Keel "J" bolts

[joe28532]

Does anyone know with ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY which way the keel bolts were cast into the keels on the 37C's, specifically which way the hook in the "J" bolt is oriented? I need to sister in a new bolt and want to avoid drilling into the old one. I already contacted Marlow-Hunter and they said that they no longer had that information.

 

[BrianRobin]

Curious as to how you are going to do this, using a hole saw to drill in the keel and re-leading?

 

[joe28532]

I intend on using a 3/4" barefoot auger and drilling all the way through since it is the aft most bolt, countersinking the hole from the bottom, inserting new hardware (bronze), capping the countersunk hole with thickened epoxy, bedding the top nut and backing plate and torquing to spec.

 

[heritage]

Mars Keels might be able to help you. Pretty sure they made your keel. OEM Keels | Original Equipment Manufacturer Keels | MarsKeel | Production Lead Keels for the sailboat Industry

 

[Jim Legere]

I think it would be difficult to determine J-bolt orientation with absolute certainty even if you were to cut open a keel to check (as may happen with my former H37C when she is scrapped by the yard later this year). I'm sure they probably vary from a few degrees to 180 from boat to boat. The fact is these keels were not precision castings - e.g. mine had evidence of wheel weights in the pour (rust pockets!) - and I suspect Hunter just had some sort of jig with holes to hold the bolts while they were suspended in the molten lead. Also, I am 99.9% sure that Cherubini Hunter keels were not cast by Mars Metals, a Canadian company. Maybe John Cherubini II can confirm when he sees this post. Speaking of JCII, did you read his old posts about the hull to keel bond? Thread link He indicates that common sense over-building means that you might want to consider backing that nut off to see how compromised the aft keel bolt actually is and whether you need to do anything at all...you may find you save yourself a bunch of work...just my $0.02.

 

[joe28532]

Interesting read Jim. I can however tell that there is damage below the nut. I can stick a pick into the bolt and it goes below the nut. As far as the orientation of the "J" bolts are concerned, I guess if I knew which way they were supposed to be it would at least reduce my chances of hitting it. This is the AFT most keel bolt and we have near future plans of sailing from North Carolina down the coast and to the Bahamas so I just want to mitigate as much risk as possible.

 

[Jim Legere]

I understand - we eliminate all risk we can to be comfortable that we have prepared as best we can. The keel gets faily narrow at the aft end so, if I was a betting man, I would predict the 'hook' of the J faces forward...but absolutely certain? No.