Jeff: I'd use loctite, or at the least, a little polyurethane caulk... I had some bolts in my mast back themselves out (I know... I didn't believe it either, but the bolts were GONE) and my mast fell on my MascGregor after I replaced the masthead. A plastic or nylon washer under the head of the bolt isn't a bad idea. The boat was in a little corner of our lake where skiers and jet skis loved to go up and down... and up and down, and up and down. Set up a vicious quick chop that whipped the boat around mercilessly. My Monty lies easy in a slip where no boat wakes can get to it. Hope this helps BG -- Brian Gilbert Marine Media M17 "Tiny Dancer" (ex "Stargazer") (423)876-9990 3404 Hartford Drive Chattanooga, TN 37415 www.sailingsmall.com on 6/12/06 9:57 AM, montgomery_boats-request@mailman.xmission.com at montgomery_boats-request@mailman.xmission.com wrote:

Any advice on mounting a cast aluminum tang for a forestay to my aluminum mast. A friend of mine says he always uses stainless steel machine screws and taps the holes into the aluminum mast when mounting hardware. I wondered about corrosion with Stainless and aluminum together. Is there any thread compound to use to help with this? What about pop rivets? Are they strong enough? and would I use aluminum or Stainless rivets?

Any comments would be appreciated. Jeff