CD30K 77 - ground plate and rudder support - Help

[Rowland]

The grounding plate (sintered bronze) bolted to the keel has been painted over a couple times. Assuming this is not good for the plate, how hard is it to replace the plate with a new one? If hard, is the old one refurbishable?

Second question, is there a source for the totally rusted out rudder post support bracket (just under the worm gear), or is it best to get one custom fabricated?

Thanks for your help.



rowlandda@nswccd.navy.mil

[Michael Stephano]

Second question, is there a source for the totally rusted out rudder post support bracket (just under the worm gear), or is it best to get one custom fabricated?

Thanks for your help.

Assuming yours was like mine the only thing rusted out was the parts that are strapped to the hull with fiberglass. If this is the case remove the structure from the boat and take it to a welding shop and have those pieces of pipe replaced with the same size solid round stock. Then clean and paint the whole thing. With a grinder clean up the hull were the bracket was fastened. Reinstall the bracket and adjust (slide it up and down on the bearing) it so both feet are on the hull. Use fiberglass and resin to tape it down to the hull and make sure you get all the bubbles and voids out of the glass. The actual welding on this cost me $35.00 and the other materials around $40.00. Time on this job (my own ) was about 2.5 hours. I hope this helps.



mundo@visi.net

[Rowland]

The rudder post support I need is the angle bracket that supports the top of the rudder post tube, that is bolted to the aft end of the cockpit underneath the forward end of the steering gear box. This support is actually inside the cockpit, and is entirely rusted away. In particular, IS THERE A WAY OF GETTING THE FLANGE OFF OF THE RUDDER POST TUBE??? Also, can anyone accurately measure the diameter of the fiberglass rudder tube?? I would very much appreciate someone's help with this, the boat is several hours away, and I need to find a replacement. Thanks.

Second question, is there a source for the totally rusted out rudder post support bracket (just under the worm gear), or is it best to get one custom fabricated?

Thanks for your help.

Assuming yours was like mine the only thing rusted out was the parts that are strapped to the hull with fiberglass. If this is the case remove the structure from the boat and take it to a welding shop and have those pieces of pipe replaced with the same size solid round stock. Then clean and paint the whole thing. With a grinder clean up the hull were the bracket was fastened. Reinstall the bracket and adjust (slide it up and down on the bearing) it so both feet are on the hull. Use fiberglass and resin to tape it down to the hull and make sure you get all the bubbles and voids out of the glass. The actual welding on this cost me $35.00 and the other materials around $40.00. Time on this job (my own ) was about 2.5 hours. I hope this helps.

rowlandda@nswccd.navy.mil

[John R.]

The grounding plate (sintered bronze) bolted to the keel has been painted over a couple times. Assuming this is not good for the plate, how hard is it to replace the plate with a new one? If hard, is the old one refurbishable?

Second question, is there a source for the totally rusted out rudder post support bracket (just under the worm gear), or is it best to get one custom fabricated?

Thanks for your help.

In regards to the painted ground plate I would replace it if its heavily painted. If the paint is lightly on the edges and some surface then you could try bead blasting it off but if the paint has penetrated into the plate you are better off replacing it. It is not a difficult job at all. Two bolts and the specific hardware in the plate kit. Follow the directions and you won't have any problems. IMPORTANT STEP: Be sure you use the liquid silver properly to assure a good sound conductivity between the plate and the connection bolt.....again follow the directions.

When you replace that steel steering component you might consider investing a few bucks in some POR 15 or Corroseal paint so the same problem doesn't occur later on. They both have websites you can check out.

[Joseph Mac Phee]

It is important that the grounding plate be clean (no paint). On my boat, it was partly covered with paint from years of sloppy work. I was unable to find a direct replacement with the same hole spacing. Faced with the prospect of filling the old holes and making new holes, I cleaned the plate with paint stripper and a grinder. Apparently, the paint is so viscous that it did not penetrate the pores of the sintered bronze and it cleaned up reasonably well. The plate is the ground for all of the rigging bonding wires and usually the ground for VHF, Loran, radar and other electronics and is important to the performance of all of these devices.

I also had the support bracket for the rudder rusted completely through. I replaced it with a weldment made from stainless steel. It is a simple thing for a welding shop. I had to remove the teak box which covers the steering assembly. While the box was off, I noticed that the fiberglass rudder tube was only supported at the bottom where it passes through the hull. I glassed the tube to the cockpit sole both to support the tube at the top and to seal the ragged hole in the cockpit sole (to prevent water ingress). I also observed corrosion on my autopilot which is sprocketed to the shaft for the wheel. I added a regular stuffing box to the top of the rudder shaft. I believe that the source of much of the corrosion was salt water incursion from surging up the rudder tube in following seas. In addition, I observed that the opening for the steering assembly had simply been roughly hacked out with a saw. The edges of the balsa core had not been treated. I back cut the core and filled the opening with epoxy to prevent water incursion.

I am unable to find the invoice for all of this work, but it was reasonable (in boat dollars), less than $1,000.

After two years, the interior of the teak box is clean and corrosion free.

Good luck,

Joe Mac Phee
S/V Iolanthe
CD 30K, 1977



jvmacphee@aol.com