Centaur rudder bushes

[wooslehunter]

Can anyone shed some light on how the bushes are held in?

I need to change mine. It seems as if they are just pressed into the stern tube. But I'd lie to confirm this before I start pushing hard to get the old ones out.

 

[zambant]

Yep

Mine are push fit - get the new ones first to make sure yours are the same.

Try the westerly forum on yahoo groups - really helpful bunch

Good luck

John

 

[ianat182]

You'll need to come ashore to drop your rudder,with at least 18" hole beneath the blade to allow it to come out. When removing the rudder place something firm and padded to take the weight of the assembly as it is lowered to the hole.
Outside of the hull there are 4 nuts to undo that hold the lower flange of the rudder tube to the hull.The upper bolts are seen in the cockpit. the lower bolts and nuts not accessible to tighten unless the fuel tank is removed. To get access to the lower flanges I cut a 6" circular hole in the cockpit floor close to the stock position, I bought a 'Jack Holt' screw-in port to fit and provide an inspection access. The upper bearing can be withdrawn from the tube and the lower one from the flange.
Trafalgar Yachts in Fareham will probably have replacements for the Centaur in their stock. The ones I took from my Tiger were of the TUFNOL varietyand had been in situ since 1973 and no wear on the stock was found,but possibly the uptodate version will be of the DELRIN type with low water absorption, don't get Nylon for this.
You will need to seal the lower flange with Sikaflex and really ensure that you fit washers to the four nuts and bolts; because of the closeness of the holes to the tube sides you will have to cut the washers to a 3/4 moon shape,the flat against the tubeand ring spanners needed here with help outside the boat.

I had the lower flange work loose when sailing and a near sinking event as a result, so I inspect through the small hatch periodically just in case the lower bolts loosen(I'd use locknuts of the Nyloc type here).

ianat182

 

[Neil_Y]

Up to date? Delrin was developed in the 50's and is the trade name of duponts Polyacetal material.

Rudder bearing materials have evolved quite a bit since then, but Polyacetal does work and is fairly cheap.

 

[ollylaser]

You'll need to come ashore to drop your rudder,with at least 18" hole beneath the blade to allow it to come out. When removing the rudder place something firm and padded to take the weight of the assembly as it is lowered to the hole.
Outside of the hull there are 4 nuts to undo that hold the lower flange of the rudder tube to the hull.The upper bolts are seen in the cockpit. the lower bolts and nuts not accessible to tighten unless the fuel tank is removed. To get access to the lower flanges I cut a 6" circular hole in the cockpit floor close to the stock position, I bought a 'Jack Holt' screw-in port to fit and provide an inspection access. The upper bearing can be withdrawn from the tube and the lower one from the flange.
Trafalgar Yachts in Fareham will probably have replacements for the Centaur in their stock. The ones I took from my Tiger were of the TUFNOL varietyand had been in situ since 1973 and no wear on the stock was found,but possibly the uptodate version will be of the DELRIN type with low water absorption, don't get Nylon for this.
You will need to seal the lower flange with Sikaflex and really ensure that you fit washers to the four nuts and bolts; because of the closeness of the holes to the tube sides you will have to cut the washers to a 3/4 moon shape,the flat against the tubeand ring spanners needed here with help outside the boat.

I had the lower flange work loose when sailing and a near sinking event as a result, so I inspect through the small hatch periodically just in case the lower bolts loosen(I'd use locknuts of the Nyloc type here).

ianat182

Hello my name is Oliviero and I recently bought a Westerly Tiger 25.
I found during the last summer that there was water coming from the rudder. Now I'm working on the antifauling and I tried to move the rudder and there is a bit of play. Do you know what i should do?
Thanks in advance
Oliviero

 

[DinghyMan]

Hello my name is Oliviero and I recently bought a Westerly Tiger 25.
I found during the last summer that there was water coming from the rudder. Now I'm working on the antifauling and I tried to move the rudder and there is a bit of play. Do you know what i should do?
Thanks in advance
Oliviero

Best thing is to start a new thread

 

[ianat182]

Hello Ollylaser its a long time ago I did the repair job on my Tiger 'Iana' - T182 The details I gave then still hold good if the rudder stock is showing excessive play and you are experiencing water ingress into the hull. Mine was very worn but the lower plate beneath the hull was the source of my water ingress and emergency where the bolts holding the bearing plate had not been fixed with locknuts and had worked loose over the years. my cure was to fix these bolts from below the hull plate so they were able to be inspected periodically and the four locking nuts re-tightened from the INSIDE via the the Jack Holt screw -type plastic hatch I mentioned. Hope this helps.
My Tiger was sold to someone from the Gillingham/Medway area 4 years ago and painted later in a Bright red so easily identified.
I had my yacht for 34 years and loved her.

Ianat182