TOPIC: What to do about restoring/replacing deck hardware

The stern eyes and the deck cleats on my Evinrude Sport 16 are old and tattered (at least your hand will be if you grab them!). The plating is pitted and blowing off the Zinc. The attachment studs are rusted off.



I can't seem to find replacement stern eyes which are anything like the original. The ones on the market are a lot lighter-duty and are kinda cheap-looking compared to the stock eyes.

Has anyone gone to the trouble and expense of having the originals stripped, polished and re-plated? Is it super expensive? How about the rusted studs. Can they be drilled out, either helicoiled or re-threaded and new studs installed? Or, are the studs cast in with heads on them embedded in the Zinc casting?

I see a lot of the new stern eyes (also sold as bow eyes) have a continuous "U" bolt embedded in the Zinc.

None of the deck cleats on the market have the styling of the 1964 originals, either.

your lookin at $800 bucks here. ron

Yes, I have had boat hardware rechromed. It is expensive. But is is all relative - boating is an expensive hobby.

Pot metal is difficult to rechrome and will be costly. If the part is brass, it is easier to rechrome and not as costly.

The transom eye you picture is one I have not seen previously. Rechroming is possible. The studs being toast is another story.

Watch auctions on ebay and other similar sites for marine hardware. Go to boat graveyards. Sometimes you may luck out. You may have to obtain an entire boat to get those few pieces of hardware you desire. Go to events such as boat shows and gatherings of the Antique Outboard Motor Club. Swap meets are common at these events.

Andreas

Clark
this is a little tedious , but if you look in ebays boat parts and use NOS and or vintage as the search criteria you will see whats listed daily as new old stock.or used pieces..it will take some time but I just replaced all the hardware on my Glassic this way...maybe 2 months? checking new listings
I spent $400 and 90% was NOS, it was cheaper than re-chroming but work

Well, I guess I knew what the answer would be. Since I'm not inclined to spend cubic dollars on this project, I guess I'll settle for picking up a couple of "new style" stern eyes (Pretty much just a Stainless U bolt) and try to clean up the existing deck cleats until I might find some NOS for those.

Thanks for the word to the not-so-wise.

The new transom is all ready to be epoxied in place.

Keep an eye out on E-Bay- You might get lucky...

It looks like this guy is parting out a '65 evinrude playmate, He's got a windshield and bow light listed... Might have other parts, too. I don't know if they are the same or similar to yours, but worth a shot-

stores.ebay.com/Parts-and-Projects-Outpost?_trksid=p4340.l2563

CLARK: I would say right here on the hobby forum is a good start for leads. As mentioned above, retail chrome is expensive in 2011.
Maybe a motorcycle neighbor would help with one or two pieces, if he has a remote source , as enviromental permits closed down smaller shops. .. As a surprise two weeks ago, i was at a older boat repair / resell dealer & he had 5 or 6 boxes of resell hardware like this , even Heavier LIFT RINGS for Century, screw gas cap thru hull, navlights, etc,, for a avg of about $ 3 / piece.
I told Andrew here, but not sure if he stopped back across the dam. .. Your picture is a good example of rusted / weak studs for
safety attachment, so matching cosmetics should now be a 2nd issue.

.Now we know what you are looking for...part of the hobby...

Split .....

Si ! I think I know the chrome shops you are talking about.

Years ago I was in the fire department. One of our jobs was inspecting hazardous premises. I remember a plating shop in South Seattle that specialized in stuff like this. The owner got into the business when he was restoring his '57 T-Bird and couldn't find the quality work he wanted locally.

They would even take reallly vintage pot metal parts and torch melt them back to the original dimensions, getting rid of years of neglect and corrosion. Then they'd polish them until they looked like Chrome, Copper plate them, Nickel Plate them and finally Chrome plate them. That was the big-time, a Triple Chrome plating.

I suppose they're long gone by now. I still remember them for the job they did on a set of knock-off wire wheels for my Corvair. Art Brass and Plating, a really quality outfit.

My Sport 16 will be mostly used for a bit of trout and bass fishing in small lakes and an occasional romp in South Puget Sound. I live on a small bay West of Tacoma across the Narrows bridge(s) and just South of Purdy. No water skiing for this old soldier.

I'll keep my eye out for some old/new stuff. It's just the stern eyes I am looking for right now to install in the transom. But, there's no rush. I really won't have any use for them except to cinch the boat down on the trailer. Even then, the stock trailer hold-downs have hooks that go over the top of the transom.

here ya go....... cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Vintage-chrome-bow-eye-marine-boat-/320729825494?pt=Boat_Parts_Accessories_Gear&hash=item4aacfcc0d6

I sent him a message. Wow! I'm impressed. Though I have used eBay quite a bit in the past, I never would have believed this item would be on there. If he has two, I'll sleep easy.

Again, this board is the best. Thanks, all of you.

Clark Savage Jr wrote:Though I have used eBay quite a bit in the past, I never would have believed this item would be on there. [/quote]

I have come to believe that everything is, or will be, on E-Bay. If its not there now, wait, and it will show up.

I have seen those on ebay. I will keep an eye out for some.If I spot them,I'll email ya. jim

oldboater wrote:

here ya go....... cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Vintage-chrome-bow-eye-marine-boat-/320729825494?pt=Boat_Parts_Accessories_Gear&hash=item4aacfcc0d6

A day late and a dollar short lol. Good for you, Clark. Hope you get em.

Clark
I might just have one of those bow eyes.
If your interested let me know.

I am! email coming.

I recently experienced this same issue on my current project Clark. I noticed the wood backing inside the hull for the bow eye was rotted, and since I'm replacing stringers and floor, etc. I thought now was the time to put a fresh backing board behind the bow eye as well. When I put a wrench to the retaining nut it snapped the bolt off all too easily! Rusted through just like yours. Thoughts of that bolt snapping off while trailering down the road with a finished project Glassic went racing through my head, would NOT have been a pretty sight!

All hardware like that should be pulled to be re-bedded and resealed at the very least, that's often a source of water intrusion into your 'Glassic boat. And any signs of rust or weakness would dictate replacement for obvious reasons of safety, IMHO. Even if you don't pull skiers, tie downs to trailers or emergency towing of yours or other distressed craft would put major importance on their structural integrity IMHO. Be safe out there folks!

mine let go on our first trip to silver lake in 2006 doing 60mph all i saw in my rearview was the tunnel. the wind lifted it up around 4 feet. it wasn't rusted though. houston re-attached it. no way could i have gotten under there.

This thread is a good reminder to check that hardware!! I've seen a lot of it that looked perfectly sound from the outside, but upon further inspection, was pretty well rusted out inside.

When I trailer, I don't trust the hardware- Especially bow & stern eyes. I've seen them fail, even brand new ones. I like to strap the boat down with some heavy nylon straps, too, in case something should fail.... Use padding between them and the finish. It's cheap insurance! A failure of this kind while cruising down the highway is VERY bad news, not only for the boat, but could potentially cause a major accident, too.


- Andrew

Those pictures and stories have really gotten me thinking about the bow eye on the boat. I wasn't going to be working in that area, so didn't give it a thought until now.

When I removed the boat from the trailer to take the trailer to the scales, I unloaded it in our back field on the grass.



After weighing the trailer (and consequently figuring out the weight of the hull) I had a heck of a time getting the boat back up on the trailer! I pulled for all I was worth with the manual winch, then gave up and installed the electric winch I had laying in the shop.

Even then, I put a strain on that bow eye that I didn't believe it would stand, but it passed that test and the boat finally loaded. I guess it is still solid enough for use, but I will have to figure out how to gain access to the back side of it to pull it off for inspection.

This was the outside view of the bow eye when I first got the boat home . . .



And, the inside view. . .



I may be able to gain access through that center hole just below the front light pole socket.

There used to be a swivel seat mounted in the bow and an electric trolling motor. Because of there being no easy access to the backside of the bow liner, the PO installed the electric motor mount plate using spring-loaded drywall wing nuts. You can imagine the size of the hole I have to fill! When I removed the mount by cutting the heads off the rusty 1/4" x 20 screw, the wing nuts and shanks of the screws fell down between the bow liner and the hull.

Clark -

Considering where the boat will be kept & where it will be used, the best option is to use all stainless steel or bronze fasteners and hardware. While the old stuff looks cool, it won't look good for long. The environment you live in is hell on white metal (pot metal) The zinc inside it reacts to the salts in the air & it will blister just like the ones you have now. NOS hardware costs a lot & it won't look new for long if installed on a boat that is stored outside. Trailer queens and show quality restorations are worth the price - but other boats can get by with good used hardware stripped from doner hulls. I have installed NOS Perko bow and stern eyes on boats only to have the shanks rust in a few short years. Just something to ponder.

Bruce Gerard wrote:

Clark -

Considering where the boat will be kept & where it will be used, the best option is to use all stainless steel or bronze fasteners and hardware. While the old stuff looks cool, it won't look good for long. The environment you live in is hell on white metal (pot metal) The zinc inside it reacts to the salts in the air & it will blister just like the ones you have now. NOS hardware costs a lot & it won't look new for long if installed on a boat that is stored outside. Trailer queens and show quality restorations are worth the price - but other boats can get by with good used hardware stripped from doner hulls. I have installed NOS Perko bow and stern eyes on boats only to have the shanks rust in a few short years. Just something to ponder.

Bruce .........

You are right, of course and I, as usual, wasn't thinking ahead. Why am I using expensive epoxy instead of Gorilla Glue? Why A/B plywood instead of CDX? Why new upholstery instead of some junkyard seats?

Because I want it to last after I am gone. That won't be too long, acording to the docs, but I'm still 18 in my mind. So, considering what you have written and the fact that the eBay vendor hasn't bothered to answer my query, I'm regurgitating buying the NOS stuff.

Boatgeek kindly sent me pictures of the eye he has, and I think it would work. But, as you remind me, there is the question of longevity. Perhaps the project would be better off if I just spent twenty bucks on two new Stainless eyes and called it good.

Well, I don't have to make up my mind this week. It will be a while before I fill all the 127 holes in the topsides where various accessories have been mounted throughout the years and I get some paint laid on the glass. I have a good friend from Pittsburgh coming to visit for a couple of days. He began building an airplane like mine in 1995, the same time as me. I finished mine in 1999 and he is hoping to fly his for the first time this September. So, all of you guys who think it's taking forever to finish your projects, take heart! Careers and family take precedence.

Thanks for the advice.

BTW, I went out and inspected my Bow Eye this morning. I can indeed get to the backside of it through the hole and it is Hell for strong! It has a good back plate on it and an angle ties it into an attachment to the cleat on the bow. It is all well galvanized and looks like new. You'd have to tear off the entire front end of the boat before either the eye or the cleat would budge. I have no worry about them.

Airplane Project?
do tell

Off-topic email sent.