E29 handrail question

[frick]

glasses in hand rail nuts

My 1971 E29 has glasses in nuts for the hand rails.
When my starboard rail broke with a knock, with folk on the cabin roof, repairs were in order.
The glasses in nuts were just rusted beyond use.
As I reported before. I drilled then out, filled the hole with epoxy and through bolted the hand rail in the head.

A good fix... I am sure that a few other bolts might have oxygen starved nuts, but I will not fix them until necessary.

Rick

 

[Randy Rutledge]

The handrails on GiottinAir are external only, they are bolted into sound threaded rusted sleeves that are/were glassed into the deck. A previous owner installed interior handrails that are located just inward of the exterior so more holes if I were to through bolt both interior and exterior so I stay with the exterior bolded to anchors in the deck. Installing a new anchor would be hard to line up.

 

[Hanktoo]

got em in

well the last 3 were as others said, threaded to glassed in nut in the deck. One was either rusted out or missing altogether and I didn't like the way it went back together. So I drilled thru using the handrail hole as a guide and thru bolted them. There is enough room where on the 35-2 they come thru in the head. Pic attached. I will get a backer plate on there at some point, but sailing is taking precedence. Applied teak oil and varnish to the inside rail. Came out very nice, but a little darker than I expected.

requires a 4 1/2 long bolt to make it from top of handrail to inside.

 

[frick]

Acorn Nuts

well the last 3 were as others said, threaded to glassed in nut in the deck. One was either rusted out or missing altogether and I didn't like the way it went back together. So I drilled thru using the handrail hole as a guide and thru bolted them. There is enough room where on the 35-2 they come thru in the head. Pic attached. I will get a backer plate on there at some point, but sailing is taking precedence. Applied teak oil and varnish to the inside rail. Came out very nice, but a little darker than I expected.

requires a 4 1/2 long bolt to make it from top of handrail to inside.

I cut my through bolts down and placed acorn nuts over teh exposed bolts... dressed it up a bit. I try to remember to take a photo and post it.
Rick+

 

[frick]

Photo on the through bolts in the head



This is a photo on the handrail bold with acorn nut

 

[Glyn Judson]

Acorn nuts and how to make them fit.

Rick, That's a nice clean installation, congratulations. I don't think I've shared a neat little trick with the group having to do with installing acorn nuts on a screw end over an existing nut. With enough a bit of excess thread protruding, screw a standard nut down onto the permanent nut and bend off the remaining threads with a pair of Vice-Grips. Unscrew the second nut chasing the threads of the shortened screw at the same time and leaving just the correct remaining thread to accept an acorn nut snugly. I learned this cool trick from a Honda motorcycle mechanic years ago and it works like a charm every time. Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey CA