26S Swing Keel Pivot Bolt Access Ports

[vizwhiz]

Been a little while since I've been on here...hope all is well with everyone!

I am planning to remove the swing keel on my late model 26S, where the access ports are the two round holes inside the boat, one in the "hallway" in front of the head door, and the other under the galley. Thankfully, my sink is by the starboard wall (the backerds arrangement of the final year or so), so I have a little extra room under the galley - but it's still not much space to work in.

Has anyone done this on their 26S? Does anyone have pictures of it from the inside of those access holes?

I was told by BWY that those port covers are usually just cut out and thrown away because they're so hard to get out, and then replaced when the job is done. Mine are loaded with some kind of sealant, I'm assuming 4200 because it's flexible...

If anyone has some experience doing this from inside the boat, I'd appreciate your insight/advice! I'll try to take pictures of my experience as I go along (will be in a month or two), but would love to have any tips or advice before I dive into this one...

Thanks!

 

[sandytoes24]

Purchased a new centerboard from B W Yachts and installed it on my '94 26 Classic last week. My sink is also on the starboard side. The access plate in the "hallway" is easy to get to but almost impossible to get out due to its size being almost exactly the same as the hole above that it has to come through. There is no room on the edges to get a grip on the plate.

I left the old hallway plate in place. Used a Zipdrill, like the ones used by sheet rock installers, and drilled a hole in the old plate down into the ballast tank. Then using the Zipdrill I cut a hole in the old access plate that was the same size as the factory hole into the ballast tank. This new hole is just big enough to get your hand in.

The access plate that is under the "galley" can be reached by lying on your right side and putting your left arm and shoulder through the door. 6 screws and sealer hold the plate to the ballast tank. I got the plate off by tearing it into about 8 pieces. The sealer would not let go.

After both access holes are open you can hold the head of the 3/8 inch pivot bolt with vise grips and take the nylock nut off with a 9/16 wrench--not real easy--but not impossible.

I had my S on stands that I had built and had the old centerboard blocked up so it would not fall. Remove the pivot bolt and lower the centerboard down enough to disconnect the lifting cable. My pivot bolt must have been factory original. It was corroded half way through. It was stainless!

Clean all the marine growth out of the centerboard trunk and use whatever antifouling paint you choose.

When I installed the new board I ran into a problem. After the pivot pin was installed for a test fit I found that the board would not go all the way up into the trunk. About 5 inches of the aft end of the board was sticking down below the bottom of the hull. The top of the board was touching the top of the centerboard trunk and preventing the board from going up into the trunk as far as it should. After a lot of trial and error removals and installations of the board I finally concluded that about 1/4 inch had to be removed from the top edge of the board for its entire length. I did this with an electric grinder and repainted with antifouling.

With that problem solved I installed the pivot bolt using a light coat of 4200 sealer on the 2 new rubber washers and the 2 new stainless cupped washers. The new stainless pivot bolt and nut were tightened just enough to get a secure seal(you are tightening against the fiberglass walls of the ballast tank when you do this--be careful).

I made two new access hole covers out of 1/4 inch starboard. The one for the hallway is smaller than the factory cover because it fits inside the original ring of cover screws. Drill new holes for it into the still in place old cover. Seal with new stainless screws and 4200.

The cover under the galley will be the same size as the original cover that was torn up. It is not easy to get the holes in the new cover to match the existing holes in the ballast tank top but it can be done.

I installed a 1/4 Amsteel line all the way from the centerboard to the cockpit and then to a boom vang with a 4:1 purchase. Works great!!!

Hope this helps!! Good luck!!

 

[PuckandTitania]

I, too, am looking at replacing the centerboard on my 1995 26s. I'm just wondering what size the inspection hole is. Would a screw in access plate such as
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...05_-1____ProductDisplayErrorView#.T9fMhcVQQg8
fit this hole?

My other thought for the access in the passageway between the head and galley is to size out the deck opening for easier access to the cover plate and using a larger size of these type of access plates to cover the cabin sole.

I've also heard that using a guitar string or piano wire and sawing through the adhesive (I think it's 5200) works well, but in the passageway, there is absolutely no room to work it under.

 

[BrokeNotBroken]

I would not recommend cutting them out...

I have opened both of my access plates to remove the center board. I used channel pliers to turn the access plates, giving me access to the ballast tank. I also had to remove and replace the deckplate under the galley since it was leaking between the floor and the retaining ring. If the deckplates are not leaking, you should be able to untwist the access plate and remove the CB. However, the problem I had was getting the CB out while the boat was on the trailer. I had built a brace for the boat to paint the bottom and even after lowering the trailer and moving it around, I still didn't have enough clearance to get the CB out. I got around this by removing one wheel from the trailer, giving me enough clearance. You will NOT be able to remove the CB if the boat is on the trailer. Do you have a way to get the boat off the trailer? If you are quick, you can open the ballast tank deckplates, undo the bolt holding the CB on and then put the boat in the water deep enough to float it off the trailer. You'll have to do a quick dive to retrieve the CB and then pull the boat out of the water before the ballast tank fills--which takes a long time. Actually, if you remove the CB bolt and put the deckplate covers back on, the ballast tank won't take on any water when you float the boat so long as the ballast tank plug is closed--similar to an inverted cup placed in water. Anyway, I have the cover plates off currently and can take photos inside the ballast tank if you want. However, I have already removed the CB bolt and washers. There really isn't anything in there besides a 4.5" SS bolt, 2 cupped washers and a locknut. You will have to remove both deckplate covers to get on both sides of the bolt.

let me know if you have any questions
-david

 

[BrokeNotBroken]

I, too, am looking at replacing the centerboard on my 1995 26s. I'm just wondering what size the inspection hole is. Would a screw in access plate such as
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...05_-1____ProductDisplayErrorView#.T9fMhcVQQg8
fit this hole?

My other thought for the access in the passageway between the head and galley is to size out the deck opening for easier access to the cover plate and using a larger size of these type of access plates to cover the cabin sole.

I've also heard that using a guitar string or piano wire and sawing through the adhesive (I think it's 5200) works well, but in the passageway, there is absolutely no room to work it under.

That looks like the right size. I can't remember what I used to replace mine under the galley but I know I got it from West Marine and it was a standard size. Removal and replacement was not very difficult. The only issue was that the screw holes didn't match up between the old plate and new one. I used marine-tex to fill the old screw holes and then drilled new ones to match the new deckplate. I used 3M 4200 to seal the deckplate to the floor. I also used the clear deckplate so that I could quickly check that my ballast tank was full without removing the ballast tank plug. I think I used a sharp putty knife to cut the old sealant between the deckplate and floor so that I could remove it.
-david

 

[vizwhiz]

Thanks to all...these are exactly the confirming comments I was hoping for! Thanks for the details Sandytoes!

BWY has part number H204-1V0 "Inspection Plate, Ballast Tank, Each" as direct replacement covers (I believe made out of Starboard also) and was told that they can exactly match the original hole pattern. The last comment for that part on their website says "Originals are usually destroyed on removal."

Sounds like I can/should plan to cut them out, and come up with a way of replacing them... I really like the deckplate idea, but didn't want to get into too large of a project...but I wanted to have easy access to both the pivot bolt and the ballast tanks.

So how about using a 4" deck plate like the one in the link for the actual access ports that are on the ballast tank, and then add a 6" deck plate to the liner hole in the hallway the way PuckandT suggested? I think that would work, but haven't taken any measurements yet... I do know that I don't like the little black "lid" that is just sitting in place right now.

Broke - planning to drop the CB with the boat on stands. My only concern is getting up on the boat while it's on stands to do any of these things inside...

 

[Doc_holiday]

Anyone have a picture of these plates, I have a 1990 and the access is in the bottom of the boat. This is someone else's picture but this is what I have...I don't have any access plates inside

 

[Sumner]

Anyone have a picture of these plates, I have a 1990 and the access is in the bottom of the boat. This is someone else's picture but this is what I have...I don't have any access plates inside

I dropped our CB out of our '90 to paint and inspect...

...the info is here down the page a ways ...

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor/outside-index.html

... and it is a lot easier job than on the later S's. I wonder why they changed it? Must of been a money issue, mold issue, or maybe there were some problems design/use wise with the ones on the earlier S's,

Sum

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[PuckandTitania]

I'm planning on replacing the covers with the screw in access plates while it is still on the trailer. Then launching and using our sail clubs hydro hoist to remove and replace the centerboard. This way, the covers will already be taken care of and the centerboard should be a quick easy replacement.

 

[BrokeNotBroken]

on my boat what I think is a stock access cover is a screw-type. Is this not the case with other 95 Mac 26S boats? I have attached 3 photos, two pics show the stock screw on plate and how I used channel locks to open it and the third is the clear deckplate I used to replace the stock one that was leaking between the floor and the retaining ring. I don't understand why Bluewater Yachts says that the access plates are typically destroyed on removal unless they are talking about something else. Unfortunately they don't have a pic for the part number. BTW, I wouldn't remove and replace one of these if it wasn't leaking.
-david

 

[vizwhiz]

David - the "stock" ones are just flat round pieces of white starboard (plastic board) with about 8 or 10 small screws holding it down with a lot of sealant. And the access plate is just about the same exact size as the hole above it in the liner, so there is no way to get your hand or a tool in there to cut the sealant and pry out the old plate - hence, the destruct-o method of removal. Some previous owner on your boat did you a massive favor by installing those screw-in deck plates before you got it. That is exactly the mod we are talking about doing. Puck is talking about adding a second larger deck plate like that to the larger hole in the liner above that one you are showing in the picture...and I'm thinking the same thing.

Sum - the things I can think of are reduced number of steps and fewer parts to make the change that they did... they lose the stainless straps, the larger pin, the bolts that hold the straps in place (all stainless parts). For the lay-up of fiberglass, they lose the little dimples molded into the hull of the boat, the access spaces where your wrench is in the picture, and the hole-cut for the access to the bolts. For labor, they lose the bolting of the straps and the troubles you are facing when working on it...looking up from under the boat.
With the new arrangement, they have a smooth hull bottom with no secondary "holds" to have to build, no holes to drill for bolts, no stainless parts to fiddle with. The interior holes and access ports are likely cut/drilled before the liner is installed, with the CB mounted before the liner is dropped in also. One pivot bolt/nut, two simple sheet-cut access covers with a handful of cheap stainless screws...much simpler operation done facing down from inside the boat (instead of looking up while underneath). That one change probably saved Roger hundreds of dollars per boat, not to mention building time reduced for higher throughput. And in all honesty, from their perspective, it isn't something that you should have to mess with very often, so a little difficulty for servicing this probably is not that big a deal...except to us noobs who don't want to have to do it!

 

[BrokeNotBroken]

Thanks vizwhiz, that explains my confusion.

 

[vizwhiz]

This whole post has upped my confidence level several notches! Thanks to all for your insights!

 

[Ron20466]

Thanks everyone for the information that was posted previously. Reading it gave me the confidence to under the removal of my swing keel in my 93 26S. I've just fixed the "dings" in the rudder and wanted to do the same with the keel. I did the access plate under the sink first, not bad but came off in three pieces. When I got looking at the other one, the plate was actually a little larger than the hole in the floor above it. When I looked to the port of the one under the sink I could actually see the edge of the other one under the floor. The PO had cut an access hole (large) in the wall between the two so I was able to work at it from both sides. I used a long blade, working under the floor from under the sink and was able to free up about 80% of the plate under the floor. Once that was done I was able to move the plate side to side to free it and pull it out into the area under the sink. it all came out as one piece. I think this is a lot easier than working at it through the access plate in the floor.

 

[onecoolair]

Anyone have a picture of these plates, I have a 1990 and the access is in the bottom of the boat. This is someone else's picture but this is what I have...I don't have any access plates inside

Doc....This is how my 91 Mac26 classic swing keel was also set up..Same bracket as in picture and access from under neath boat. Just remove two round plastic plugs to get to the bolts....I had boxed end wrench with a special bend in it for the nut. And a big fat ass Philips head screw driver.
For access under boat to drop keel all I would do was drop trailer tongue all the way to the ground then secure and block stern of boat....Old fashioned Full width bumper jack was the ticket...Then using a old fashioned single truck type bumper jack I would jack trailer tongue as high as it would safely go...Blocking everything for safety as she went up. Then I would safely drop center board, do bottom painting or what ever else I need to take care of. All by myself.