Stripped screw holes for side covers.

[Sleigher]

Hi all,
The screws that hold my interior coves in place are falling out. The covers are relatively thin fiberglass and they screw into relatively thin fiberglass.
I know that I could just use bigger screws but that starts getting ugly when they don't all match.
Any thoughts on an easy fix?
I was thinking about little fiberglass patches or getting some of the two part epoxy and filling the holes in and starting from scratch.
All comments are appreciated.

Peter

[Wizard]

I can't think of exactly what you mean by interior coves? If I could picture the situation, I know of a couple of possible ways to properly repair stripped out fiberglass screw holes.

[yellowfin1]

Peter,

I think your later solution for the holes is the best method. West Marine puts out a good fiberglass and wood repair booklet. It cost about $4.00. One of the fixes they describe is the screw hole problem. Basically, they say to drill out the hole a quite bit bigger than the original, then fill it with two part epoxy and possibly a filler like west system's 406, let it dry thouroughly. Drill it with a bitt one or two sizes smaller than the desired screws you plan to secure the cover with. Seems to work.

Scott

[Sleigher]

I have an inboard so I may have one more cover than an I/O. There is one in the stern and one on each side mid-cockpit. They provide access to some hoses and the stern light. On the port side it provides access to the fuel fill hose.
The material is not more than a 1/4" thick. It is the kind of thing that on cars you would find a slide on thread. I thought of doing that but I know it would leave a rust trail.

Thanks again,

Peter