabinetry? That is a task. I couldn't blame you.

In that case I like the idea of modifying the cleat to fit rather than the screw heads as Emerald said, "If you ever need to remove the fasteners, you'll want as much bite as you can get".

-Chris

 

[Emerald]

It is pretty hard material to file, but we'll see how it goes.

Pick up some cutting oil. It will make your life easier, and I really feel it works better than normal oil. Our local fastener specialist carries something called Tap-Magic that I find great for drilling and sawing metal.

http://www.tapmagic.com/

Good luck, and keep it lubed

 

[rwthomas1]

A far simpler suggestion....

If the heads of the screws are protruding and that is all that is obstructing why not let a machine shop just mill a path just down the center of the underside of the cleat? Should be a simple job for a shop. I'm guessing maybe a 0.050" deep cut just a bit wider than the screw head width? Neat clean and much easier than grinding away at stainless....

RT

 

[Rocinante33]

If I don't have success with a die grinder and a file, I will go the machine shop route. David, I am aware and have used cutting oil for drilling, tapping and cutting, but does it really go on a stone grinding wheel?

 

[Emerald]

Hi Keith,

grinding wheels can be lubricated with a cutting fluid as well, and that could range from water to an oil based product. If you have a favorite fluid on hand, I'd be tempted to say just try some and see how it works. If you need to buy some, I'd be tempted to call the vendor first (e.g. Tap-Magic) and see which flavor they recommended.