Brass (i think?) screws breaking off/badly corroded

[plankton]

The fastners (self tap screw type) holding my boat's wood bits together are disintegrating! can i replace these with stainless steel fastners?
Do self tappers have some advantage eg:allowing for flex? or is it okay to replace with bolt/nut/washers when possible ? any tips on getting broken bits of screw out?
any help greatly appreciated

 

[dickh]

I see you have a Halcyon - they often used steel screws - mine certainly had(H23). Depending where they are you can use stainless or Silicon Bronze. I used silicon bronze bolts to refit the rubbing strake through the hull/deck joint with plenty of mastic. Cured most of the leaks.
Have you joined the OYCOA ?

 

[plankton]

well thats two major revelation's for me i had never heard of either! silicon bronze or the OYCOA..i just did a google search on them..thank you so very very much.

 

[charles_reed]

Stainless not good with wooden boat (even 316 corrodes). Silicon-bronze vastly superior but don't be surprised at their price.

 

[srp]

Use silicon bronze as suggested above - http://www.angliastainless.co.uk/ have always delivered quickly. They're not cheap, but you'll only fit them once. Use a bit of tallow on the thread to make them esier to drive in. You can also get silicon bronze annular ring nails - incredible grip, need to use a small pilot hole (esp in hardwoods) to prevent splitting.