I sent a reply to your PM. I'll include the same text here in case others would like to correct me on anything.
"Drilling into your boat is always a daunting experience, especially the first time you do it! But as long as you're careful, it's really not a big deal.
Of course you should use stainless hardware. I'm amazed at the number of boat related accessories that don't come with stainless screws, etc. - it seems like anything I do to the boat requires a trip to the hardware store for replacement screws.
As far as drilling - start by knowing that your liner is fiberglass with a gel coat surface which is about 1/16" thick. The fiberglass is pretty strong, the gel coat is very brittle.
Make SURE the area behind the hole locations is safe to drill into. You don't want to hit any wires, etc. Sometimes you need to remove a speaker, etc., to get a look behind there. Cover the areas where the holes will be with blue masking tape, then mark the hole locations on the tape. The purpose of the tape is to support the surrounding gel coat as you drill.
Use a standard drill bit (this is usually an 82-degree tip, high speed steel bit - but it's just a "plain old bit"). Of course you want to pay special attention to using the right size drill bit. You want the screws to have maximum holding power, but if you make the hole too small you could almost guarantee cracking around the holes. Begin by running the bit backwards at a very slow speed with light pressure to get through most of the gel coat. Then switch to forward to finish the hole, but continue at a slower speed than usual and don't use more than moderate pressure. As soon as you start drilling you'll get a feel for it.
Once the holes are drilled, remove the tape. At this point it's best if you chamfer the gel coat around the holes. This "relieves" the gel coat and greatly reduces the chance of cracks forming around them. For this step I like to use a Weldon countersink running at very low speed and very light pressure. This creates a funnel-shaped countersink around the hole. You want to countersink the gel coat only, not the fiberglass. Probably any countersink will work, but I bought a set of Weldons about 10 years ago and have found them to be one of the best things I've bought. One source:
http://www.jlindustrial.com/WEC-99650A/ ... oduct.html
Also - I didn't mean to imply that an extinguisher should be mounted horizontally necessarily. Just at some angle other than vertical. That pic Jim posted shows a really nice mounting job.
It's really just a matter of being very careful and paying close attention to every step.
Login
FAQ
Search
