I purchased my mac224 dec. 2015 and while talking with the po he mentioned the keel may be getting water inside, out of excitement, i never asked why he thought this! Are these cast-iron keels solid or not and is there any risk of this being true? There is some rust but compared to one's ive seen pics of i would say its not badly rusted.
Cast iron keel?
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No ideal, his words were i think water is getting inside of keel but i shouldnt have a problem as long as the boats not left in the water full time
Pretty sure it's 575 pounds of cast iron with some type of coating to prevent rust.
If some rust is evident, then the coating is compromised, whatever that coating is.
Could be paint, epoxy, bondo or whatever. You could do an exploratory superficial grinding.
Do you still have access to the previous owner?
If some rust is evident, then the coating is compromised, whatever that coating is.
Could be paint, epoxy, bondo or whatever. You could do an exploratory superficial grinding.
Do you still have access to the previous owner?
Mac 224 is actually Venture 224 if I am correct. Venture 224 became V-25 in the mid 70's which became Mac 25 a few years later. May have glass encased keel which can get water inside, expand and crack. Water gets in through pivot bolt hole and lock bolt hole and cable hole. Got any pics???
My swing keel is all cast iron and only weighs 350 lbs. If your keel is 575 lbs, it i likely to be all cast iron with only a coating on top, otherwise it would be too thick. Could be a single layer of glass, but not much there. If you can pull the pin, you should be able to see the layers inside the hole.
the 224 and the 25 are very different from one another... the original name of "venture" was changed to macgregor on almost all models the same year that FRP hull liners were introduced into them, replacing the the wood framing...
I am not aware that any of the 224's had an encapsulated keel.... the PO may be assuming something that he heard from someone about another model of macgregor boat.. this is how rumors get started
...it is easy enough to tell for sure by tapping on the side of the keel...
so i have a 70 v22 and the keel is cast iron but all the glass has come off and the metal is really rusted. need to rebuild it but i was thinking about just replacing it with a full cast iron one. i happen to find one but its from a v22 1974 model. and i was woundering if anyone knew if they are the same dimentions . can i just swap them out?
I heard some one say they wire brushed with heavy duty grinder down to clean metal and used por 15 on it
and been good for years.
and been good for years.
Our Venture 21 is done sailing. We are going to "parts out" including the keel. If anyone reading this is interested in a keel please write us.
What would you need for the keel? Does anyone know if it will fit a V222 (I think it's a'70) and I have a encased keel that is trashed. Additionally, where are you and is it solid iron?
My keel is in a phase of repair...stalled for winter... Have you photos of the boat? I assume it is still bolted in the hull? Have you parted more out.
Thanks, from Gig Harbor, WA!
Thanks, from Gig Harbor, WA!
Years ago I rebuilt a Venture 22 keel and what I found inside the keel was an I-Beam with a hole in it for the pivot pin and it had a bunch of fiberglass filler inside to create the shape of the keel and then fiberglassed on the surface. So, that might just be what you have hidden inside your keel.
Ya, Barnacle Bill, it is no longer hidden!! I peeled away all the glass and filler after managing to drop the expanded upper section from the trunk. The bulby (and very heavy) end appears to be cast lead encased in glass. That was fared down to about 1 inch thick for the upper section that led to the trunk. That upper section has a 5/8" thick steel plate or bar running from the lock pin hole and into the center of the lead bulb. I suppose it could have been an I-beam that rusted down to a square bar...but there doesn't appear to be evidence of that in the filler pieces.
My plan is to use the upper section pieces glued together to create a rough 'plug' from which I can make a glass mold in the form of the keel's outer shell. If you can visualize this, I'll lay the cleaned and primed bar/bulb in the mold, fill it with resin & filler and when it sets up, I will shape the edges and fit with the bulb, filling any gaps that remain. That renewed keel shape will then be glassed before reinstalling on the boat...and we'll have to be mindful of the resulting thickness at the trunk end.
Here is the result of my disassembly and initial clean-up of the bar, leaving most of the filler and glass on the bulb:
https://goo.gl/photos/QBTA8qKTrxTck3kVA
Here is the rough plug from the pieces and you can see where the bar used to be:
https://goo.gl/photos/TxrxJgJiXopbKiBk7
I have added some wood strips here to form the mold's upper edge so we can capture the edge shape. I need to fillet where they are glued to the old glass and I need to decide how to work the area that transitions to the bulb end...too bad I can't simply 3D print a light plastic bulb end to slip into void from the old bar, then bondo things smooth! I guess I could 'sculpt' something in wood with the power grinder!
https://goo.gl/photos/fNTLGMpvjCznPkm39
I thought I had a photo from after grinding and painting the bar with rustproofing paint, but I'll have to go take one!
Anyway, does that sound like a restoration plan?
My plan is to use the upper section pieces glued together to create a rough 'plug' from which I can make a glass mold in the form of the keel's outer shell. If you can visualize this, I'll lay the cleaned and primed bar/bulb in the mold, fill it with resin & filler and when it sets up, I will shape the edges and fit with the bulb, filling any gaps that remain. That renewed keel shape will then be glassed before reinstalling on the boat...and we'll have to be mindful of the resulting thickness at the trunk end.
Here is the result of my disassembly and initial clean-up of the bar, leaving most of the filler and glass on the bulb:
https://goo.gl/photos/QBTA8qKTrxTck3kVA
Here is the rough plug from the pieces and you can see where the bar used to be:
https://goo.gl/photos/TxrxJgJiXopbKiBk7
I have added some wood strips here to form the mold's upper edge so we can capture the edge shape. I need to fillet where they are glued to the old glass and I need to decide how to work the area that transitions to the bulb end...too bad I can't simply 3D print a light plastic bulb end to slip into void from the old bar, then bondo things smooth! I guess I could 'sculpt' something in wood with the power grinder!
https://goo.gl/photos/fNTLGMpvjCznPkm39
I thought I had a photo from after grinding and painting the bar with rustproofing paint, but I'll have to go take one!
Anyway, does that sound like a restoration plan?
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