: I just mounted a nut inside a small aluminum plate (~1"square)
: for each track bolt. I then applied release tape to the track,
: bolted the nuts/plates on, gooped the plate at each end of the
: track with thickened epoxy and positioned them with tape. Once
: they were in position, I finished adding and shaping thickened
: epoxy to a tapered pad which was maybe 1 1/2" square at the
: hull surface. After the epoxy set, I removed the track and
: cleaned up my pads with file and sandpaper.

: Anyway, one of the tracks moved under the tape after it had been
: setting for a while. I thought it was behaving fine, but it must
: have let loose after I stopped paying attention. As a result,
: both nut pads on one track set up totally cockeyed, and I didn't
: discover the problem until the following morning when the epoxy
: was well and truly hardened up.

: The point of this story is that I could not believe what I had to
: do the get those pads off the hull to re-mount them in their
: proper positions. They were not properly seated because of the
: way the track had rotated under the tape. Consequently, they had
: maybe half the attached surface area that they should have. I
: used a hammer and chisel to chew/shear them off the hull, and I
: could not believe the beating they took before I finally got
: them off. There is no way that even brutal use of the footpegs
: will move those pads when they are properly seated. With your
: nuts mounted in a continuous strip rather than just on pads at
: the track ends, you would have to rip large chunks out of the
: hull for the attachment to fail.

: As I believe Rob Macks has pointed out, it is possible that the
: mounting could be weakened by serious heating when the kayak is
: sitting in the sun, but I have no experience there.
: Hypothetically, I expect that once you were in the water, and
: you aren't too likely to stress the mounts before then, the
: water would have cooled things down to more normal temperatures.

: At any rate, aside from the issue of excessive heat, surface mounts
: for tracks are remarkably strong.

: Best regards,

: Allan Edie

After I've decided *where* the McMasterCarr studs need to be surface-glued, I use the rail as my guide - tip the boat on it's side, on sawhorses, put down a few layers of FG cloth, bigger than my MC base, saturate with epoxy - and put the MC studs directly on top, covered by yet another 'circle' of FG, making a sandwich - all while leaving the studs in the railing.
After it sets up, I generally add a few more 'circles' of FG to the sandwich; it's lightweight, and I don't know how you'd remove these studs - I believe I could hang a beef from such a setup, with no give. Using the rail for alignment has been bulletproof, as well.