bow cleat and eye backing plate replacement?

[Lug Man]

Where do I get the big steal plate that's inside the bow hull? The towing eye and the bow cleat both attach to this.
Min is completely falling apart and rusted out. This is a huge problem. It's fiberglassed in but parts of it
are hanging out into where my anchor rode is stored and pulls out. The rope constantly catches on it when in free fall, etc.

Any suggestions to where I can get a replacement?
Or should I just cut it out and put a flat plate behind the eye and under the bow cleat?

This is on a 1988 228G Seafarer
thanks

 

[ENichols56]

Lug Man, i just replaced mine about a year ago. i was working on an 1984 seafarer. here is a thread i found. viewtopic.php?t=13021 supposedly a place called budget boats had them at one point. However, i had access to a machine shop with a welder and i ended up making one. if you know of a weld shop in your area, or a friend with a welder, that will probably be the easiest route. tried to upload a before/after pic but got an error.

 

[ROBERTH]

I used a piece of 1/4" aluminum plate for mine and it will work out fine. Got a large plate last year from speedymetals.com for making backing plates, so cut a long narrow piece to fit when I removed the lifting eye and bracket assy. in prep for installation of a windlass later this year.