keel bolts

[cid]

Hi all afriend wants to check his keel bolts on an SS30.Does anyone know how they are fitted,and any suggestions how one could extract one for examination.

 

[earlybird]

I take it that it's an S&S 30, a rather rare boat compared to its larger sister and I'm not sure if it's the same arrangement. If it is the same, ie a lead keel, its probably held on by studs with nuts top and bottom. To expose the lower nuts look/ scrape carefully at the sides, about a foot below the joint. You should see the rectangular outlines of 8 or 9 galleries blocked off by some type of filler. To get at the nuts, this filler needs to be removed. The upper nuts are obvious, but is the engine over some of them? I must add that I've never removed one of mine.Hope this helps. Good luck

 

[cid]

Thanks for reply.I think you are right,the engine is over the keel,so it could be difficult to get at them.Its over to him now.

 

[William_H]

I t might in fact be easier to fit additional new bolts to provide more confidence than trying to remove existing bolts. Of course that leaves some doubts about the existing bolt condition though. olewill