Engine Pad Rust / Rot

[afraser502]

Hi all, I have an issue with my engine pad seat. The piano hinges have been rusting and streaking down the fibreglass. I originally cleaned the marks with Star brite rust cleaner which works however doesn't address the root of the problem. The piano hinge on one side now has rotted and the screws are coming out.

I have some questions I hope someone can help with.

1. What is actually causing the rust? Is it the screws in the piano hinge? They're original so I would have assumed they would be stainless steel or some other compound that wouldn't rust.
Should I replace these screws?

2. How would I fix this? I assume its wood underneath and rotted. Is it a case of repairing the rotten wood with filler or something along the lines and then fixing the upholstery back to the pad?

I live in Hong Kong which is not blessed with spare Sea Ray parts so it's hard to find dealers etc that could help with this issue.

Thanks in advance.

 

[dtfeld]

Unfortunately, stainless steel is just that... stain LESS, but not stain free steel...it will still rust/corrode in a high humidity salt environment. Same with your aluminum supports you posed about in another post.

The best solution is to rinse the salt off after every use as your currently doing, but there are various sprays that help protect stainless from corrosion...silicone based off the top of my head, you’ll have to source something local.

You might check to make sure that the whole hinge is stainless, the pin might be a different metal, causing it to rust more than the body of the hinge causing your stains. Same for the screws...either of those could be the source of the rust.

To correct the pad, your going to have to replace the underlying wood. It not too tough. Basically pull the pad, and pull all the staples holding the upholstery on. Trace and cut a new piece of wood, treat the wood to prevent future rot, and reassemble. You can buy stainless upholstery staples. YouTube would have some good videos to help get you started.

if your in Hong Kong, your going to have to adapt to what’s locally available, or orderable online.

 

[hughespat57]

I'm going to bet its not the bolts that are rusting.
Looking at the seat the wood inside has given out/rotted.
And the Stainless bolts likely screw into wood tenon claw nuts that are plain steel and have rusted.
You need to have the seat rebuilt

 

[scoflaw]

Those nuts are available in SS

 

[afraser502]

Unfortunately, stainless steel is just that... stain LESS, but not stain free steel...it will still rust/corrode in a high humidity salt environment. Same with your aluminum supports you posed about in another post.

The best solution is to rinse the salt off after every use as your currently doing, but there are various sprays that help protect stainless from corrosion...silicone based off the top of my head, you’ll have to source something local.

You might check to make sure that the whole hinge is stainless, the pin might be a different metal, causing it to rust more than the body of the hinge causing your stains. Same for the screws...either of those could be the source of the rust.

To correct the pad, your going to have to replace the underlying wood. It not too tough. Basically pull the pad, and pull all the staples holding the upholstery on. Trace and cut a new piece of wood, treat the wood to prevent future rot, and reassemble. You can buy stainless upholstery staples. YouTube would have some good videos to help get you started.

if your in Hong Kong, your going to have to adapt to what’s locally available, or orderable online.

Thanks for the comprehensive response David. There are several good boat supplies shops here so I'll look for something to spray. So would the spray be something that effectively provides a barrier and presumably this would be sprayed on a periodic basis over the hinges?

As for the wood replacement, is it hardwood or something similar? I appreciate you won't necessarily know for sure but just wondering what type is generally used for these pads.

 

[afraser502]

I'm going to bet its not the bolts that are rusting.
Looking at the seat the wood inside has given out/rotted.
And the Stainless bolts likely screw into wood tenon claw nuts that are plain steel and have rusted.
You need to have the seat rebuilt

I think that's probably a good assessment. The rust appears to be coming from inside the seat / upholstery as it runs down along the seam onto the fibreglass of the boat. It seems a pretty bad design to use steel on the inside. Would you expect the wood to rot normally? I guess it may be a combination of salt water / high humidity but again, for a 3 year old boat that has been on a dry dock (previous owner included), just seems a pretty poor design that it would rot so easily. There is no damage to the seat or upholstery so its not like a tear which has let water in for example.

 

[afraser502]

Those nuts are available in SS

What is SS? Thanks.

 

[techmitch]

What is SS? Thanks.

SS stands for Stainless Steel.
Highly humid salt air can get into just about anywhere.

 

[hughespat57]

What is SS? Thanks.

The claw nuts are available in stainless steel so it wouldn't happen again.
The seat bottoms are usually just plywood. But if rebuilding you can use whatever you can afford. Plastics sheets like HDPE Starboard would never rot, but are more expensive than plywood.

 

[afraser502]

SS stands for Stainless Steel.
Highly humid salt air can get into just about anywhere.

Doh ! Thanks.

 

[afraser502]

The claw nuts are available in stainless steel so it wouldn't happen again.
The seat bottoms are usually just plywood. But if rebuilding you can use whatever you can afford. Plastics sheets like HDPE Starboard would never rot, but are more expensive than plywood.

Great, thanks for the advice.

 

[Soulshine]

The anticipation is killing me here.

 

[afraser502]

The anticipation is killing me here.

Glad it’s proving to be a nail biter
I’m having the wood replaced by a local shipyard here.