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It's what I plan to do until I can get the mast down and get the plate off
and do the permanent upside-down bolt repair. <br>
Do you remember what size the bolts are? I'm thinking of going a 16th smaller
because I really don't want to enlarge the holes in the mast base.<br>
<br>
Tom Sutherland wrote:<br>
<blockquote type="cite" cite="mid:3CEE21EE.78F3CAD7@prodigy.net">
<pre wrap="">George & Mark,<br><br>Thanks for these very good illustrations. This brought to mind what I<br>did to solve this problem with my own mast step a couple of years ago,<br>and I may have commented on it at the time.<br><br>I installed what is called a "Helicoil". This is a brand name and I may<br>not have spelled it exactly right but most of you will know it as a<br>thread insert which can be found at any auto supply house or machine<br>shop. It consist of an over size tap and several stainless steel coils<br>of threaded insert which resembles a section of spring.<br><br>You buy the size which corresponds to the bolt which has stripped out.<br>The kit comes with the proper size tap which will "not" be a common size<br>that you might have, it is special made to correspond with the ss<br>threaded insert. You will also get several ss inserts (may very from one<br>brand to another) but you can buy more inserts if needed. Also it will<br>have what they refer to I
believe as an insertion tool which is no more<br>than a bolt the same size as the one you are retapping with a grove on<br>the bottom to help screw in the ss insert in your new threaded hole.<br><br>My rational in using this as a solution to this particular problem is<br>the folling: (some may or may not agree) Any reaction between the ss<br>insert and the mast step is ok because this will never be removed<br>anyway. It may even be a good idea to use a little thread lock. I do not<br>believe there should be any problem between the ss insert and the ss<br>bolt, and so far this has been the case. You could use a little antisize<br>on the bolt thread if you like.<br><br>It is my recolection that these kits sell for about twenty dollars or so<br>and can be used in future apprications for that size bolt.<br><br>Any questions or comments?<br><br>Tom S<br>A30 412<br><br><br>George Dinwiddie wrote:<br></pre>
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<pre wrap="">Anyone interested in seeing Mark's photos can take a look at<br><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.alberg30.org/maintenance/disorganized/maststep/">http://www.alberg30.org/maintenance/disorganized/maststep/</a><br></pre>
</blockquote>
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