Non Boat Specific Keel bolts painted and looking rusty

[Laurin Müller]

Dear Moody Owners

During a Survey, my surveyor told me to have a closer look at the keelbolts of a moody 35. I know from the owner that the boat had water inside the bilge for a while. And that the nut and stud were rusty. the owner cleaned the rust of, and painted it.

It is very hard to see what conditions they are in. some seem to be deformed and one of the Nut looks cutted(image DSCF3670.JPG left nut). I will ask the owner if i can sand of the paint to check the conditions of the nut. But maybe he dont let me and then i have to decide if its a big problem or not. Anybody changed the keel bolts yet?

Im thinking of 4 scenarios.
1: Nut and studs looks alright underneath the paint and the bit of rust. -> i go a long and buy the boat
2: Nut and studs does not looks good, i can take off the nut and exchange them with new ones if the stud is in good shape underneath
3: stud and nut are in bad shape and i have to exchange them one by one.
4: worstcase: maybe some studs cant get off the keel, i need to put on a new keel

I would love to hear about your experiences with the scenarios above and what you think about the images.

Thank you very much to share your experiences with me.

Laurin

 

[Craig Corson]

Moody 336 Mk II - 336 Keel studs? size & thread pitch? | Moody Owners Information Exchange

This was my experience. They look better than ours did.

 

[Laurin Müller]

Hi craig
Thanks you very much for your reply...unfortunatly i cant see your link, thats maybe because of my restricted access cause of guest accountbfor this forum.
Can you maybe post it again in this forum? That would be very great.

Thank you very much. Laurin

 

[Laurin Müller]

Hi craig
Thanks you very much for your reply...unfortunatly i cant see your link, thats maybe because of my restricted access cause of guest accountbfor this forum.
Can you maybe post it again in this forum? That would be very great.

Thank you very much. Laurin

*I mean in this thread(not forum)

 

[Craig Corson]

I bought a deep 3/4 drive Socket set that had a 34 & 36mm sockets, if the nut rounded, I just hammered on the 34mm and they came out no problem.

I made sure I test fitted every plate and cleared the old Sikaflex, string, horse hair out so I could get the studs in easily which are 10.9 mild steel

A friend made me new plates and we oversized the ones we could.

Once they were all in and sikaflexed I painted the bilge with teamac bilge paint (half the price of international) and I liberally coated the metal parts with plastidip clear (available in tinned form on amazon)

They were not pretty, and becoming very messy but now I know its done, that peace of mind is often expensive!

 

[Craig Corson]

Hi Laurin. From the pictures your keel bolts look ok

the only way to know for sure is to remove one and strip the paint from it.

I would guess that your surveyor has told you that as a precautionary measure

To give you some confidence in buying the boat. I had never done this task before and managed it over a couple of days myself.

The tools I bought were around £100, and the parts were around £150.

I changed all the bolts while the boat was in the cradle. I removed one and then fitted a new one.

All is fine now and the boat has sailed 1 season on its new keel bolts without issue.

 

[Peter Wright]

Hi Laurin,

Welcome to the Moody Owners Association.

If you have actually bought the Moody 35, and that is an excellent choice, it's time to change from Guest membership to full membership of the association. In yachting terms, the annual subscription is not that much and gives you access to a wealth of information, which will save you more in maintaining the boat than the subscription itself. It will also save you a lot of unnecessary work as you figure out the best way of doing things.

Peter.

 

[Laurin Müller]

Hi Laurin. From the pictures your keel bolts look ok

the only way to know for sure is to remove one and strip the paint from it.

I would guess that your surveyor has told you that as a precautionary measure

To give you some confidence in buying the boat. I had never done this task before and managed it over a couple of days myself.

The tools I bought were around £100, and the parts were around £150.

I changed all the bolts while the boat was in the cradle. I removed one and then fitted a new one.

All is fine now and the boat has sailed 1 season on its new keel bolts without issue.

Hi craig

Thank you so much for sharing your experience and work with me. Great to see this problem and solution documented so well. You are right, thats exactly what my surveyor suggested. Strip one and have a close look.

You gave me great confidence to solve the problem inexpensive unless one stud kerps stuck....my surveyor said then it can get very expenssice.

I will try to eyanine the wurst looking stud first.


Wish you a very nice day.

Thanks

Laurin

 

[Laurin Müller]

Hi Laurin,

Welcome to the Moody Owners Association.

If you have actually bought the Moody 35, and that is an excellent choice, it's time to change from Guest membership to full membership of the association. In yachting terms, the annual subscription is not that much and gives you access to a wealth of information, which will save you more in maintaining the boat than the subscription itself. It will also save you a lot of unnecessary work as you figure out the best way of doing things.

Peter.

Hi peter, i havent bought the boat yet. But once i will i am more then happy to join this very helpful community.

Laurin

 

[Craig Corson]

Socket Set
12x 3/4" Inch Socket Set 22-41mm DRIVE DEEP IMPACT HGV Long Reach Impact Sockets | eBay

Breaker Bar
S&R Breaker Bar, Flex Socket Drive Handle Set 3/4 Inch with Extension and 3 Sockets 17", 19, 21, Rotary Push Handle 600 mm, Extra Resilient Ø 22 mm Shatterproof - Industrial Quality: Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

Threaded bar is M24 x3mm Metric Coarse

Nuts are 36mm but that set allows you to drop down sizes to suit if they are really bad. I found I could get a 34mm on better

 

[Laurin Müller]

We took of the color and hit a nut with a screw driver...the nut fell apart. It seems the nuts are all rusted. What happens if all nuts would come of? Would we loose the keel or are the studs fixed in the hull as well or are they just fixed by the nuts?
Thann you so much for a reply.

 

[Laurin Müller]

We took of the color and hit a nut with a screw driver...the nut fell apart. It seems the nuts are all rusted. What happens if all nuts would come of? Would we loose the keel or are the studs fixed in the hull as well or are they just fixed by the nuts?
Thann you so much for a reply.

And one more pic

 

[Peter Wright]

Hi Laurin,

I'm afraid your statement "We took of the color" is unclear in meaning.

In your photo, starting from the bottom and working up, you can see:

• the grp hull - the stud is not fixed in this except by the sealant
• the square backing plate- the stud is not fixed in this except by the sealant
• the hexagonal nut, this is threaded onto the stud and is the prime means of securing the keel to the hull
• the top end of the stud - the bottom end of this is screwed into a threaded hole in the cast iron keel.

If one stud or nut fails, the keel will remain attached to the hull. If all the studs or nuts fail and the keel / hull joint remains in good condition, the keel will probably remain attached to the hull while the boat is stationary, held on by the adhesion of the sealant. However, any attempt to sail the vessel, which will put a lateral load on the keel causing bending loads at the joint would probably make it fall off.

If you have found a single nut which disintegrates when poked with a screwdriver, it's clear that this yacht has had water in the bilge for much of her life corroding the nuts. I would recommend replacement of all nuts and backing plates as a minimum and it would seem to me good practice to replace the studs at the same time.

Before replacing all the studs, I would want to form an opinion of the condition of the hull to keel joint. If it's not looking good, I would want to drop the keel and remake the joint - not he easiest job as you have to separate the keel from the hull, both parts weighing several tons.

Seems that it is time for a discussion with the vendor of this boat.

Peter.

 

[Laurin Müller]

Thanks you very much peter for your information.

 

[Guillermo Nin]

Thank you very much for accepting us at the MOA.
We have a similar situation. We are buying a Moody 38 in excellent condition, we already have the result of a surveyor, 91/100.
It has studs, nuts and plates in the state that is seen in the photos. We will make the purchase, and it helps us a lot to know how to solve it.