Spreaders on Typhoon Weekender

[callkk7up]

After purchasing a bit of a fixer upper, I finally completed deck repairs, painting, and all hardware back on my '78 Typhoon Weekender.
Unfortunately we were rushed in getting the mast stepped and didn't have a chance to check the fittings the spreaders go on. They appear to point downward rather than upward. Is it possible the previous owner had the spreader bases on upside down? It appeared that the lower bolt was larger than the upper one, so I'm not sure they could go on upside down, but I'm not sure.
Any information or maybe some pictures of the spreader bases on a mast would be very helpful.
Thanks!

[Ben Miller]

I don't have a good photo of the spreader bases on my Ty, but they look like the SP-302 part on the bottom of this page: http://www.rigrite.com/Spars/Spartan_Sp ... sprdrs.php

Is that what yours look like? The male stud on mine doesn't have much of a noticeable tilt either up or down. I think the angle of the spreaders has more to do with where along the shroud the spreader tip is lashed. I noticed last summer that my spreaders kind of point downward too, so I'm planning on attempting to shift the tips upward this spring.

[callkk7up]

Thanks Ben. Based on that picture, the spreader bases on my mast definitely got bent at some point in the past. I guess I'll be replacing them in a few months when the mast comes down. I won't be doing any hard sailing til then, so they should be ok for now.
Thanks again for the info.

[Ben Miller]

Just to be 100% clear, the lower tang on my spreader bases is bent outward, unlike the photo on the Rig-Rite website, but the studs themselves are more or less square to the mast. I say "more or less" because one of the bases is a little tweaked, but it's close enough to work.

They're pretty simple stainless steel units. You could probably just bend them the way you want them, as long as you're not doing anything too radical.

[callkk7up]

Thanks again. Mine are quite bent downward which had me originally thinking they were on upside down (which they can't be based on the bolt sizes). The owners book talks about the spreaders being angled upward slightly (which I would expect), which is why the downward slant had me puzzled.
If they have been damaged to have them bent that way (like they had been jammed against the tabernacle while the mast was unstepped), the spot where the male stub is attached to the tang might be compromised. I'll need to do a thorough inspection when I unstep the mast. Ahhh, the joys of buying a fixer-upper.