Chainplates on my Hunter Cherubini – Does this look factory?

[testingthewaters91]

Hey all,

I’m going through the chainplates on my Hunter Cherubini and came across this setup (picture attached). I honestly can’t tell if this came out of the factory like this or if someone modified it later.

It almost looks like the original screws were deformed going in, like they didn’t really try to make them flush. The construction and fit just seem a little off to me. That said, the metal itself looks like it’s in great condition, at least to my eye.

Has anyone seen this kind of arrangement before on a Hunter Cherubini? I’d love to hear your thoughts on whether this looks like original construction, or if it’s a later repair/replacement. Also curious to hear general opinions on the build quality here.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Dalliance]

It’s original. Same as my ‘82 H30. No worries. The screws you see there are just holding trim plates that cover the rough cut out in the fiberglass ceiling liner. They are in no way structural.

On the topside of the deck, there are similar size flanges welded to the chainplates with four bolts each threaded into aluminum plate that’s laminated into the fiberglass deck. They were originally bedded in butyl. If you ever re-bed them, you should absolutely stick with butyl. The beauty of this system is that the chainplates are easy to keep watertight and there are no wood bulkheads to rot out if they ever do leak.

The stainless steel tension rods in the cabin extend down to a transverse steel rib that crosses below the compression post. It’s 2”x2” steel tube that’s over 1/4” thick. Very robust. Below the compression post, there is a vertical steel tube post that extends down into the bilge with a base plate that was originally wrapped in fiberglass. This lower portion is vulnerable to corrosion because the transverse rib, post and base plate are mild steel. That’s the weak spot in this design.

Mine was showing signs of corrosion at the base, so I cut out the bottom four inches of the 2x2 steel post and constructed a corrosion proof base of high density G-10 fiberglass. You should be able to search the forum for my report on that project. Others have taken similar approaches, which you’ll also find.

As far as I know, this rig design was used only on the ‘81 and ‘82 H30’s. I’m not sure if there were any H30’s produced after ‘82. I’ve never come across any on this forum or others. The earlier H30’s had chainplates bolted to tabbed in wood bulkheads. They had their own problems, including the infamous section of non-concentric mild steel I-beam in the bilge under the compression post.