vas
Well-Known Member
dear all,
yet another odd Q from me. Having more or less finished all the work I need to do around the transom (both inside and out) I realise that the only thing I've not dismantled and checked (either out of curiosity or need...) is the rudder and the shaft et al.
I did remove the 6bolts per rudder bolting the stock/shaft whatever you want to call it to the hull (and found a great deal of crevice corrosion there so got new ones to replace them all) but I've not unbolted the whole thing, drop the rudders to the ground and remove the whole shafts.
OK, you may ask, why bother?
Two reasons:
First: don't know if there are bushes in there and any seals that need replacing. Unless I'm mistaken, the shaft top is slightly below w/l so unless there's a seal it will leak. An almost 40yo seal is unlikely going to be nice, soft and sealy, is it?
OK, I understand that it's not turning at the rate that propshaft does, but it is inside the water and it does turn and needs sealing, no?
Second: on cleaning the mess, at the hull/transom area and around the rudder stock, there was a reinforcement ply patch around 220mm square and 18mm thick which was falling apart. Thankfully the hull underneath was fine, but I had to remove that patch and a lot of sealant around there. Now I think it's a good idea to replace it with another (either side...). Thing is it's going to be a right pain to make that in two pieces to wrap around the shaft, much easier (says me...) to drop the shaft and fit a new piece, drill it and refit the shaft. While at it, I can dismantle the whole lot, sort out my curiosity and replace any seals I find there.
So, am I generally on the right track or am I talking bull?
Is there anything there I might regret doing?
Got a full working w/e with v.hot weather, so working inside the lazarette is much preferred to working at salon or god forbid lower helm and aft deck
cheers
V.
yet another odd Q from me. Having more or less finished all the work I need to do around the transom (both inside and out) I realise that the only thing I've not dismantled and checked (either out of curiosity or need...) is the rudder and the shaft et al.
I did remove the 6bolts per rudder bolting the stock/shaft whatever you want to call it to the hull (and found a great deal of crevice corrosion there so got new ones to replace them all) but I've not unbolted the whole thing, drop the rudders to the ground and remove the whole shafts.
OK, you may ask, why bother?
Two reasons:
First: don't know if there are bushes in there and any seals that need replacing. Unless I'm mistaken, the shaft top is slightly below w/l so unless there's a seal it will leak. An almost 40yo seal is unlikely going to be nice, soft and sealy, is it?
OK, I understand that it's not turning at the rate that propshaft does, but it is inside the water and it does turn and needs sealing, no?
Second: on cleaning the mess, at the hull/transom area and around the rudder stock, there was a reinforcement ply patch around 220mm square and 18mm thick which was falling apart. Thankfully the hull underneath was fine, but I had to remove that patch and a lot of sealant around there. Now I think it's a good idea to replace it with another (either side...). Thing is it's going to be a right pain to make that in two pieces to wrap around the shaft, much easier (says me...) to drop the shaft and fit a new piece, drill it and refit the shaft. While at it, I can dismantle the whole lot, sort out my curiosity and replace any seals I find there.
So, am I generally on the right track or am I talking bull?
Is there anything there I might regret doing?
Got a full working w/e with v.hot weather, so working inside the lazarette is much preferred to working at salon or god forbid lower helm and aft deck
cheers
V.
