Cape Dory Wheel Steering Info

[Tad McDonald]

After numerous calls to Edson and Robinhood (no help at all... "Gee the guy that knows about that just got back from vacation and he's too busy to return you call. Goodbye."), I have learned the following:

The pedestal steering systems installed by Cape Dory in the late 70's/early 80's were comprised of standard Edson parts and hybrid Cape Dory-manufactured parts.

I discovered this as I measured the existing steering system sheave bracket (the raison d'etre for all this) and found that it did not match any existing Edson part. Following three calls to Edson I was put in contact with Cape Dory's former QC Guru (he works for Edson now) who informed me that the original bracket was welded together from discrete components by CD and was not manufactured by Edson until years later (circa mid 80's?).

I have ordered a part that we 'think' will fit the bill (912-4). Of real importance was the Guru's comments inre leaks around the pedestal bolts. He said that for a short period of time CD used a torque wrench to ensure proper installation of the pedestal bolts during the QC process. As this tightening occurred after the bolts had been seated and sealed with bedding compound, the tightening actually broke the bedding compound thus inducing a leak into the system (when I spoke to him he immediately diagnosed the cause of my bracket failure...a leak which, over time, caused the bracket to rust through) leading to failure.

I strongly suggest inspecting beneath your cockpit floor for any leaks (there were no signs of leak around my bolts) and possibly rebed the entire pedestal base and bolts.

For those of you interested, the specs I found for a 1982 Cape Dory 30' (Hull #242) were:

Steering Bracket length when ordering Edson Part 739 for a CD30 is 22"

Width of Cockpit floor (distance from cockpit locker access openings as measured from below) is a little less than 25"

The part I ordered was 912-4 (25") and will require some judicious use of a hacksaw to provide installation clearance.



tadmcd@worldnet.att.net

[mike ritenour]

I revamped and repaired my steering system on my 33 last year and ran into some of the same problems.

I removed the CD bracket, had it sandblasted and repainted. It was showing signs of rust, so I'd recommend the blasting and repainting in any endeavor that requires rework of the steering system.

The other major modification for me was to install a large dia. round hatch in the cockpit floor, this allows me complete access to the steering, fuel tank, sea cock and rear of engine. I've got pictures scanned if your interested.

fair winds,
mike



umci@localnet.com