[Public-List] Chainplates

[Wes Gardner via Public-List]

My mistake! You know I kept looking at my chainplate bolts and in my mind thinking "yup, those were upgraded to 5/16" because they were new and shiny....seems when I put the 7/16 wrench on the head of one, I realized it's just a 1/4-20. Yeah, they are shoulder bolts (I believe I read that the originals were 1/4-20 but with thread the whole way), so they were replaced, but not upgraded to 5/16. Furthermore, they set the bolts with the nut on the chainplate end allowing the chainplate itself to bear on the threaded part of the bolt before the shoulder started....geez, at least turn the bolt around. My understanding is that most of these failure issues have been in shear, right?

And when I looked really close, the bolts for the uppers are stretched a little bit.....hmmm

I was going to bed the actual chainplate, where it contacts the knee, in 5200 as it will never need to be removed from the boat again. However, I'm going to bed and seal the chainplate covers (mine has Shaefer cover plates) in 4200.

I'm also going to change out the backstay bolts as well.

Can anyone add any helpful hints or "gotchas" specific to the Alberg 30?

Wes