P Bracket Wobble

[Tim Good]

I have play in the P Bracket on a Beneteau First 26. It moves front/back and side to side about 3-5mm.

The Shipwrights say: Cut out from the bottom and inject in a kind of epoxy boot to fix in place. Cost approx £500.

I then found this: "Go to the aft interior of your boat. Find the mound of fiberglass that holds the base of the bracket. Drill 5 to 10 holes into mound at various angles and levels. With compressed air clean the hole. Then inject the holes with a fiberglass resin mixture until you see the resin flowing from the crack between the strut and hull on the outside of the boat. Use duct tape to seal the crack to keep resin from flowing out and then fill the holes that you drilled completely with resin. This should fix the wobble in the strut."

Clearly the latter seems DIY whereas the shipwright way might be beyond my means.

Thoughts anyone?

 

[30boat]

On my Fulmar the P bracket was also wobbly.I ground the area around it and laminated a few layers of rovings with epoxy resin,enveloping the bracket and making a smooth transition from the bracket to the bottom.In order to make the rovings adhere to the p braket without air bubbles or voids I enveloped it with a plastic bag and tightly stretched a strip of rubber,actually a bycicle inner tube slit lengthways around it.The result was a very strong repair and 13 years on there's no movement at all.
My previous boat also had a wobbly p bracket and I repaired it the same way.Again 10 year of use and no problems.

 

[2copplane]

On my Fulmar the P bracket was also wobbly.I ground the area around it and laminated a few layers of rovings with epoxy resin,enveloping the bracket and making a smooth transition from the bracket to the bottom.In order to make the rovings adhere to the p braket without air bubbles or voids I enveloped it with a plastic bag and tightly stretched a strip of rubber,actually a bycicle inner tube slit lengthways around it.The result was a very strong repair and 13 years on there's no movement at all.
My previous boat also had a wobbly p bracket and I repaired it the same way.Again 10 year of use and no problems.

I did similar on my old jeanneau. Mine had been weeping a little so I also used a drill to gauge out deeply around the bracket and added a band of flexible sealant - then as above.

 

[Tim Good]

I did similar on my old jeanneau. Mine had been weeping a little so I also used a drill to gauge out deeply around the bracket and added a band of flexible sealant - then as above.

How do you then ensure it is correctly aligned with the prop shaft once it is fixed in.

 

[onesea]

How do you then ensure it is correctly aligned with the prop shaft once it is fixed in.

I just had this looked and once new prop shaft and cutlass bearing was fitted he did the job so it aligned itself.

The guy who did mine drilled holes from top and put Plasticine round bottom to stop it running away.

 

[Neil_Y]

If you are going to use the shaft to align the P bracket you need to support the shaft so it is straight and also chock around the shaft in the bearing so you know it is central in the bearing. Shafts are quite flexible and also heavy they sag.

 

[oldsaltoz]

If you have access from inside it is a lot easier to do, I prefer to remove most if not all of the old material and replace it using epoxy based resins and cloth.
Once exposed, line up the bracket, cover with a mix of Micro-fibres and epoxy resin then 4 layers of 400 Ounce bi-directional cloth and finish with a single layer of rovings for neat smooth finish.

Good luck and fair winds.