Yes I do think I will be able to hold the nut from turning through the
drainplug opening, so hopefully the silicone will be sufficient to get the
nut in position and started. And I have managed to trace the wire atleast
into a mass of other wires, but it is green so I do believe is is a ground
wire for electrolysis. Anyone know of any good articles on electolysis and
boats?

Mark

"James" wrote in message
t...
All three of mine are bolts and I found that I could hold the nut with a
finger thru the drain plug opening.

"Mark" wrote in message
...
Just getting the boat ready for launch in the next week or so and I am
trying to fix up a couple things yet to do and have a couple questions:
1) My drain plug flange has been leaking, so I got some 3M 5200 silicone
to reseal it. When removing the flange to clean up the surfaces I found
2 screws were self tapping (as expected), but the 3rd is a bolt which
appears to also hold onto a wire (with a crimped-on loop connector).
The long bolt goes through the flange and transom and then suspect the
connector to be held on to the bolt with a nut. The boat is an 1986
model 268 Searay Sundancer and there is next to no room to get into /
around the flange at the inside of the boat to have someone to hold the
nut, so I am going to try a bit of silicone to hold the nut temporarily
onto the wire connector so I can get it started on to the bolt. Does
this sound like a reasonable approach or does anyone have any
suggestions?

Also I am not certain what the wire is actually even for, as it again is
difficult to trace down in behind and under the engine, but suspect it
may be for electrolysis or something. Is this a fair assumption or does
anyone know for sure?

2) I removed the electrolysis cathode (I think it is fair to call) from
the bottom of the transom housing (two bolts) to make it easier to paint
the housing, and noticed some sort of build up or contamination or
something on the surface. Can or should I try sanding or cleaning up
the surface to improve the electrolysis or is this natural and not really
a problem? My anode (on the outdrive) is eroding as expected and there
appears to be a little erossion on the two (screw-on) knobs at each side
on the lower part of the housing, so I suspect everything is functioning
there ok. Should the two knobs and cathode be replaced periodically?
I boat in fresh water on the St. Lawrence.

Mark
The Rail, Canopy, & LifeLine (accessory) Hook guy
www.ripnet.com/vtf/prod03.htm