Successful Roof Rack Repair

[BobBeery]

Sorry no photos. On my 87 Dolphin the roof rack that goes across the back and part way forward on each side is made in segments joined by plastic couplers. One of these couplers broke and the free end facing forward drooped about three inches. I did not find a source for a new coupler. After several ideas and a couple trials I did something that works and was not too hard to do.

First I removed the screws that go through the rail into the coupler. Leaving the halves of plastic coupler in place I used a cordless drill with a 1/2 inch drill bit to bore a larger hole down the center through the plastic coupler. Next I cut a piece of 1/2 inch OD flexible copper pipe to a length of about two and a half inches. This piece did have a very slight arc to it but that did not matter, it may have helped. I marked the mid-point of the copper and pushed it into one of the holes I had drilled. It stuck too soon until I lubricated the copper with vaseline. Then I drilled a small hole in the copper for a screw, going down through the old screw hole in the rack, and installed a screw on that side.

I tried to pull the rack pieces apart enough to insert the copper in the other side, but could not at first. The screws that hold the rack in the mounts were too corroded to undo so the rack could not slide. So I pulled upward on both pieces until they came far enough apart to get the copper started into the other piece. However pulling up had also put the pieces at a slight angle to each other so the copper would not go in. Fortunately that small arc in the copper was pointed just the right way. I gave a quick shove downward on both pieces and it all went together. Again drill through the old screw hole into the copper, install a screw. Everything is now strong and solid.