Screws stripped in engine hatch on 96 Super Sport

[JT96SS]

I have a 96 Super Sport and lifted the engine hatch over the weekend to replace the blower and noticed the screws holding the hinge to the hatch are stripped and the hatch is separating from the hinge. I'm guessing these are just screwed into the fiberglass of the hatch? Thinking of just drilling new holes in the hinge and putting new screws unless someone has a better idea. Cannot use too long a screw or it'll poke through the padding on top when someone walks on it. Also thought of epoxy in the old hole and re-drilling but not sure how hard the epoxy will get and hold. I tried to get the old screws out and they seemed to come out so far and stop, not sure how long they are. Anyone messed with these before? There aren't nuts holding the screws on under the padding are there?

[Brichter14]

Sadly there are nuts on the back side of the bolts.

You can a) remove the vinyl and put in new bolts/nuts or b) tap some new screws in with drywall anchors (those little plastic things you screw screws into. )

[s_kelley2000]

Yes as stated above there are nuts on the backside. Mine were loose when I got my boat but I had to replace the vinyl anyways so I tightened everything up good with some locktite while the skin was off. I wish I took some pics so you could see what you have in there. Good luck!

[JT96SS]

Hmmm, I'm not the first owner of this boat but it seems odd the nuts all backed out/stripped on one side only. Who knows what the previous owner may have done. I'd like to fix it the right way. How much trouble and whats involved to remove and re-tack the vinyl?

[s_kelley2000]

My old skin was trashed so I just cut it to get to the nutssince it was getting replaced anyways. I could not figure out how to get it off correctly but my vinyl guy took care of getting it off correctly and installing the new one like it came from the factory. I am not sure but I think if you peel back the welting you might be able to see where the staples go in. I would imagine you would need a pneumatic stapler to fire back into that fiberglass panel though. An upholsterer probably wouldn't charge you much to take it part way off and reinstall after you made the fix.

Are the loose bolts on the driver side? That's where the loosest ones on mine were and I was guessing it had to do from the pressure of the electronic actuator lifting and raising from that side and causing an uneven load on the heavy hatch.

[JT96SS]

Yep, driver side, it is the side the actuator lift is on. Do you recall if CorrectCraft originally used Nylock nuts on these screws? I tried to tighten them and one seamed to tighten but came loose almost immediately. I have a pneumatic stapler but it's narrow crown and I'd have to be careful not to shoot the staple through the fiberglass. I'm in Michigan and the weather has been so bad I'm dying to get it into the water, was hoping to get out on the water this weekend.

[surroundsound64]

Wonder if we could put rivnuts or nut plates on the hatch... I don't have this problem yet but sounds like ip may eventually.

[wake_fun]

I just put new vinyl on my rear deck and fixed the above problems. I will probably make a new thread on how to solve the problem. Mine came out very nice and the bolt/nut problems are gone forever!