Hello,all.
Having recently put my '76 ODay 27 sloop up for the winter - yes, it does snow in Erie, PA - I removed the tiller and rudder head assembly from the actual (stainless) rudder shaft to try and correct a very sloppy tiller. The original rudder head had a 3/8" bolt pinning it to the rudder shaft, but this hole has enlarged allowing the rudder head and the attached tiller head to move about. (The 3/8" hole in the harder stainless steel rudder shaft still seems true, however.) There is also a 3/8" bolt connecting the rudder and tiller heads, and the holes in the tiller head are also elongated and worn causing still more slop in the tiller.
In a perfect world I'd probably just buy new rudder and tiller heads from my friendly local O'Day dealer, but alas................
Any suggestions? As new parts seem unavailable, I'm considering having the holes welded up and re-drilled to the original 3/8" diam.??
John
Having recently put my '76 ODay 27 sloop up for the winter - yes, it does snow in Erie, PA - I removed the tiller and rudder head assembly from the actual (stainless) rudder shaft to try and correct a very sloppy tiller. The original rudder head had a 3/8" bolt pinning it to the rudder shaft, but this hole has enlarged allowing the rudder head and the attached tiller head to move about. (The 3/8" hole in the harder stainless steel rudder shaft still seems true, however.) There is also a 3/8" bolt connecting the rudder and tiller heads, and the holes in the tiller head are also elongated and worn causing still more slop in the tiller.
In a perfect world I'd probably just buy new rudder and tiller heads from my friendly local O'Day dealer, but alas................
Any suggestions? As new parts seem unavailable, I'm considering having the holes welded up and re-drilled to the original 3/8" diam.??
John
