Floor removal

[fishhook8]

I have a 1994 Tracker boat, I want to remove the back section of flooring so I can relocate the pedestal without worrying about screwing into the gas tank. It has phillips head self tapping fine thread screws. Most of them are rusted in and the phillips bit will not back out the screw. Looking for suggestions.

[Fisher Dave]

Drill into them and use the largest extractor possible or .... It may be easier to drill just deep enough to remove the screw heads and use a vise grips to grab the screw shank once the pedistal base is removed.

If you use an extractor and break it off in the screw, you wont be able to drill it after(extractor is as hard as drill bit).

[Guest]

2 things to do here..........

Take a #2 phillips screwdriver.

First:
Place the screwdriver into the screw and with a hammer, hit the screw head a few good times. This will break up the rust. Then soak it with WD40.

Then:
Make the tip of the screwdriver wet with spit, then coat it with "A-Jax". This makes an "abrassive" coat that will bite into the screw head.

Good luck!

[Steve Bakken]

Not knowing how bad the screws and rust are, but assuming worst case scenario, if all else fails, grind off the heads, get the wood out, grind the shanks flush, and then when re-installing floor, just drill new screw holes and run new stainless screws into the new locations.

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Steve @ Bakken's Boat Shop www.bakkensboatshop.com