seasidemom
Member
I have a 1982 Bristol trawler, 42'. We have removed all of our stanchions and toprail, and have now refinished the cap rails. Some of the flat head machine screws we removed in the process are not reusable. I cannot find anything like them anywhere! They appear to be 5/16" diameter, but not quite; or #8 metric, but not quite. Neither of those sizes (new) will sit flush in the stanchion base plate b/c the heads are far too large, nor will they fit the threads on the tapped plate under the cap rail. The original screws are 1-1/2" long, brass or bronze. They are definitely NOT standard (at least, anymore), and custom made replacements are $7.75 each (OK) and require a 4-week lead time (not OK). Alternatively, I could have all the stanchions re-bored, the cap rail holes re-drilled, and the inside plates re-tapped. I would much rather find the darned machine screws! Where did these odd fasteners come from? More importantly, how can I get some?