Taps plate rivets

[mkuiper]

My brother took my boat out and he said that there was a bad vibration when he went in reverse.

When he dropped the boat off i went to look if there was a ding in the prop and noticed that the taps plate was coming off the hinge. All but one of the rivets holding the plate was out. The plate is bent from the water pushing on it and the hinge has a bend in it to.

The question I have is, do I need to replace the plate and the hinge since they are bent? Or can I just rivet the plate back to hinge? My only concern is the the hinge might bind with a bend in it.

If I do need to replace the plate and hinge does anyone sell this or know where I can buy it?

[da.bell]

Take the rivits out and find some bolts and screws that won't limit the movement of the plate. Should work great still....

[426er]

I agree. You should be able to straighten the hinge and the plate and re-attach. I used stainless steel rivets on mine and it is solid. If you need to replace it, you can have a fab shop build it relatively cheap. I built the complete unit including actuator tabs for $130 and it looks identical to OEM.

[chpthril]

Damn, what did he hit?

X3 on the bolts, and use ny-lock nuts.