Damaged Keel Fairing and Rudder Bushing

[Cool Beans]

Boats on the hard!!!

:dance:

. . .or should I be. . .



Why o why couldn't I be interested in stamp collecting or bird watching


Anyways, I found the bottom back corner of the keel was damaged. So me being me, because I like to torture myself. . .I found a little bondo from a previous repair. . .and just kept-a-grindin' till i exposed ragged fairing all the way up the trailing edge. . .

Not much of the original fairing left, most of the glass was/is rotten. . .I'm hesitant to remove all of it fearing I won't have anything to help shape the repair. Now, don't judge but I seriously considered filling the void with Great Stuff foam, shaping it to taste, the wrapping it in a few layers of glass. . .but, maybe gluing in a piece of plywood and shaping it would be better?? 3, 4, 5 Layers of glass? 8.oz cloth?

Also, does anyone have any pictures of what the upper post bearing looks like? Mine isn't stock. . .I didn't notice it until after I bought it but, the bearing is oak I was going to try and fashion one out of Starboard if anything. . .can the uppers be purchased?

Thanks!

 

[Cool Beans]

208 views and not one comment :naughty:

Any-who. . .after gouging out the rotten glass I left it to dry for a few days and just soaked everything in epoxy then wrapped a few layers of 8 oz glass over it. After that kicked I scuffed it up and faired and shaped it with polyester "Kitty Hair". Great stuff, hard as a rock in 20 minutes and let me get it right in just an afternoon! Once it was all straight and looking good I wrapped it again with 2 layers of 8 oz glass and 2 coats of epoxy to fill in the weave a bit. . .I didn't go nuts fairing in the edge of the glass. . .it is smooth but the lines are noticeable. . .I figure only the fish will see it and I doubt the fish care

I wish I wasn't so busy or I would have gotten some pics of it. . .to busy to photo document anything last week :cry:

 

[w4pyleii]

Have any photos of your work? Before and after always helps

I have a ranger 28, late model deep draft, might be the same keel from the 33 actually. Anything you do will probably be better than bondo. I do know that if you take the area down to bare lead it can be hard to get a good bond back onto the lead, as it oxidizes very quickly. What i've heard of people doing is once the lead is exposed, sand it and then cover the area in epoxy and rub it in with a wire brush. The brush will remove the oxidation and the epoxy will bond and seal it before it re-oxidizes. Once that has set you can add any kind of fairing over it and you'll have a long lasting repair. Sounds like you've already done the repair though, so something to keep in mind for next time maybe

As far as the rudder shaft... i haven't gotten into mine yet but i'll be dropping the rudder this weekend. The rudder post is just a fiberglass post going from the hull up to the cockpit. I think the rudder shaft goes throught he post into the cockpit, and the tiller connection bolts through the top of the shaft and holds it all together. I don't know what my bearings are made off, probably some fiberboard or something. I heard another ranger 28 owner fashioned new bearings out of thickened epoxy/carbon/graphite mixture. I doubt it has to be too crazy as the bearings are just there to reduce lateral motion and take the play out. I've never worked with starboard but maybe that will work ok.

Again, PICTURES!!!