Spring Projects: Who is doing what?

[ian ashton]

This was one of the cheapest things I've done to the boat yet, and yet one of the things I am most excited about.

I feel like if there is a varying degree of "slop" in the swim platform, mine would have been on the 'worse' end of things. At the very least, its annoying as hell.

Before Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6gXetJpjeI


So, I figured if I could put a few set screws into the bracket, it would at least reduce the rattle a little.

A blank slate:


So, I just drilled and tapped a 3/8-16 hole about mid-way on the inboard side of the platform bracket. I actually bought Stainless Steel allen bolts for this application, but I couldn't find the correct size wrench, so for testing it out I used a few spare Zinc plated bolts I had laying around. I'll swap in the allens once I get the correct wrench:




...and the verdict: NO MORE SLOP! It didn't just reduce the sloppy clunking, it completely eliminated it! I'm so happy, I can't wait to get it in the water and see if its a permanent fix, or if I'll need some more tweaking.

Question: Does anyone know how I can get that oxidization off the platform brackets? I've tried everything, and nothing seems to work...