strange fastening screws at bottom of my transom?

Question

so.. there are 4x group of screws on each side of my transom, they seem to be stainless steel but i have no idea what are they for please see this pic for their location
http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/558/img0846k.jpg
this is a pic of the left group
http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/4553/img0849k.jpg
these are the right group
http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/8356/img0848ww.jpg
and this is how it's like inside the boat
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/4908/img0850dm.jpg

the location of the screw seems like screwing to something in the bilge (lower compartment).
i don't want to remove them as they may be holding onto something ?

Answer 1

You can't really tell from the pics what is inside the boat at the screw locations. It almost looks like they held on a bracket of some type, maybe for trim tabs or a boarding ladder. there is no reason to remove them, and if you do make sure they have no purpose now. Those look way to big to be a transducer mount Rich.

Answer 2

Looks like a Haines 17 at first glance, from the seventies.



The white sikaflex is where a burley basket was often mounted on those from new. Or possibly a particularly ugly outboard bracket come to think of it - I remember they were a collection of Galv angles and bolts with a step slotted support allowing you to lock the mount in four or five different heights between all the way up and down. That would make more sense with the age of the boat.



The screw patterns match older transducer and water speed pitot tube mounting brackets, and there is nothing wrong with leaving a quality sealed stainless fitting in place as can be shown here, if water gets in you'd know all about it by now and the correct repair does take some effort so hard to fault. If the transom ever required repair I would be more worried about the sika filled holes being a water entry point. Check for any softness at all against and near all of the fasteners and filled holes - inside and out - and if none found leave them alone.



If it is the boat I think it is they are built heavy and very strong - if allowed to rot they are expensive to repair, but the original materials were good and build quality set the standard of the times. There was a lot of effort in hand laying a lot of glass over quality solid timber members, which meant they were expensive, but sought after to this day.

Answer 3

The ones on the left are most likely where an older style Depth-finderr transducer was mounted. The White spots would be where the cable was routed, and filled with caulk when it was removed. I'd bet if you take a screw out you will find the hole caulked. From the size and pattern, I'd bet the ones on the other side where exactly the same thing. There is nothing inside that you can get to, and these where the boat was sold, so depth finder transducer. They are the wrong pattern, size and location for trim tabs, but it's possible that very small, fixed ones could have been added there at one time..



I think you've figured out to just leave them alone.

Answer 4

Those are where some 1 had transducers mounted.U can remove the screws and dry out and fill with marine filler & gelcoate

Answer 5

complex situation. query in yahoo or google. that might help!