Engine lid wood repair

[Wprodigy]

Hello folks,
I have an issue where I had my engine lid/swim deck reupholstered, and I could feel the screws from the brackets holding the gas shocks under the deck punching through. I replaced the screws with smaller ones and the bracket came off, then I moved the bracket over a bit tried bigger screws and same thing, then I filled the void with wood filler, mounted the bracket and it again came off. So now I am thinking of using epoxy to fill up the space and even adding a layer of fiberglass over the top before mounting again. Does anyone have any ideas about this? I was thinking of using liquid wood for the application. Thanks

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,.... Welcome Aboard,.... Is the wood rotten,..??

 

[Wprodigy]

No, I did scratch out some of the wood after the screws pulled out twice though.

 

[gm280]

How thick is the material you are working with. You could use some pop rivets with backer plate...

 

[DeepBlue2010]

When you say "scratched the wood" do you mean you used a hole saw to remove the fiberglass skin and inspected the core wood? Or you just scratched the outer fiber glass skin?

I think Bondo hit it on the head and pointed you to the right direction. The situation you are describing is very common with rotted core but you know your boat better than anyone. Please confirm that you inspected the core the correct way. Best of luck to you.

 

[Mark72233]

Posts some pictures

 

[Wprodigy]

No fiberglass, it 3/4 in plywood. with foam and vinyl on the top side. I will post some pics in a day or so. After the bracket popped off with the weight of the lid I used my finger to remove the loose pieces of wood. I used screws that were too small the first time, then i think the second round the screws were too short.

 

[Watermann]

Try to put some good exterior wood glue or PL on the screws first and under the bracket. Let it cure good before putting weight on it.

 

[Woodonglass]

I'd recommend using some epoxy thickened with sawdust. Use a small piece of wood and plastic putty knife to force the epoxy down into the the previously drilled out wood with the thickened mixture and let it cure for 24 hours. Then Predrill with with a smaller drill bit and then coat the screws and the holes with the epoxy and screw it down with light pressure and again let it cure for 24-36 hours. If the surrounding wood is not rotten this should solve the problem. Make sure to use the largest diameter screws possible and the longest to get the best "Bite" and best holding power.

 

[Wprodigy]

OK, so the swim deck is in the garage, I scraped out the wood filler. I cut pieces of bamboo to put in the screw holes, mixed a small batch of epoxy with a couple pinches of sawdust and poured it in the void. So far so good i'm letting it dry at least 24 hours before I mix up another batch to fill the void to the top, ill let that dry a good 24 hours or more. once I drill the new holes, I will install the bracket and let that sit for about a week before I put weight on it. Ill update again when its ready to go.