need some help filling holes

[RoundsComplete]

I have a 2520XL with the live well across the transom. The outside hatches are just screwed in with four small wood screws and there is nothing to prevent the hatch from opening too far and pulling the screw's out. Well just that happened this summer so I tried fixing it the other day. I drilled out the holes slightly larger and filled with marine west 610 epoxy and let dry a few days. Today I tried sanding it down to get ready to put the hatch back on. Sanding looked really good and smooth so I drilled small holes back into the epoxy and then placed hatch and put screw's back in. When doing so, the top of the epoxy and gel coat pulled up. So, now do you recommend repeat the process and drill larger hole for the screw when reinstalling or go a whole other route? Thanks for any advice

 

[TWOBOATER]

Can you cover the area where the screws pulled out with a small plate and thru-bolt the hinges?

 

[saltyfish]

I agree with twoboater, redrill slightly larger holes, fill holes with epoxy, redrill for bolts, use SS thru-bolts, washers, nuts...you could even use a backing plate on the underside. If backing plate is aluminum use nylon washers under the SS nuts. Just my 2 cents.

Good luck.

 

[RoundsComplete]

I originally thought of doing the same thing but the way the transom hatch is situated is so the underside of the hinges is not accessible. There is a small gap, maybe a 1/4" between the inside of the livewell and the underside of where the hardware comes through. I think I will try to do the same thing as before but drill larger holes for the screws when reinstalling and screw in manually instead of with a power tool. When I reinstalled the first time, I drilled out an 1/8" hole which now thinking about it was probably way undersized and when screwing the hardware back in with a drill created too much force and pulled the epoxy up. I will post some pictures tonight after work to give a better idea and see if any recommendations. Thanks again

 

[kidfreediver]

Try marine tex its a harder substance for screwing.