I took mine off last year. The wood core in the deck had dissolved around the pulpit mounting plates so I filled the deck with epoxy. I sent an email to explain how I did it. If you are taking the pulpit off, might as well check to see if your deck core needs that.
Once I took the bolts out of the pulpit mounting plates, (they came out very easily) the pulpit lifted right out. If the nuts are off the bolts on the inside and the bolts are still hanging in the deck holes, they could jam as you try to life the pulpit off. Tap the ends of the bolts from the inside and make sure they lift out. If they are out and the pulpit is still stuck, try tapping a three or four inch stiff putty knife between the pulpit mounting plates and the deck, then gently pry up until the pulpit is free. If the deck compresses as you do that, you probably need to do some epoxy filling. I went down to the local marine salvage store and picked up various sizes and thicknesses of Star Board -- a white plastic material used for power boat hard tops etc. That stuff makes excellent backing plate for the interior when you re-bolt the bow pulpit down. You will probably have to buy new longer bolts, but well worth knowing you did the job properly. Thinner Star Board will flex more to conform to a sharper interior curve of the deck. ----- Original Message ---- From: Gordon Gilbert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2008 12:13:16 PM Subject: M_Boats: Bow rail removal I just removed, varnished and re-bedded all the brightwork on my M-17. Now I'd like to re-bed my bow rail, since I'm seeing gaps in the bedding compound -- but I can't it off. I've removed the bolts and banged the rail with a hammer and piece of wood, but the thing seems cemented in place. I'd hate to yank out chunks of deck with the pulpit. I'm assuming that the rail was originally bedded with polysulfide caulk. Has anyone else had this trouble -- or have a good solution? Thanks, Gordon _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
