mounting cabin top winches and the hollow liner
For discussion I propose a 'cheat' to make it fairly easy to bolt winches on the cabin top.
There will be a ring of five or six #12 or 1/4" bolts. You have to drill them thru the liner which has a space between it and the roof. The space will imco vary between 1/4" and 1/2".
You will be putting in a wood backing block to allow cinching the bolts. But because of the hollow behind the liner you can end up with leaking anyway - and the water getting in will run down the inside of the liner to the shelves that most Ariels have riding on the stringers. This can be a problem with anything mounted on the cabin like the rails.
The cheat is to buy 2oz syringes from a fiberglass supply.
Mix up a gel of fumed silica and epoxy and squirt it into the holes you have drilled.* You are hopefully filling in the space with a pad of solid epoxy. Only you will know how much of a doughnut of epoxy/gel you are getting in there. The stuff has to build up between the two surfaces and spread out - has to be the right consistency - have to experiment. After set, redrill the holes and bolt on the winch. Probably get away with a lot thinner backing block. IF you really got the knack of backfilling the liner you might have created all the backing you need and MAYBE you can get away with only fender washers. Certainly easier than carving a backing block to fit the curve. IMCO.
This is not a recommendation, just a possible idea.
The alternative and probably easier way for most people is to drill the winch holes... BUT only thru the cabin roof (and not thru the interior liner) Squirt in the gel, enough to create an interior pad around the hole (between cabin molding and liner). Let set. Then redrill thru. Chamfer the screw holes in the cabin 'roof' to create a caulking 'washer' under the winch* --and provide a backing plate. A thicker plate will make it possible to counterbore the machine screw (bolt) holes to inset the nut and washer, and cut the shank flush.
* If you oversize the mounting holes 1/64 or 1/32 oversize, it will give all the screws a bit more ease to fit.
imco filling the liner space is worth the effort.
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* If your gel is the right consistency - let's say slightly loose but still thick like soft beaten egg whites - the stuff can be sucked up into the syringe by pulling on the plunger. Easier than filling by hand.
The official word from Lewmar Tech...
It took them awhile to get back to me but "the word" on mounting winches is LifeCaulk or some similar adhesive bedding compound in the mounting screw holes and that's it.
That said, I had already given up waiting to hear from them so I did the screw holes and a bead around the perimiter - leaving a 1.5" gap right under the small gear spindle so that any water that ends up under the base can drain or evaporate out. It seems to be working in tests.
A couple of tips from a guy who's been bedding his brains out for the past couple of weeks - I place the bedded object and then tape around it - be careful about the speed at which you pull up the tape when you're finished - too slow or too fast can cause a mess - I use vinyl gloves extensively - using my fingers to smooth and mold the goop into position. I keep a Windex bottle full of tap water handy - spraying the goop speeds curing once you have the it where you want it - this has the advantage of fiinishing the job faster and reducing the mess. Finally, I go back around the edges and the hardware and clean it and the surrounding area with Interlux 202 which seems to to a better and faster job than the Remover product or Solvent product that Life Caulk sells.