compression tube

[Ian McColgin]

There could be reasons of wear and hole size requiring that the bolt holes (one on each side of the mast) be lined, bushed or reinforced, but you should not be holding the nuts that keep the stay tangs in place by compression. The ideal would be a pin through nut and bolt but if you can't work that accuratly a pin through the bolt just outside the nut will do. This is not something you need to torque.

That said, it might be that the holes were designed to be a bit larger than the bolt and what you're really inserting is a rather long bushing so it stays in place for both holes without further ado. It should come just flush with the outer surface of the mast on each side.

I'd use stainless.