Notes from Bill McMullen on use of Spartite to seal around chainplates:
Dated 3/15/2005 
 
The pictures are attached, in the photos it's just steps in mounting the chainplate, sealing 
the bottom and building a mote around the hole on the top side and adding the goo. After 
the goo set I peeled off the first mote and pulled/ pushed and smacked the CP with a 
hammer a few times with the wood block pulled up in a vice.  The second gray mote was 
around the edge of the core, then I filled the mote with water and let it sit when I left for 
work, ten hours later the water was still there and nothing had leaked through. After that I 
dismounted the core from the block of wood and stuck it sideways in the vice, holding 
the CP at the top and bottom and working it back and fourth to break the seal. The goo on 
the stainless let go but it was only with a lot of movement, 2 or 3 inches back and fourth 
and up and down. The good news is the seal between the top of the core and the side wall 
inside the hole never let go even after pulling the chainplate half way out. At that point I 
applied dish shop the the rest of the chainplate and it came out without as much effort. To 
break the goo loose from the core I to get a screw driver under the goo and pry it off, 
when it let go it was clean and pulled off without any damage to the core surface. The top 
part of the goo broke away from the side wall as the picture shows and I had to pry it off 
the side wall as well. The point is this stuff provided a very good seal to the SS and 
excellent seal to the deck and inside wall keeping all wood area completely dry even after 
the chainplate was removed.  
 
I just did my chainplates and this would be a much better way to go, trying to get the 
sealer pushed down in the hole was a real mess and you can't do that job without getting 
it all over yourself and the boat. Also I had to do a lot of digging around the old 
chainplates before I could even get close to it getting one out.  With this stuff, I did the 
mote with a silicone so it peeled right off, the goo gives you plenty of time to work 
before it starts to set and then it's a slow process not a flash point like fiberglass. Removal 
on the boat would require taking the nuts off the stud and pulling the chainplate to break 
the seal, soap up the top side and pull it out. With the chainplate out of the way the goo 
would be easy to remove.  The only hard part on the boat would be getting the back side 
of the chainplate on the bottom sealed up once the chainplate is bolted down, may have to 
do that just before it's pushed onto the studs and the nuts installed.  I have plenty of goo 
left over if you would like play with it and see what you think, I could send you a small 
sample and see what you think... All most forgot, I did pour a small amount on another 
chainplate, on one I attached a lever to see how much pressure it took to pull it off in a 
straight pull. I used a fish scale, somewhere over 25lb it broke free.. The second sample I 
pushed on sideways with a screwdriver and could not get it to let go..  
 
Bill