Restoration of 1981 C-22 swing keel #10580

[$tingy Sailor]

Nice pics up in the trunk. They're not easy to take and get things in view, in focus, and well lit.

My guess is you'll like your "new" keel just fine the way it is. Looks like it hangs pretty plumb too. Have you measured from the toe rail on each side to the end of the keel and compared the distances?

Before you drop it down again, hang your rudder and see if they're coplanar. Denis Slaton, who probably has more experience at this than all of us on this forum combined, told me that's one thing he checks and corrects when doing keel jobs and that they're often misaligned and affect pointing. It's mostly an eyeball measurement but a plumb bob may help too.

 

[CloudDiver]

I didn't think to check that, but I can once I put the keel back on again. I lowered the hull back down to get the keel off and mixed up my last quart of Interprotect to hot coat the keel and the keel pocket, then put on the first coat of bottom paint, plus the rudder below the water line. I certainly hope they line up fine because its for sure too late to change anything at this point. In the above pic of the trunk you can see the scratch on the starboard side, I eliminated that rubbing when I added the second shim to that side. I was careful to keep the factory rudder gudgeon bolt holes lined up correctly when I over bored them, plugged them, and re-drilled to 5/16". It is what is at this point, but nothing seemed off when I was test fitting.

Nice pics up in the trunk. They're not easy to take and get things in view, in focus, and well lit.

My guess is you'll like your "new" keel just fine the way it is. Looks like it hangs pretty plumb too. Have you measured from the toe rail on each side to the end of the keel and compared the distances?

Before you drop it down again, hang your rudder and see if they're coplanar. Denis Slaton, who probably has more experience at this than all of us on this forum combined, told me that's one thing he checks and corrects when doing keel jobs and that they're often misaligned and affect pointing. It's mostly an eyeball measurement but a plumb bob may help too.

 

[CloudDiver]

Keel & Keel Pocket were hot coated and bottom painted. Probably going to wait till the weekend to final mount the keel. I want to give the paint plenty of time to cure so I don't gouge it up.

 

[jmczzz]

One can only observe your work with awe and envy. A remarkable job sailor!
James

 

[Gene Neill]

Keel & Keel Pocket were hot coated and bottom painted. Probably going to wait till the weekend to final mount the keel. I want to give the paint plenty of time to cure so I don't gouge it up.

Dammit man, that is just SO pretty!

 

[piedpiperIII]

great job

 

[CloudDiver]

A Much needed Bump

So I see my thread has fallen off the front page! Well that is simply unacceptable so maybe its time for an update?, LOL

The keel is now mounted for good, a big relief that also creates more room in the shop. Now to focus on the small tasks that need to be accomplished so I can paint the decks, cabin roof, and cockpit and finally re-mount all the hardware. Those little steps are in progress.

I'm also working on the interior. The gelcoat repairs is pretty much the only thing I really need to do before I can put all the teak back in. I picked up a pint of Evercoat polyester filler to kick start this.

For those of you who might have missed it before, there was damage to the interior tan gelocat on several hard edges. This is a factory flaw; the gelcoat is sprayed in the mold and then they hand lay fiberglass followed by chopped mat. If they don't carefully get the glass down into those 90 degree edges you end up with voids. They are really weak and break easily, especially because those edges are the most vulnerable to impact!

Below I broke the pics into time lapse for each section. First I used a very light hammer with plastic tips to tap the edges and located additional areas of voids, breaking away the gelcoat. I sanded the areas with my dremel tool and the regular sanding drums. Then I could apply filler, which went on in several coats and then sanded to shape each time. I'm planning to have a local Gelcoat repair guy come by the shop and apply the new coating, probably he will mix the color by eye. I've had this done before on a Jet Boat I had in 2007-2008. Still less expensive than buying a pint of color matched gelcoat.

The two areas on the keel trunk needed more extensive repair. the voids were bad and the way the molds come together was a mash up mess inside. I used some Bondo Brand polyester resin I've had in the shop for 5 years, and scraps of the 8.5 oz cloth. The resin had to be strained through a wire mesh, but I did a test batch and it kicked off fine. I like the Bondo Brand polyester resin because its kind of a honey brown color and turns green as it cures with the MEKP catalyst. You always know you got a good mix when you see that consistent green, and Bondo resin is cheap at WALMART! Keep in mind, I only use polyester resin is non-critical, non structural repairs like this one which is strictly cosmetic!

 

[CloudDiver]

 

[CloudDiver]

 

[CloudDiver]

 

[CloudDiver]

Here is a sneek peek at something else I am working on;

 

[CloudDiver]

Some work in Stainless

Today I fabricated the new stainless steel compression post and the heavy duty chainplates. Nothing is welded yet, just mocked up in place. I still need to get my new mast-step and halyard plate, then I will weld a stainless flange nut on the inside of the upper mount plate. Once I make sure everything is square and plumb I'll tack all the components in place before removing to drop my finish beads. I also still need to cut the access holes so I can put backing plates on the lower horizontal of the two chain plates.

 

[jmczzz]

Impressive. I wish you would give us a hint as to what the sneak preview is about?
James

 

[CloudDiver]

James, those are 24 inch stainless grab rails from West Marine. They are mounted farther outboard than the original teak rails so I have room to mount a triple rope clutch for lines led to the cockpit.

Impressive. I wish you would give us a hint as to what the sneak preview is about?
James

 

[jmczzz]

thanks, should have known they were custom somethings.
James

 

[hawk232]

7 days since the last update, you are slacking!

 

[CloudDiver]

7 days since the last update, you are slacking!

LOL... Yeah I've been slacking on posting, but as far as work goes it was a busy week... I broke out the big guns this weekend and set the boat on fire... seriously, see below!

 

[CloudDiver]

When its perfectly ok to set your boat on fire...

I'm trying to get all the projects done that require serious modifications or other work that stands in the way of painting the deck. One of these projects in particular has the potential to catch the boat on fire, and it did!

Don't worry, it was a tiny flame that I blew out pretty quick but it was a necessary evil. I had to do this before I painted, this is why,

 

[CloudDiver]

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot...

So what in the Sam Hill would I be doing that would catch fire to my transom? Welding of course... It had to be done in place with the stern rail installed. There is so much variation to these things and nothing is truly square. So anything I want to modify or add to it has to be tack welded in place, actually as many tacks as possible to ensure the metal does not move during finish welding.

I'm not quite done yet, I need to pick up another pack of 3/32" 308L Stainless filler rod. I welded all the tacks with .045 rod (which is really thin). This is fine for tacks, but the finish welds just eat up the filler rod so fast and don't fill gaps very well. Anyway, its mostly done.

Before I show this installed on the transom you all can chime in on what you think the two major upgrades that this new stern rail gives the boat;

 

[CloudDiver]

The Remote Anode project...

So Back to something we've been hashing over in another thread, the remote anode idea.

To refresh everyones' memory on why this idea has been kicked around; Many of us have done a refinishing job on our keels that involve lots of epoxy, epoxy fairing, and barrier coat paint which results in a keel that is completely encapsulated in epoxy. So why in the name of all things holy would we want to drill a hole through it to install a zinc anode and expose the cast iron to water intrusion? Crazy huh?

So I've asked around... in the forums, other boaters, the chandleries... all I get is blank stares and then the most common response is "go ahead and install a zinc anyway". I don't think many people really get the 'science' behind this problem. Seriously, how can cast iron be susceptible to electrolysis if it is completely sealed in epoxy? Well, the answer is, flatly, it can't. The metal has to be in contact with the electrolyte (salt water) for current to effect it. Someone (with real science to back it up) tell me if I'm wrong.

SO... The only two places on my keel that are not completely coated in thick epoxy; the stainless steel bushing that keel pin rides in and the 1/2" threaded hole into the tail end of the keel where the eye-bolt threads in. I'm not worried about the stainless bushing one bit, nuff said. The eye-bolt is stainless and sealed into the threaded hole with a generous amount of blue loc-tite and was toured down quite firmly. When I painted the barrier coat I made sure I used a tiny craft paint brush to coat up and over the collar of the eye bolt, then I did the same with the bottom paint. Water is not getting in there... period.

Ok, so do I still need a sacrificial anode? Even if my keel is sealed as well as it is there is nothing wrong with having some protection... beside, there is other metal under the water which is worth protecting (like the keel cable!). So it was tossed around that an anode attached to the bottom of the hull but electrically connected the keel by having a wire attached the keel winch would give some degree of protection. This is not a new idea by any means. Read in other forums some discussions about protecting cast iron fixed keels and they give the same advice, attach the wire to one of the keel bolts... and so on and so forth.

The big challenge for me was to find an inexpensive method, but also have a clean and yacht-worthy (is that a word?) method of installing this 'system'. Stainless steel isn't as good of an electrical conductor as regular steel, copper, or even aluminum. There is enough stainless in the form of the keel cable between the sacrificial anode and the keel that I wanted to avoid using any components made of stainless if I could. I also wanted something that would be serviceable, removable, and reversible if necessary.

So I started looking for some type of fitting that I could use that was a thru-hull but I would be able to screw a bolt into it from the bottom of the hull, it had to be bronze, and of course it had to be water tight, LOL! So after a little searching the old inter-webs I came up with this;

This is Garboard Drain Plug From Groco (TH-500), it costs $11 direct from Groco, but there are other online sellers who have them as cheap as $8.50 or so.