Whatzit?

[Lady Campanula]

Following the now-celebrated Forums tradition of posting an obscure pic....

And more to the point, how do I fix it?


This is odd. The Photobucket software has apparently deleted the original pic.... Madness? Try again.

( 'Sara's excluded... )

 

[prv]

Looks like a stern tube or an old-style seacock?

What's wrong with it?

 

[Amulet]

Lug of a Blakes Seacock with a missing bolt. Call Moray MacpPhail at Classic Marine and get him to tell you what kind of bronze bolt you need and quote for it.

 

[Lady Campanula]

Looks like a stern tube or an old-style seacock?

What's wrong with it?

That din't take long, 'prv'...! Must try harder.

As anifuleno, the stud is broked-off. As with all such things, it's rather difficult of access....

 

[Alfie168]

You need an Eze out..except in my experience, they never do...bad luck with that one it looks a right bugger

Tim

 

[sarabande]

a suggestion; merely a humble suggestion....

 

[Amulet]

Is the boat afloat? I think you could get it it out with a EZ out (Screw Extractor) of some sort. Heating and gentle tapping and WD40 can all help. However, if the boat is afloat, and you can't take it to bits to get at the broken bit you may have more of a problem on your hands.

 

[Lady Campanula]

Y'all will be well aware there's a lot more to it than just that remnant of broken stud. But I won't trubl you with all that....

Some decades ago I was slim and lissom enough to go caving and get back out again without much damage. These days, 'letterboxing' into the bowels of a small boat leaves me with torn tissue, bruises on the bum, and oher bits I didn't know I had.

Gearing up for a trip in behind the engine is a bit like preparing for battle. Phrases like 'attrition rate' and 'exchange ratio' are intoned and evaluated. Like on the Western Front of a near-century ago, I seem bogged down in the trenches. The score stands at 'Four bolts, one complete stud, two bilged screwdrivers and a chewed-up spanner versus a torn shoulder ligament, multiple tattered fingernails, a revived old knee injury and several acres of skinned knuckles.

The Summer Offensive is about to begin. 'The Big Push....'

 

[Twister_Ken]

Y'all will be well aware there's a lot more to it than just that remnant of broken stud. But I won't trubl you with all that....

Some decades ago I was slim and lissom enough to go caving and get back out again without much damage. These days, 'letterboxing' into the bowels of a small boat leaves me with torn tissue, bruises on the bum, and oher bits I didn't know I had.

Gearing up for a trip in behind the engine is a bit like preparing for battle. Phrases like 'attrition rate' and 'exchange ratio' are intoned and evaluated. Like on the Western Front of a near-century ago, I seem bogged down in the trenches. The score stands at 'Four bolts, one complete stud, two bilged screwdrivers and a chewed-up spanner versus a torn shoulder ligament, multiple tattered fingernails, a revived old knee injury and several acres of skinned knuckles.

The Summer Offensive is about to begin. 'The Big Push....'

Take heart. It'll all be over by Christmas.

 

[nortonmotors]

Following the now-celebrated Forums tradition of posting an obscure pic....

And more to the point, how do I fix it?

( 'Sara's excluded... )

Give us a clue, wottizit and werizzit? I can see you've tried to drill it and now you're stuffed. 5/16" thread size? Not enough metal remaining to drill another smaller hole and hammer in a Torx bit?
Can you make a thick drill guide locating off the shaft and the other threaded hole and use a 1/4" or 6mm slot drill (a milling cutter than cuts on the end face) to machine out the broken bit.
Trying to bodge it usually ends in a total disaster.

 

[Lady Campanula]

Give us a clue, wottizit and werizzit? I can see you've tried to drill it and now you're stuffed. 5/16" thread size? Not enough metal remaining to drill another smaller hole and hammer in a Torx bit?
Can you make a thick drill guide locating off the shaft and the other threaded hole and use a 1/4" or 6mm slot drill (a milling cutter than cuts on the end face) to machine out the broken bit.
Trying to bodge it usually ends in a total disaster.

Okay, NiceNorton.

You'll see it's a simple, ol'fashioned stuffing box. The previous owner had sheared off one of two studs, as you can see in the first pic, probably by using a spanner or big screwdriver as a lever across the studs, screwing the stuffing box up 'tighter'. Then he's made a 'cods' of trying to drill it out.

I've unscrewed it so I can wedge it forward on the shaft, with slightly better access - but still viewing it via a mirror - and will tap a 'dimple' in the remaining stud-remnant, then use 2mm drill bits on a flexidrive into the remaining stud-metal. I'll try to expand that pilot hole with progressively larger drill bits, until I can get some form of left-hand thread bit into what remains. I've been advised against using EaziOuts, although I have a set of them.

Once I have the hole cleaned out, I'll bond in a pair of s/s studs - I think.

An engineer friend, who 'fettled' a canal boat fleet and is an 'old ag machinery' buff, wants me to take out the engine - but that's probably 'cos he wants to tweak and twiddle with it....

 

[Avocet]

Is the boat high enough off the ground to allow you to take the rudder off? That means undoing the big bronze casting that the tiller bolts to and more grovelling around in the very bottom of the bilge sump to under the bolt that holds the big bronze block in which the bottom of the rudder pivots. You can then thread the whole assembly downwards until the top of the rudder stock comes out of its bearing in the transom. That will allow you to undo the clamps on the prop shaft where it goes into the back of the coupling and slide the shaft out. You'll then be able to take that casting out and fettle it on the bench.

Dropping the rudder is a complete nightmare, but probably no worse than you're currently experiencing! If you can get the prop off, you MIGHT be able to slide the shaft backwards far enough to allow you to slip the stern tube casting off the shaft before the back end hits the rudder. Either way, I think there no more that can be done in-situ now.

Finally, are you sure you don't want to cut an access hatch in the bottom of the cockpit? I could post some piccies of Avocet's if you like?

 

[Lady Campanula]

Is the boat high enough off the ground to allow you to take the rudder off? That means undoing the big bronze casting that the tiller bolts to and more grovelling around in the very bottom of the bilge sump to under the bolt that holds the big bronze block in which the bottom of the rudder pivots. You can then thread the whole assembly downwards until the top of the rudder stock comes out of its bearing in the transom. That will allow you to undo the clamps on the prop shaft where it goes into the back of the coupling and slide the shaft out. You'll then be able to take that casting out and fettle it on the bench.

Dropping the rudder is a complete nightmare, but probably no worse than you're currently experiencing! If you can get the prop off, you MIGHT be able to slide the shaft backwards far enough to allow you to slip the stern tube casting off the shaft before the back end hits the rudder. Either way, I think there no more that can be done in-situ now.

Finally, are you sure you don't want to cut an access hatch in the bottom of the cockpit? I could post some piccies of Avocet's if you like?

I understand and appreciate the thoughts. The blurry thing is still sitting on a borrowed farm trailer, with scaffolding all around it, and I plan/hope to lift it free of the trailer later this week using a pair of chain blocks and 2 x 4T lifting strops. If that goes as advertised, the trailer will be slid out and she'll be lowered into a Jacob's yacht cradle. Then it'll be 'time for a cool, sharp Harp' or summat!

I do agree that's probably 'overkill'. The guys were satisfied with what they'd erected - then the boss turned up and doubled the kit. There's no way I can slip the rudder at present, unless I take the chain blocks a long way higher into the tree.

Do show the pics of your access hatch, if you would. That could provoke some musing and muttering....

 

[nortonmotors]

Can you not slide the shaft back juuust enough to get the coupling and then the flanges off? With the prop off and rudder hard over?
Then any competent machine shop could put it under a mill and helicoil it.
I've got the time, machinery and 'coils, but I'm in Staffordshire - and you're in Lancs or Zummerzet?

 

[Lady Campanula]

Can you not slide the shaft back juuust enough to get the coupling and then the flanges off? With the prop off and rudder hard over?
Then any competent machine shop could put it under a mill and helicoil it.
I've got the time, machinery and 'coils, but I'm in Staffordshire - and you're in Lancs or Zummerzet?

Thanks for that suggestion. That's Plan B ( .....or A+, if one wants to be topical. )

Should I be able to drill out the stud remnants in situ, then fitting a pair of stainless steel replacement studs, bonded in, should be the simplest solution. Whether it proves sufficient to the task remains to be seen.

While I've readily freed the prop-nut, getting the prop off without damage looks challenging - but it may prove necessary.

​

 

[Avocet]

...
Do show the pics of your access hatch, if you would. That could provoke some musing and muttering....

Ok, 'scuse the mess, but that's what you get for having it under some trees for 5 years! Also excuse the plastic temporary covers, the nice wooden ones are stored away somewhere dry. There's a grating in the back of the cockpit so everything is at the same level when installed. The previous owner simply hacked a hole (rather a big one as you can see!) in the cockpit sole, screwed some (I think teak) battens round the perimeter to stiffen the edges and make some sort of dam, then put a big trapezium of wood over the top. I was a bit worried at first but it's actually very solid. You can even see sme U-bolts that I've put in there for safety lines and I've even put mainsheet loads into them in the past.

Anyway, here you go. I can't deny that access is...

...wonderful!

 

[sarabande]

Photobucket censors pics with predominantly flesh-tones.




I think we now have an additional task in the project list