Aft Stateroom Stansion Rebedding Project
The aft lifeline stansions come into the master cabin in the mid cabin lockers and are covered by the headliner in each locker. Getting access requires pulling out the hull liner and the shelf, however, all of the parts will come out of the locker cleanly once you fiddle with the pieces. When the lifeline stansion bases were pulled up it was found that a very small amount of silicone sealant had been used which resulted in some moisture penetration along the bolt shaft which did not get into the cabin. Based upon the corrosion seen all three bolts of each stansion base were replaced. Fortunately both of the aft lifeline stansions go through solid fiberglass eliminating the need to overdrill and fill the holes prior to proceeding. It appears that the original solution for backing plates was to use medium fender washers (about 1.5 inch in diameter) and the bolts are 1/4" diameter and 4" long. Unfortunately the underside of the deck is not completely flat, close enough to be able to directly use fender washers but this technique does result in some bending of the bolts during tensioning. Currently I am rebedding the stansion bases with polysulfide, new bolts, washers, lock washers, and nuts. However, after breaking one bolt due to thread galling during a test fit assembly on the starboard side (the bolt itself may have been defective as the replacement did not break) I am not completely happy with the solution. The proper long term solution will be to make aluminum backing plates and the epoxy putty plug to get a perpendicular surface for the washers to mate up to. This will be a well contained refit on all of the stansions so I want to find a uniform solution for all of them. The parts for the current rebedding of the aft stansions West Marine      4" long 1/4-20 bolts with philips pan head, 8-18 stainless steel - 6 bolts      1.5" diameter stainless steel fender washers for 1/4" bolts - 6 washers      1/4" lock washers stainless steel 8-18 - 6 lockwashers      1 small tube white polysulfide - enough for both sides Materials on hand      Latex Gloves      Mineral Spirits      Blue Masking Tape   Nov 26, 2009 - Rebedded port and starboard sides with polysulfide Dec 5, 2009 - Retensioned bolts port side Dec 6, 2009 - Retensioned bolts on starboard side