Stripped screws in Fiberglass deck?

Had a set of screws that hold down my holder bases strip out of the floor of my fiberglass boat. Any thoughts on what I can use to reinstall in the same holes? Epoxie maybe or something like marine tex? The catch is it needs to be somewhat injectible to get it through the carpet (without making a mess), but thick enough to set up in the holes in a vertical position. Pretty sure I can't get access to the underside to put nuts on them. The next size screw up will work as they are not stripped badly, but the design on my bases require a flush surface to mate up with the holder meaning I can't get away with stopping up a size.

I've seen a guy fix a cleat by dipping a toothpick in epoxy, letting it set up, then installing the screw using the toothpick to restrict the screw hole and allow the threads to bite the new wood. That might work, but he had cleaner access to the screw holes.

Wannabe...

The best thing to repair fiberglass with is fiberglass. Fill in the holes with fiber glass then start all over. You can get a small fiber glass repair kit at your local NAPA store. To do the job right you will need to trim the carpet back from around your holes for a small area. Take a small piece of the fiberglass cloth that comes in the kit and cut it up untill it is just a pile of short threads....mix this with your fiberglass resin and hardner then stuff this mixture in the holes and let cure......take a dremel tool and grind the surface down flush with surrounding surface. Drill pilot holes and re-install rod holder.

what about hollow wall anchors, come in different sizes and types,

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Originally Posted by jimp

what about hollow wall anchors, come in different sizes and types,

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I think the hollow wall anchors are made from stainless but the screws that come with them may not be..I'm not really sure...

There might be some rusting problem unless you could confrm both parts are stainless....(the anchor and the screw)

Wannabe go to your local hardware store and ask for bulldog anchors they come in plastic and aluminum they screw into the deck then you screw your anchor screws into them. the bigger ones are rated for like 75-80 lbs of holding force so with 3-4 used to a base they should hold just fine.

Back in the day we cut an x in the carpet and peeled up each corner, drill a hole the size of a piece of dowel rod, spread glue all around the dowel rod and stuff it into the hole. Let the glue dry, they make some excellent waterproof glue these days, Im a TiteBond fan. Most dowel rod is made from hardwood, drill a pilot hole for the screw, and reattach.

Drill the hole out and installa riv-nut you get them in stainless or alum.

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Originally Posted by Hogster1

Wannabe go to your local hardware store and ask for bulldog anchors they come in plastic and aluminum they screw into the deck then you screw your anchor screws into them. the bigger ones are rated for like 75-80 lbs of holding force so with 3-4 used to a base they should hold just fine.

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X3 they will work

Toggle bolts sound like the easiest fix, but you'd probably want to make the needed oversize holes waterproofed some way, especially if a wood core is present. WATER ALWAYS WINS!

Can't say enough good things about West Systems epoxy products and customer service. They are extremely helpful if you call and speak with someone in technical department. Here is a link to their website:

Epoxy by the Leading Epoxy Manufacturer | WEST SYSTEM Epoxy

Link to pdf fiberglass boat repair manual, look at chapter 7 for screw hole repairs:

http://www.westsystem.com/ss/assets/...aintenance.pdf

It might be overkill, but if you don't like the toggle bolt route, you could make an oversize (bigger than your holder's base) sub-base out of high-density polyethylene transducer mounting plate and counter sink the underside and fasten the base with machine screws and nuts, then screw down the poly sub-base with larger sized screws to the boat deck. I don't know if larger screws actually provide more holding power, but it would be spread out over a larger area.

I helped mount a friends TM once and we used SS butterfly toggle bolts. If you had the hole they were going thru already prepped and sealed they would hold well. I don't know the other options spoken of but some of them sound good. Good luck with it.