I have a 78' Challenger that had a throttle pedal mishap this past Tuesday. The pedal assembly came off the floor while on the water Luckily the water was calm and we weren't going that fast. After I realized what happened I inspected and found the screws that held the pedal on had come out. I limped it in and tried to screw in the screws. Only one would hold  got it on the trailer and home, had a chance to look at it today. I found that the front screw hole (towards the bow) was stripped and the rear screw hole was okay, looks like it just vibrated out. But then I noticed a third screw hole right next to the rear one, this one was also stripped. Now the carpet was just replaced by some hole in the wall guy that my dad found. I don't like his work at all and I know he stripped the holes and re-tapped one because both the rear screw holes go through the carpet! The one that holds is clearly fresh. Sorry about that long intro but here is my question; I want to just fill the holes in and re-tap some new ones but am a bit worried about the wood underneath. The two holes that are stripped are medium - dark in color but the "fresh" hole is light. what's the best way to check the wood under the glass? Is it possible water got into those holes recently because they were exposed. The boat hasn't been in the water since 2005 so any water in there would be from the last 3 outings in less than a month. I don't want to rip up the floor if I don't have to.. yet

Thanks for the tips, ill check out the hull tomorrow in the light. I was looking at the floor today and it looks like only a small part of it is wood, from the middle of the driver seat to the middle of the passenger seat and from just in front of the foot pedal to the front of the rear seat. Shouldn't be too hard, I've been looking at some threads where the whole inside of the boat has wood under the glass. Thanks for the tip on the studs, what about installing some inserts in the stripped holes and glassing them in (for now) do you think that would be better than filling and re tapping?

Also, does anyone know what it looks like under the floor in these hulls? What's the stringer setup?


Thanks again,
James

Which model Challenger? If its the 18 flat deck, all the ones I've played with are 1/4 stringer and the subfloor is what stiffens up the rest of the hull.

Paperwork says 18&1/2 ft but it measures out at 18 ft on the dot. And im sorry for this dumb question but im still a little new to some boat terms... what's the "deck" on a jet boat? And by 1/4 stringer,  is that referring to only the stringers that the engine mounts to?

Callenger Boats 1/4 stringer w/ ski tunnel thru bow area was typical

I never cut the floor out of the one I posted, but I would imagine there is a keel stringer and or a floor support system down there.

Well I tapped around with a hammer and got a nice solid sound, no thuds. So I decided to just fill the holes with some resin and glass over them. When I pulled up the carpet I noticed some of the glass for the bulkhead was separating from the hull so that was also re- glassed wile I was down there. I don't know why it was separating / cracking, I checked the passenger side and it was just fine. After everything was dry I drilled some pilot holes and re-threaded the holes. I added some caulking to the screws and re installed the pedal mount. Feels nice and strong now, hopefully it will hold up.  Now I know to check "all" the screws before going out on the water.

Well I tapped around with a hammer and got a nice solid sound, no thuds. So I decided to just fill the holes with some resin and glass over them. When I pulled up the carpet I noticed some of the glass for the bulkhead was separating from the hull so that was also re- glassed wile I was down there. I don't know why it was separating / cracking, I checked the passenger side and it was just fine. After everything was dry I drilled some pilot holes and re-threaded the holes. I added some caulking to the screws and re installed the pedal mount. Feels nice and strong now, hopefully it will hold up.  Now I know to check "all" the screws before going out on the water.

My 76 Challenger had the exact same issues. I also found the floor was seperating from the hull under the deck area. I had to remove the bulkhead to get to a broken bow eye, and found the separating area. Does yours have a solid bulkhead or a pass-through?