WTB Alpha Z Board Rack(s)

[mcosenz]

Looking to see if anyone has a port side alpha Z board rack they are willing to sell, preferably wake/surf, but who am I to pick and choose, i just need a replacement now after a dumb mistake on my end.

Putting the boat away in the garage I forgot to swing in the port side board rack, the fingers caught the side of the garage and snapped off. The screws that hold the fingers to the swivel piece fractured inside. I don't think I am able to remove the broken screws now. I would like to just buy new fingers, but haven't found anything online that would work with the existing Alpha Z racks. Has anyone found something that has?

[bsreid]

These guys have a few options http://www.malibumarine.com/gear_acc..._racks_mirrors

I know many people on here will chime in about the Samson racks.

[mcosenz]

Thanks for the reply! I have actually contacted Malibu Marine in the past about their 'sunken treasure' alpha z racks. I was just hoping there might be a cheaper option out there e.g. someone found aftermarket fingers that mount directly to the Tiges racks or if someone has a set laying around they want to sell me

[chpthril]

The screws that hold the fingers to the swivel piece fractured inside. I don't think I am able to remove the broken screws now

Post a pic. Ive removed them on the older style Tige forks.

[UNSTUCK]

Even if you have to take the forks to a machine shop to get the broken screws out and threads repaired I bet it would still be cheaper than buying new.

[mcosenz]

Attached is a picture of the fingers. Any ideas?



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[chpthril]

Too deep to cut a slot in the top with a cutting wheel. Try a quality screw extractor. The hurdles are that they are likely in with blue loctite and stainless is softer than regular steel bolts.

[UNSTUCK]

Those are nice clean breaks. They should be pretty easy to drill a hole all the way through, about 1/2 to 3/4 of the diameter of the bolts. Then use an extractor to unscrew them. If they are in with loc tite a little heat will release it and allow them to unthread. You may have to keep the heat on them as you back them out. Then you may need to run a tap through the holes to clean up the threads for the new bolts. Not a bad job and certainly no reason to scrap them. If you were/are local I could help you.

[chpthril]

Carful heating anodized aluminum. It will burn. And u don't want to heat the broken end of the bolt as it expands compounding the issue.

[mcosenz]

Hah I successfully removed 0 of the 4 bolts while watching pats steelers blowout. Not sure what metal the screws are, but they are harder to drill thru than the metal used for the fingers. Unfortunately I'm located in Wisconsin so not exactly local. To soften the metal I think my only option is a blow torch (which i don't currently own, got a heat gun though) but as chp mentioned I'm worried the bolt will cool and expand before i can remove it.

[ray.gusman.35]

I would start by spraying a penetrating oil of some type into the holes, and let it sit vertically for some days with continued reapplying of spray before attempting to remove


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[chpthril]

The screws are stainless steel. You need a bit better than HSS (high speed steel) like titanium and also a variable speed drill. SS needs slow rpm.

[Bryan]

Would JB Weld hold on those things? Weld another bolt to the ends, without attaching to rack metal, and wrench them out after they set up for a day or so... just a thought

[mcosenz]

Thanks for all the advise guys! I'll have to make a trip to home depot tomorrow to pick up some oil and titanium drill bits.

Bryan, have you tried that before? I'm not familiar with JB Weld, but it would need to be incredibly strong.

[Bryan]

I have not tried that specifically, but I have used it for other automotive applications and I know it's pretty tough stuff and that it can be drilled and tapped so.. I would think the determining factor would be whether or not you can get enough on there to get a good bond without contacting the fork metal on the edges... if nothing else works, for $8.00 worth of epoxy, I'd try it before I bought new forks.