E37 T-track toe-rail removal

[mvk512]

Thanks to all for the replies. After spending some time today at the boat, I'm confident an effective repair of the ding can be completed without removing the damn track. The ding is small and has no structural implications whatsoever. It would certainly have been easier with the track out of the way, but the pain of track removal (and damage risk) blows away the overall repair effort needed.

 

[El Borracho]

I've worked in machine shops and I've been in boatyards for 50 years and I've never seen anyone drill out a 1/4" S/S fastener in one minute - or two minutes or anything remotely close to that.

Not even on a drill press.

Ya lack my mad skilz. It is only seconds once the drilling starts. The minute is for getting ready. I would not drill the length of the bolt. Only the two millimeters to free the head. Truly trivial.

 

[SloopJonB]

You're right, I agree.

 

[Crash]

Might be worth a shot with a hammer style impact as well. Sometimes the downward impact really helps, and you might get less stripping of heads.

I like this approach as well, and have had good luck with it in the past on exactly this problem. Trick is to make sure the slotted screw bit is a correct fit to the slot in the screw head. The hammer impact is greater than with a cordless tool, yet is more controllable too (IMHO).

That said, if you can repair with rail in place, and rail is not leaking anywhere, then that’s the best approach (again IMHO)

 

[yoyo]

mkv512 - if you don't mind me asking, what software did you use to do that nice rendition?

Back to your toe-rail track. As others mentioned, slow, steady, repeated hits with a 18V cordless impact driver using a properly sized straight slot bit have worked well for me on similar setups (Olson & SC). The hammer strike type driver was very no beuno.
I'd be surprised if E used a different bedding compound than Olson or SC. Maybe a previous owner re-bedded the track with something wonderful like 5200.

Another item to consider - you will most likely find if you pull the track some significant corrosion issues that you cannot see until the track is pulled. These may mostly be superficial but there likely will be some that are fairly major. So much so that you may not want to put the old track sections back on. So - if you don't need to pull the track to do the repair and it's not leaking requiring re-bedding it might be best to leave it alone. Out of sight - out of mind.

 

[Raz'r]

mkv512 - if you don't mind me asking, what software did you use to do that nice rendition?

Back to your toe-rail track. As others mentioned, slow, steady, repeated hits with a 18V cordless impact driver using a properly sized straight slot bit have worked well for me on similar setups (Olson & SC). The hammer strike type driver was very no beuno.
I'd be surprised if E used a different bedding compound than Olson or SC. Maybe a previous owner re-bedded the track with something wonderful like 5200.

Another item to consider - you will most likely find if you pull the track some significant corrosion issues that you cannot see until the track is pulled. These may mostly be superficial but there likely will be some that are fairly major. So much so that you may not want to put the old track sections back on. So - if you don't need to pull the track to do the repair and it's not leaking requiring re-bedding it might be best to leave it alone. Out of sight - out of mind.

Yeah, I yanked all my deck hardware off 3 years ago - and the amount of hidden corrosion in the tracks was impressive. They were packed full of salt, and, well, a couple were in pretty bad shape.

But, good on the fix without removal, you can ignore the above!

 

[mvk512]

mkv512 - if you don't mind me asking, what software did you use to do that nice rendition?

PowerPoint... not really the right tool. After decades of generating almost daily presentations at work, you can get pretty quick creating cartoonish graphics with this blunt tool.

 

[yoyo]

Thanks ... never would have guessed PPT.

 

[Alex W]

Don’t risk damaging the track. The closest replacement is only sold in 20’ lengths for about $1500 per length. If you can do the repair with the track in place then do that.

Where are you located?

 

[mvk512]

Don’t risk damaging the track. The closest replacement is only sold in 20’ lengths for about $1500 per length. If you can do the repair with the track in place then do that.

Yes, that's similar to the quote I got. The repair can (and will) be done with the track in place. If I could find a couple of days to work on it it would already be done by now. I'm in So Cal.

 

[Alex W]

Cool. I was asking about location because I have about 10' of the track left over from repairs on two Express 37s in Seattle.