Invader 22
Take a look at the bolts - looks can be deceiving - at least one of these was pristine condition on the bit that showed !
To pinch an idea from someone else - I shall replace at least two with eye bolts - maybe all four.
The mast is stepped in a large two sided cheek - with two side fixing bolts. It was Galv and looking a little worse for wear. The bolts, at least one of them didn't look good.
Right - the cabing roof here is 1 inch thick solid glass - with the 8 x 2 hardwood post spanning between it and the floor - this post just falls inside the line of the port fixing bolts. The forepeak is not lined - just solid grp - while the cabin has a grp lining moulding.
Two bolts are exposed, one glassed over with the tabbing between roof and post - and the last was ' somewhere' !
I carefully measured, then took pot luck with a 40mm hole cutter ( can replace the plug later with some white silicone )- the cabin lining is quite substantial, and generally it is not filled. The brown stuff here appears to be some sort of high density filler - I think filling off the front edge of the lining as it meets the forward cabin. Although the post is tabbed to the roof - there is a gap of about 15 mm between the actual wood and the grp - not ideal, so will fill it with epoxy, then re-tab it and maybe some sort of bracket.
Generally - the roof structure/ post set up is super strong. The bracket, seen left, is similarly built - though the zinc has suffered, a preliminary clean up with a rotary emery showed only slight surface corrosion - how to treat it is now the problem. Maybe it can be re - galvanised - not sure how the rust pitting affects this, or what it would cost. Be nice to have a new copy made in stainless - but this is really heavy gauge and I think it would cost a fortune - may find out. There is a local little place that shot blasts and recoats classic car and bike wheels - so there's my first port of call on Tuesday ( if I remember to bring it home with me !)
This whole escapade - prob took me couple of hours - was beacause one bolt looked a bit rusty - the other one visible, looked great. I nearly just left it all as it was.