Engine Hatch Hinge Mounting Holes Stripped! HELP!
 

Ok so I pulled my hatch (engine sun deck) to have the motor pulled to replace my coupler. When removing the deck one side of the hinge would not come apart. After some finagling, it finally came off leaving the screws and part of the mounts from the deck in the hinge still together. Feels like there may be some rot in the wood or hard part of the deck in the corner where it mounts. How do I repair this? I am guessing getting a wood repair kit from the hardware store (you know the ones that you hammer into wood and there is a female threaded hole in it) would probably not work since the wood is bad. Any ideas? I really do not want to replace all the wood.

You could fill it with epoxy and drill it out the size you need.

I think that whole corner part of the board is rotted.

Might have to replace or re-glass the board, or u can drill it through add a spacer on each side of the bolt to try to sandwich it.. best bet is to replace it.. other than that your just buying time..

I was thinking maybe a plate on the board that I can bolt the hinge to and the plate would screw into the board where the wood is fine. Which would just buy time.

Just fix it right. Why do so many people wanna half ass stuff. Folks this is why inspecting a boat is paramount before buying because everyone wants a quick fix instead of doing it right.

+1
This is part.of my winter to.do list. Mine are rotten too, I had to do my 25ok too!
Take a.part and replace wood, put new t nuts and restaple vinyl back on. Hardest part was getting on and off by myself.

found out it is not rotted. Just broke the mounting nuts. So I guess I can just drill and epoxy and re-drill with new nuts.

I decided to make a bracket. It is basically sheet metal that is shaped like a "U" and wraps around the bottom of each side of the wood and put nuts on mounting nuts that sandwich the board. There is rot but it is not enough to justify replacing the wood at this time. That will have to be a later project. Biggest challenge here will be making sure the vinyl stays. Since there is only the plate (aluminum) where wood normally would be I used screws and fender washers to hold the vinyl down where that plate is. Not much area and not noticeable in the location. And because I have a small pad just behind the hatch pad it should not see much abuse either. So time will tell.