SS Bolt to Aluminum Corrosion

[Bill Michne]

On trying to remove a stainless steel bolt from an aluminum hatch frame I wound up breaking off the bolt head. This happened a coulple of times. One bolt could be drilled out and the hole retapped but the others are not accessible to drilling. Does anyone know of a product which can loosen this corrosion?

Bill Michne
s/v Mintaka
CD 40 #7



wmichne@msn.com

[Ken Coit]

Bill,

Try "Corrosion X" from your auto parts store. There is another product as well, but I can't remember the name of it at the moment. Use some "Never Sieze" when you reassemble and you will have a better time down the road.

Ken

On trying to remove a stainless steel bolt from an aluminum hatch frame I wound up breaking off the bolt head. This happened a coulple of times. One bolt could be drilled out and the hole retapped but the others are not accessible to drilling. Does anyone know of a product which can loosen this corrosion?

Bill Michne
s/v Mintaka
CD 40 #7

parfait@nc.rr.com

[matt cawthorne]

I do not have a good answer to your problem of removal except drilling. Drill the bolt out from the start with a small diameter drill and follow up with one of the approximate size of the inside diameter of the screw. This helps from keeping the drill bits from walking. As far as re-assembly try using silicone. When I was setting up to re-paint the mast a few weeks ago I wanted to remove all of the hardware. Any screws that were installed with silicone sealant came out without difficulty and were free of corrosion. Almost every one that did not have silicone broke off because is was corroded in. I did not even try to remove the winches because of the difficulty. I have had the boat since 93 and know that the screws were in that long. My recommendation is to install ss screws in aluminum with silicone. I had heard of this before, but this was clear proof to me.

Good luck.
Matt



mcawthor@bellatlantic.net