Not too difficult
Ryan - I have an 82 O'Day 23 and worked on my swing keel last year. It is not too difficult. You can do it while it is on the stands depending on where you have supported the keel. First a little about the pivot system used. The swing keel sits inside a slot in the steel keel. The board can swing because of a pivot at the front of the slot. The pivot is a delrin rod about 1" dia. The Delrin rod is about the width of the slot in the steel keel. It goes through the hole in the front of the swing keel and the sides are supported on each side of the swing keel by fibre-glass plates about 1/2" thick. These fibre-glass plates are held into the steel keel by plates, one on each side, which are screwed into the bottom of the keel. The sides of the slot in the keel have a recess for the pivot support plates. If you post your e-mail address here I will make a hand sketch of the set-up and send it to you. Here are some instructions: 1) Drop the keel so that it is resting on something. If it stuck up make sure you support it. The keel weighs about 60 lbs and when you remove the pivot at the front it will drop. 2) Slide under the boat and look up toward the front of the keel. You will see a slot which hold the swing keel. Near the front you should see two small plates - thay may have been painted but they are stainless steel. The plates are about 2 1/2" by 1" by 1/8" thick and are held in place by two pan head screws. 3) These plates can be removed by removing the screws. On my boat 4800 or 5200 had been used to hold the plates in place and the plates needed a little persuasion after I had removed the screws. I used a thin bladed knife to cut the sealant away. 4) The plates hold the bottom of a support plate which is tapered or triangular. These supports are about 1/2" thick, are made of fibre-glass and are held in place against the sides of the slot with some sealant. These plates must be removed - but be careful here - these plates support the delrin pivot which allows the centre-board to swing. 5) Be carefull as you ease the triangular support plates out - the swing keel will drop - The delrin pivot sits on-top of the support plates and slides out once you drop the supports. 7) If after you have loosed the pivot support plates the swing keel is still in place then it is jammed due to ..... any number of reasons. You need to relese the sides of the board so that it will drop out. Now the lesson learned during installation ..... When you are ready to put the swing keel back in I suggest the following. It is important to get the board centered in the slot so that it swings down easily. To do this I recomend that you assemble the delrin rod into the front of the swing keel, hold the two support plates and put the board up into the slot in the steel keel. Hold in place with some wedges. It is important to make sure that the swing keel is centered - there is so much "slop" in the set-up (loose fit long life) that you can assemble with a slight twist. Once everything is in line and centered you need to use some sealant - 4800 -to hold the support plates in place and then screw the steel plates onto the bottom of the keel - the reversal of the removal process. Sorry this is so long - I hope it explains everything. It is a very simple system and obvious once you get underneath and start taking things apart. Should take about 15 to 30 minutes to get everything undone and the board out. One last suggestion - Once the board is out look for cracks at the front and rear edges of the board. If you find any- repair them - If the board splits open the lead which is inside will drop out. This is why I had to remove mine and fix. Cheers and ... only 85 days till launch! James
