Mark42
Fleet Admiral
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2003
- Messages
- 9,334
When I was restoring the MFG Niagara, to save a few bucks, I just sanded and spray painted the existing cleats with epoxy paint. These were common zinc cast chrome plated cleats that you find in walmart, etc.
Two years later, salt water has done its usual damage.....
So I replaced them with these little tough guys made from solid white nylon. MANUFACTURED by Seadog. I ordered them from a Seadog retailer like iboats.com. You can find them in black easily enough if you look, but white was not available unless ordered. So I bought 6 just to be safe. (about $6.00 each) They are solid white nylon 5" long with recess in base to hold sealant. Nice design.
I mounted them through bolted with washers and locking nuts in stainless steel. So far they have held up great to yanking and tugging that I never would have done to the previous ones that were just surface mounted with stainess wood type screws.
Also, the previous cleats were sealed to the gelcoat using Boat Life sealant. It came apart easy enough, Took a little more work to clean the residue off the gel coat. So I am very happy with the the Boat Life product. I used it knowing this was a part that would need to come off later and not leave an epoxy like residue that needed hammer and chisel to remove.
Also, those stainless looking screws fill in the holes left from previous cleats by previous owners. One thing I have not done is color match the gel coat and fill in any holes. Stainless wood screws with a dab of Boat Life do that for now. Maybe someday I will do a complete gel coat cleanup. Also take note of the reflection in the gelcoat. This is the 3rd boating season since polishing with scrub pad and Comet cleanser followed by polisher and I have not even waxed yet this season (I will this weekend).
So..... Leson to learn? Short cuts bought me the time and savings to get the boat on the water. But they do fail.... and I did have to replace the short-cut parts with a suitable superior part. For my 14.5' runabout these nylon cleats will out last the next iceage.
Two years later, salt water has done its usual damage.....
So I replaced them with these little tough guys made from solid white nylon. MANUFACTURED by Seadog. I ordered them from a Seadog retailer like iboats.com. You can find them in black easily enough if you look, but white was not available unless ordered. So I bought 6 just to be safe. (about $6.00 each) They are solid white nylon 5" long with recess in base to hold sealant. Nice design.
I mounted them through bolted with washers and locking nuts in stainless steel. So far they have held up great to yanking and tugging that I never would have done to the previous ones that were just surface mounted with stainess wood type screws.
Also, the previous cleats were sealed to the gelcoat using Boat Life sealant. It came apart easy enough, Took a little more work to clean the residue off the gel coat. So I am very happy with the the Boat Life product. I used it knowing this was a part that would need to come off later and not leave an epoxy like residue that needed hammer and chisel to remove.
Also, those stainless looking screws fill in the holes left from previous cleats by previous owners. One thing I have not done is color match the gel coat and fill in any holes. Stainless wood screws with a dab of Boat Life do that for now. Maybe someday I will do a complete gel coat cleanup. Also take note of the reflection in the gelcoat. This is the 3rd boating season since polishing with scrub pad and Comet cleanser followed by polisher and I have not even waxed yet this season (I will this weekend).
So..... Leson to learn? Short cuts bought me the time and savings to get the boat on the water. But they do fail.... and I did have to replace the short-cut parts with a suitable superior part. For my 14.5' runabout these nylon cleats will out last the next iceage.
