99 Four Winns -- need help removing old bilge pump

[bullgator99]

I have a 99 Four Winns 17ft F&S O/B. I had a leaky aerator hose which was unfortunately below the water line. I decided to pull her out of the water and replace the aerator, bilge pump, and related hoses. Trouble is, the bilge pump is underneath a big piece of plywood that the batteries rest on. It is held in place by 4 rusty 3/4 inch lag screws. I have a wrench on one of them in the picture below. You can see a second one above it. That's the port side. The other two are on the starboard side. They look like they screw into the underlying fiberglass structure.

I have tried to remove these and they won't budge. I've also tried to remove the bilge pump without removing the plywood board. I can reach under there through that slot in the plywood and feel it. The pump housing is screwed into the bottom of the hull with a couple of phillips head screws. Unless I can remove the plywood above it, all I can get in there is a short phillips screwdriver and I can't get any leverage. I don't want to strip them. I can't see them directly. I stuck my camera waaaay up in there to get these pictures. I couldn't see where I was aiming the camera. I took about a dozen before I got lucky with a shot that shows one of the screws.

I really don't have much experience with this type of work. Is there a trick to getting these screws out? Can I use something like WD-40 to loosen them up?

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 99 Four Winns -- need help removing old bilge pump

I don't know if I can be of any help, but here goes...

PB Blaster or Kroil are slightly better penetrants than WD-40...spray and let sit overnight...

The heads on those lag bolts...are they hex or square?

If they are square, you can try to use a not so safe method of doubling up your combination wrench or putting a pipe on it for added leverage...not the safest or easiest way to do this, but...sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do...maybe wear some work gloves in case something slips or breaks, to help protect your hands from un-wanted damage...???

If they are hex [6 sided], get a six-point socket on them and use a breaker bar, to break them free...if absolutely necessary, put a leverage extension piece of pipe on the breaker bar...

Once broken free...they should come out, but if you feel resistance, turn them back in as you back them out...sort of like tapping a hole with threads...

If all else fails, you could get a dremel tool with Heavy Duty cut off wheels, cut the heads of the bolts...once you remove the panel...
You can grind down the remaining part of the bolts...re-drill the panel for new bolts, you should also drill into the support structure, but use a slightly smaller size drill bit so the new bolts have something to grip...install new Stainless Steel bolts coated with 3M 4200 or 5200

You can also use a ratchet handle with a phillips head screw driver adaptor on it to remove the screws from the bilge pump...that will give you leverage if you need it for those...

Remember to use the sealant on all the bolts/screws you put back...

If you need to seal up any unused holes, you can use these...Clean any areas really well with a vacuum cleaner or compressed air to get rid of any debris and use acetone to flush it clean prior to applying any of the adhesives/sealants


Best of luck...

GT1M

 

[bullgator99]

Re: 99 Four Winns -- need help removing old bilge pump

Thanks GT. After soaking overnight in WD-40 the socket and pipe extension did the trick. Here's the board after I got it out. And the little square platform in the bilge where the pump was mounted. I guess I should fill all those holes with Marine-Tex.

Here are the old screws. I'm replacing them with new stainless steel ones. They have to screw into this hunk of fiberglass. Looks like there was some epoxy or something holding them in. I guess this is gonna need some 3M 5200 when I install the new screws.

Thanks so much!

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 99 Four Winns -- need help removing old bilge pump

Your welcome, glad I could be of some help...

If you have a dremel, or even a drill...use a small drill bit or circular rasp, and clean out the old holes a good bit, to get to some clean wood, don't go too deep!, clean them out good, apply the epoxy, let it cure...pre-drill for the new screws, coat them with sealant, and re-install...

Happy Boating!

GT1M

 

[bullgator99]

Re: 99 Four Winns -- need help removing old bilge pump

I was about to ask about how to make sure the new screws have something to bite into. Thanks!