Keelbolt Torque 6/21/02

Good morning [all]. It appears the [folks here] have been busy coming up with 
questions regarding our keel installations which have been surfacing 
ever since I've been monitoring the list. I hope the following will answer 
some of your questions:

Tartan uses a "Live" joint to mate the keel to the hull.

A live joint is a joint that is able to flex during thermal expansion and 
contraction as well as accommodate movement in the structure while 
normally loaded as well as those occasional abnormal loads (grounding).

This installation has been in use since the early 1960's with great success. 
One of the great advantages of this installation is that tightening the 
keel bolts will not promote water intrusion.

We use a two-part THIOKOL adhesive sealant between the keel to hull 
joint which creates a permanent gasket.  As you know, gaskets 
are used elsewhere on your boat such as on the engine water pump.

Tightening the bolts on gasketed seals does not promote leaks as long 
as the bolts are evenly torqued.

Keel bolts should be torqued to the following specifications:
1" bolts should be maintained at 350 ft/lbs
3/4" bolts at 250 ft/lbs and 
1/2" bolts at 180 ft lbs.

Tartan no longer covers up the keel to hull joint with glass tape for cosmetic 
purposes. For the last several years we have been leaving the seam 
exposed and faired with a THIOKOL bead to eliminate the maintenance 
issues with glass tape.  Some other manufacturers install their 
keels with an epoxy joint.  We don't find this to be reliable since 
the lead will expand and contract at a different rate than the 
fiberglass.  If the bolts become loose the joint will fail and there is no 
chance of tightening up the bolts to eliminate a leak.   A sudden 
impact can also jar the joint enough to break the bond.

There you have it. I hope I answered all the keel joint questions.
George GuldenTartan 
Yachts
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Thank you George, you are a true and knowledgeable Tartanite to be able to 
answer that question.  The only other question that I  find mystifying is 
where (location) do you tighten the bolts up. On the hard (winter storage 
out of the water) or in the water.  It appears that two different weight 
problems occur, 1. on the hard, all the weight of the boat is resting on the 
keel and 2. in the water the keel is trying to pull away from the boat.

I am going to assume that on the hard, there would be much less resistance 
and more turns to get the proper torque and in the water there would more 
resistance because of the addl weight and thus more torque required.  I 
hope you understand the question much better than me asking it.

Leo Corsetti
T-33 #83
Satisfaction
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Leo: I recently tightened the keel bolts on our T3800 on the hard, but the 
keel was not bearing weight. This takes a few more stands to the boat, but 
is the way to do the keel bolts, I'm told. Our keel was also faired without 
it bearing weight. This may be why some have problems with leakage, even 
after they have done maintenance on the keel for this problem. 
WKS

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Ok, I'm this will cause a huge debate, but here goes....  The 
final torque number will be the same whether the keel is hanging in the 
water or on the hard.
George