Rudder Work #2 – We have a plan!

Ok, rudder is off and we have a plan. First we had to get the rudder off by un-bolting the top half of the rudder post. The tiller head was just too tightly attached.

This is not ideal, as the flange on the rudder post on the top side in the cockpit has come loose, and I would have liked to fix that. Also, would have liked to put some of the Delrin bushings in that others have done. Anyhow – baseline is that the rudder is getting reworked and then reattached to the post without removing it. We can see what the budget looks like when we get further down the road.

The pintal is totally hosed – note in the picture that it is almost non existent. However, basically the hardware can all be saved, we just need to put in the appropriate sized bolt. This is a one piece gudgeon, which means that putting the rudder back on is a pain as the pintal and gudgeon have to be attached to each other, the rudder placed, and then the hardware attached to the boat. They make two piece gudgeons (I found this good article on the A30 site on two piece gudgeons). I also found this link which references some different product that sounded interesting. Click on the images to get a larger picture.

The shoe is in good shape other than the pin. Which was slopping around in there – note how much room  there was for it to knock around. The pin was also loose from the rudder – the portion with the thread in it, so it was basically floating. I think the solution here is to fill the gap with epoxy stiffened with some high strength filler. Part of what got me started on this rudder rebuild was the trip that was planned last year to go to Block Island. I knew the pintle was almost gone and I knew the pin in the shoe was loose. If you are really in the ocean, the shock load on the whole assembly in bad weather with the boat getting knocked around would be significant. If the shoe falls off and the pintle assembly is good, ok – and vice versa. However, if both are weak, then ru roh!

This rudder looks like it has a masonite core. Interesting to see how much glass there is. There was no sign of water ingress.

The challenge here will be glassing it all back in and getting it faired out while the rudder is hung. This is not too hard, but will take a number of layers and  patience (at least if I am doing it).    The good thing here is that there are no structural issues. The rudder was nice and dry, with no signs of water getting to where it should not be.  It should just be a case of building back up the foundation, re-attaching the pintal with a new pin. The pin in the shoe of the rudder looked like it might have to have the threads cleaned before it is bolted back in, and the shoe will need to have the shoe gudgeon (the hole where the rudder pin goes in the shoe?)  re-sized with epoxy.

Not sure how we are going to get that tiller head off … More to follow.