[quote=lecrin2022]Hello. Apologies for the length of this post. I have just joined this forum and am in the process of replacing both the tramp rails on my 2000 /1 NACRA 5.0. It appears one of the tramp rails had been replaced by the previous owner who used rivets all along the rail - including in the middle section of the rail where the jib block track is placed on top of the tramp rail. Having now removed all the rivets on this hull, it has revealed the poor repair the previous owner did along this middle section of the tramp rail by using pop rivets. This middle section of the hull is made of thicker fiberglass with a short aluminium/SS plate embedded in it (it appears about 20 inches long). Clearly the rivets used in the previous repair were not long/strong enough as the jib block rail "exploded" off the tramp rail while out on the boat! I can't believe that there would be a pop rivet big enough or strong enough to go through the jib block rail, the tramp rail and then through the thicker section of the hull including the embedded SS/aluminium plate. I think this is proven by what appears to be the original tramp rail on the other hull. This rail is badly corroded and likely to fail and therefore needs replacing. The middle section of the tramp rail where the jib block rail is attached is secured by a number of flat-head SS screws along the approx 20 inches long length of the embedded reinforcing SS/aluminium plate . Having had to grind out a few of the failed rivets from the middle section of the other hull - which revealed the embedded SS/aluminium plate - it looks as if there are drilled holes in the plate for the SS self-tapping screws to go into. I have a couple of problems that I would be grateful for anybody's help with. First, I can't undo the flat head screws to remove the original tramp rail! Its possible they have rusted into the SS/aluminium plate over time. Has anyone had experience of having to remove these screws and the best way to do so? Secondly, before fitting the new tramp rails, I was going to fill all the existing rivet holes along each hull with epoxy and then re-drill them before putting new "dome head" or "exploding" rivets in (as suggested above). Does this sound like the right thing to do? If anyone has any experience of how best to refit the new tracks and whether to fill the existing rivet holes first, I would be very grateful for any advice. Thank you and apologies again for the length of this post![/quote]
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