anyone else change the spreader bracket on mast

[tom b.]

lookin for info on changing the spreader bracket up on the mast..bought a couple from catalina direct and there wasnt any info on it. I know it seems pretty straight forward, cept there is a bushing they give you. like, do you drill a hole that size or how does that go inside the mast without drilling out for it..yes its bigger than the bolt they give ya..

 

[Gary Bruner]

Yup, I have...

Tom: I changed them on my C-25 last summer. It was a bit harder than I thought, so I left out One of the bushings they sent, since it was not on the original. The trick is having a "pole" of some kind (PVC) that you can tape the bushing to. My problem was wires at the base of the mast that made threading difficult. Work the bushing up to the bolt hole and twist to position it. If you premeasure the "pole" for length, you will know when you are close. Push the bolt through, then pull out the pole. The tape will detach from the bushing.......My prob was partly that the old bushing had "frozen" itself to the old bolt, so removing it was a booger. If that hasn't happened, or if your electrical wires are not in the way....the job is not bad......Good luck

 

[tom b.]

whew... on the c22 they only give you one bush

i wasn't sure if i was supposed to drill for that size or maybe drill three holes.. two for the bolts and one for the bushing then slide it over.. or what..man ur a lifesaver.. thanx..

 

[Garry @ S/V TASHTEGO]

Bushing

I did the repair on my Cat 27. The smaller bushing (they are really compression tubes) was frozen onto the bolt. I managed to drive it far enough through to saw the bolt head off and push the bolt out of the way down the mast. You can install the tube with a pole but I did it with string. I used a plumbers snake to run a string from the outside of the mast through the hole, down to the base where I threaded it through the smaller compression tube then back up to the other side of the mast and out. Pulling both ends of the string pulled the compression tube up to the hole. I got a philips screwdriver through the hole in the mast and into the compression tube and pulled the string out then pushed the new bolt through while withdrawing the screwdriver as the bolt went in from the other side. Takes longer to tell than to do. Be patient as there are some things in the mast which may hang things up for a while but a little fiddling will get the tube up to the bolt hole. I probably should have put a downhaul on the loop of string at the tube so that I could get it untangled if it got caught on something. I never lost the big tube. I took the old aluminum fitting off on the nut side of the bolt then put the SS fitting in place and pushed the old bolt out with the new bolt. Then put the new SS fitting on the other side.