: Why yes I have used elevator bolts (from McMaster) for securing my keepers
: footbraces. But I would not recommend the method I used. In the future I
: plan to drill a hole in the hull.

: The method I used was to attach the elevator bolts to a 4mm x 2.5" x
: 15" piece of Okoume. The elevator bolts have a bit of taper in the
: head which I matched in the plywood plus adequate counter sink. The bolts
: were epoxied into the plywood and then the plywood was epoxied to the
: hull. This fitting is very strong and I'm sure the footbrace will yield
: long before elevator bolt joint.

: There were 3 problems: 1. The hull is a compound curve causing the axes of
: the 2 mounting bolts to be around 7 degrees different which required very
: strong language to complete the installation of the footbraces. 2. The
: additional width of the plywood adds to the height of the footbrace
: reducing the maximum usable shoe size. 3. The footbrace attachment holes
: needed to be drilled out and a nylon insert locknut used to secure the
: footbrace, which prevents removal of the pedal portion of the footbrace
: for storing [larger] items in front of the footbraces.

I had great success with the McMaster SS studs, mentioned earlier in this thread. While others have done a nice installation with t=nuts, etc., sandwiched behind Okoume wafers, etc., all those methods took more time/effort; The way I placed the studs was to bed them in a circle of epoxy coated fiberglass, on the interior of the hull, with spacing and alignment maintained by having the studs already on the brace rail. After the initial setup of epoxy, I removed the rail, and added two layers of fiberglass wafer, slightly larger than the base (2" or so), and epoxy coated as I would any fill coat. The McMaster studs have a perforated base, so no danger of 'spinning' the stud after mounting. And the strength is incredible; I don't see how you could break one off; the hull would have to fail, first. After it is attached to the rail, there is virtually no flex to the bolt. And attached in this manner, the rail is essentially attached right up to the inside of the hull. I don't believe the rail is placed significantly differently than it would be with a thru-hull mount.