Removing hardware - dumb question

[Tim22]

I want to remove the spinlock cleats from the cabin top of my Suncat and replace them with new ones. The existing ones are through bolted and the nut on the interior is covered by a white plastic cover. I pried one of these off and found that it was mounted on a metal plate that seems to fit on the nut. Is there some trick to removing these without damaging the cabin ceiling?

Sorry for the dumb question!!

Tim

[capt_nemo]

Tim22,

I have a Sun Cat with similar hardware.

The small round concave metal plate (that looks like a washer) is there to allow the round plastic cover to snap on and nicely cover the nuts. Just grab onto the nuts with a wrench, vise grip or whatever works while someone topside unscrews the bolts.

I had to relocate my spinlocks to the aft end of the cabin top from where the factory installed them (up forward) and had no trouble removing them.

capt_nemo

[Bob23]

Tim:
   I had the same situation on my 23 when removing the teak grabrails. I ground down the shoulders of a socket so it would reach the nut without touching the metal plate. Worked great. I now have a dedicated socket whenever they need to be removed again, which is today!
bob23

[gfspencer]

Tim:
   I had the same situation on my 23 when removing the teak grabrails. I ground down the shoulders of a socket so it would reach the nut without touching the metal plate. Worked great. I now have a dedicated socket whenever they need to be removed again, which is today!
bob23

Bob, I'm lost.  What metal plate are we talking about?  I tried to remove the rails yesterday.  I undid the cap bolts* from the inside of the cabin but the rails held fast.  Also, the rails have plugs that cover screws.  Do I need to remove the screws?
_________________
*Maybe they are called something else.  They are not through bolts.

[Tim22]

Thanks for the help. I managed to remove the spinlock cleats, but alas, the new ones that I got as replacements have a different hole spacing and require a different bolt length so the project will have to wait until next weekend - nothing is easy!!

Tim