Broken Drilled holes in Fiberglass

M

mav6759

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jun 25, 2007
Messages
489
Have a quick question, I have 4 drilled holes in the fiberglass of my boat where the electrical panel screws into the frame of boat. The problem that I am having is, the screw holes that are in the fiberglass of the boat have broken and I can't screw the electrical panel back into place. I tried using these plastic insert in the holes, but they did no good. Does anyone have any idea how to repair these broken holes. I even tried gluing a nut in the back of the hole, but the glue didn't hold. Would I have to re-fiberglass the holes and drill new hole or if someone had a better idea,

Thank Mav
 
mphy98

mphy98

Lieutenant
Joined
Oct 20, 2008
Messages
1,422
Re: Broken Drilled holes in Fiberglass

mix up a small batch of tigerhair, press into holes, let cure, then rescrew. fairly simple
 
B

Buttanic

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Sep 25, 2003
Messages
711
Re: Broken Drilled holes in Fiberglass

If you could get to the back side to glue a nut just use machine screw and nut. I don't get why the nut needs to be glued.
 
D

DJ

Guest
Re: Broken Drilled holes in Fiberglass

I was also thinking that if the backside is accessible, why not back the screws up with wood, or nuts, as described?
 
D

d3l1b1rd

Recruit
Joined
Nov 25, 2008
Messages
1
Re: Broken Drilled holes in Fiberglass

Stick toothpicks in the holes then screw into that.
 
S

SouthernAppal

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Dec 1, 2008
Messages
44
Re: Broken Drilled holes in Fiberglass

Same deal with my glove box. I took it out to clean it and no two screws were the same size, and there were many more holes for screws and some partial holes. To fix that, I just glued a small strip of 1x2 behind the fiberglass and screw through that. It holds very well.

Jane
 
redfury

redfury

Commander
Joined
Jul 16, 2006
Messages
2,659
Re: Broken Drilled holes in Fiberglass

Depending on the profile, you can also use the plastic retainers used to hold screws in sheetrock. You'll have a small plastic head that will sit on top of the fiberglass, so this won't work for something that needs to lie completely flat.

So many ways to fix this, you just have to decide which one is worth the trouble to you. A quick fix, a permanent fix, or a re-engineered fix.
 
oops!

oops!

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Messages
12,932
Re: Broken Drilled holes in Fiberglass

another way is to use stainless bolts.or stainless machine screws with nuts....and put a washer on the inside before the nut. paint the head of the bolt if you want.....

but........the real way to repair it is to add the peanut butter filler with chopped strand or milled fibers (or dyna hair) then after grinding the back side.....glass on a few layers of matt and let cure and re drill..........lot of work for a few stripped holes
 
Bob_VT

Bob_VT

Moderator & Unofficial iBoats Historian
Staff member
Joined
May 19, 2001
Messages
26,097
Re: Broken Drilled holes in Fiberglass

Have you considered the stick marine epoxy? Tear off a chunk.....knead it and push it into the holes. Then you have a choice....... if you just slip the screw into it before it dries you will NEVER get them out again or you can wait and re-drill the epoxy with a proper size screw hole.
 
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