Holes in headliner

[Barquito]

I am going to be mounting some new deck hardware, including a winch. I have a fiberglass headliner. I will have to cut some huge holes in the liner. Looking for suggestions on how exactly to attach a wood patch to cover the hole.

[Faster]

Can you just drill the holes in a pattern to match the bolt pattern of the winch, and then see if these guys offer the right size to plug the hole afterwards? or match your holes to what is available...

Snap-In Plugs: Finishing Plugs for Sheet Metal Holes - Caps n Plugs

[Barquito]

Those look pretty slick. However, I have a wood plug covering an original deck fitting and was thinking I would stick with the same theme. The question is, should I use the wood plug itself for the backing plate (probably not a good idea), or use a SS or aluminum plate with a wood cover somehow attached on top?

[MarkSF]

Originally Posted by Barquito

I am going to be mounting some new deck hardware, including a winch. I have a fiberglass headliner. I will have to cut some huge holes in the liner. Looking for suggestions on how exactly to attach a wood patch to cover the hole.

The normal method is just to cut holes for the bolts, then use a backing plate. I guess the backing plate could be wood but it's normally stainless. Can't see a problem though with a wooden plate and some decent sized stainless washers under the bolt heads? Mushroom nuts look nicest.

To avoid leaks into the core, Don Casey's book recommends drilling the holes, then soaking with thin penetrating epoxy to seal the core, then filling the holes with thicker epoxy, then drilling through the epoxy. Gosh.

[Gladrags1]

I would drill the holes through deck and liner for the bolts, following Casey's advice if you can, particularly since winches get stressed which stresses caulk. Then drill larger holes, big enough for nuts and backing washers which get installed up against inside of deck. You can then buy a round piece of teak with a screw hole in center which is used to screw this cover in to the liner. This allows access to the underside of the bolts if needed in the future. You should be able to find these round covers in a large enough size. If not, go to a marina and dumpster dive for a scrap piece of 1/4" teak plywood that you can cut a circle out of.

[CapnBones]

I am with Gladrags1, if the headliner is as thin as mine, I offer the below method as well.

1. Drill holes to match new hardware.
2. Stainless Backing plate, or material of choice, then put on nuts.
3. Size wooden cover to cover backing plate, drill to match bolt pattern and counter bore underside to go over nuts holding hardware on.
4. Use acorn nuts to hold the wooden cover on to complete the look.
-This of course would mean make sure you get long enough bolts.

[MarkSF]

Originally Posted by Gladrags1

I would drill the holes through deck and liner for the bolts, following Casey's advice if you can, particularly since winches get stressed which stresses caulk. Then drill larger holes, big enough for nuts and backing washers which get installed up against inside of deck. You can then buy a round piece of teak with a screw hole in center which is used to screw this cover in to the liner. This allows access to the underside of the bolts if needed in the future. You should be able to find these round covers in a large enough size. If not, go to a marina and dumpster dive for a scrap piece of 1/4" teak plywood that you can cut a circle out of.

I've found that red oak, stained with golden mahogany stain by Rustoleum, and varnished with spar varnish, is very close in appearance to teak. You can buy it at Home Depot and it's not expensive. It's also a good strong wood.