What is stronger??? - Need to Drill and Tap for door latch repair

A

amanphoto

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I have to blind fill an area inside the door jam to reattach the door latch on my boat. The wood screws have pulled out of the 1/8 thick fiberglass door jam. The area to fill is about 2" deep x 4" wide. (I'm to need about 2 cups of volume to fill)

I want to drill and tap in new machine screws to secure the door latch.

What is stronger to fill this area with??

1. West System Epoxy thickened with 404 high density filler.
or
2. Marine Tex
or
3. JB Weld

or is there something else you would recommend?
 
rivermouse

rivermouse

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Messages
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Re: What is stronger??? - Need to Drill and Tap for door latch repair

amanphoto said:
I have to blind fill an area inside the door jam to reattach the door latch on my boat. The wood screws have pulled out of the 1/8 thick fiberglass door jam. The area to fill is about 2" deep x 4" wide. (I'm to need about 2 cups of volume to fill)

I want to drill and tap in new machine screws to secure the door latch.

What is stronger to fill this area with??

1. West System Epoxy thickened with 404 high density filler.
or
2. Marine Tex
or
3. JB Weld

or is there something else you would recommend?
Click to expand...
The best stuff I know of is called "water weld" I believe JB weld makes it and I have found it at autozone It should work for you.
 
U

Utahboatnut

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Messages
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Re: What is stronger??? - Need to Drill and Tap for door latch repair

Is this just to provide something for the screws to tap into? I might look into a nutsert, its like a rivet but it provides a nut into the hole which a screw can be threaded into, it might work well in this application. Just a thought, if its truly blind how were you going to get the epoxy/MT etc in there and keep it where you want it?
 
Philster

Philster

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Re: What is stronger??? - Need to Drill and Tap for door latch repair

A pic would be invaluable.
 
oops!

oops!

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Re: What is stronger??? - Need to Drill and Tap for door latch repair

why did the screws pull out?

what are they going in to ......rotted wood?
 
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amanphoto

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Messages
336
Re: What is stronger??? - Need to Drill and Tap for door latch repair

This is a picture of the doorway. I will take a better one tonight. Doorway.jpg
 
A

amanphoto

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Re: What is stronger??? - Need to Drill and Tap for door latch repair

It is thin fiberglass that is hollow behind it. I think some tried to break in that yanked the door open pulling the screws out.

Nutserts will not work. The holes are elongated and the fiberglass is damaged. I want to fill it and then gelcoat the damaged holes and scratches.
 
R

robert graham

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Messages
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Re: What is stronger??? - Need to Drill and Tap for door latch repair

Maybe use stainless steel bolts with nyloc nuts and large fender washers or backing plate on the inside?....That 3M 5200 could be good to fill and finish with.
 
A

amanphoto

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Re: What is stronger??? - Need to Drill and Tap for door latch repair

I've sprayed some expanding foam into the void to seal the bottom and prevent the resin from dripping down. I plan on using a syringe to fill the void.
 
Philster

Philster

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Joined
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Messages
3,342
Re: What is stronger??? - Need to Drill and Tap for door latch repair

A 2" x 4" area needs to be backed by something rigid. Is it possible to remove the 2x4" area and slide a backer into it? Did you ever fix a hole in drywall where you cut out the drywall, slide in a backer, hold the backer, drill into the backer outside the perimeter of the hole, then mount the new drywall into the opening against the backer?

My old Scarab had a similar issue. I slid in a backer piece. I slid it up and in, then pushed the bottom in, then centered it and with a screw I had already inserted into the center before sliding it in place, I held it and screwed it into place outside the opening. The backer was in place and ready to be built up (after taking out the center screw I use to hold it).

On another boat, I used toggle bolts. The type of latch will dictate some of the options.
 
A

amanphoto

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Messages
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Re: What is stronger??? - Need to Drill and Tap for door latch repair

I can't get to the back side. It's is glued together. I will ruin the interior if I open it up.
 
A

amanphoto

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Messages
336
Re: What is stronger??? - Need to Drill and Tap for door latch repair

IMG_3028.jpgth.jpg

So this is what I decided to do. I sprayed some expanding foam in the holes so the filler wont sink to the bottom. Then I filled the voids with thickened epoxy. I drilled out the holes and installed these threaded nuts with more epoxy. I installed some sacrificial screws, and gel coated over the top of everything. Took the screws out and polished and reinstalled the latch. It's been a year and it works great.
 
S

steven_p

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
May 5, 2009
Messages
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Re: What is stronger??? - Need to Drill and Tap for door latch repair

Nice job. I might give those threaded inserts a try myself. I have a couple areas where they'd work well.
 
Scorpion210

Scorpion210

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Jun 14, 2010
Messages
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Re: What is stronger??? - Need to Drill and Tap for door latch repair

They always say, don't open up an old thread, but great to see follow up on a repair that seems to have worked and everyone can benefit from. Nice job
 
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