Anyone have experience replacing O’Day 28 steering? Specifically the Edson idler plate/chain and cable and the marine plywood that is (I think) mounted to on the underside of the cockpit. It seems the PO drilled a hole in the cockpit floor to run wires which leaked onto the plywood and original idler plate. Plywood rotted out and idler plate rusted beyond any safe use. I spoke to Edson and feel confident about ordering the correct idler plate and chain/cable assembly. It is more the installation of the new plywood and mounting of the plate I am not sure of.
O’Day 28 Steering
- Thread starter Mockingbird01
- Start date
Dang POs!
The old plywood has to be removed and ground down to fiberglass and sanded with 80 grit. The pedestal will also have to be removed.
The new plywood should be sealed with epoxy, I'd lean towards TotalBoat penetrating epoxy for this, sealing the edges is important. After it cures, wash away the amine blush, this is a water soluble by product of the epoxy curing. Some warm water and a scotchbrite pad will make quick work of this. Sand the side to be mated to the cockpit floor with 80 grit. Remove the dust. Don't wash with Acetone as it can affect the bond later.
Dry fit the new plywood and develop a method to apply pressure to the plywood after it is glued in place.A few pieces of lumber and wedges or a couple of bottle jacks might work. A lot of pressure is not needed just enough to get good squeeze out. Mix up a batch of epoxy and thicken it with an adhesive filler. Stick the plywood in place and apply pressure. Clean up the squeeze out. Go home and have a beer or three for all the work you've done in a miserable place.
Drill the new pedestal mounting holes and cable holes and seal the edges with epoxy. The penetrating epoxy will work here. From this point on it is essentially a new build, follow Edson's installation instructions. Since you are going to this much trouble, it would be wise to get the service kit from Edson and service all of the steering system, cables, bearings etc. It is possible to build your own cables even with buying the necessary tools for the cost of one of Edson's cables.
Good Luck!
The old plywood has to be removed and ground down to fiberglass and sanded with 80 grit. The pedestal will also have to be removed.
The new plywood should be sealed with epoxy, I'd lean towards TotalBoat penetrating epoxy for this, sealing the edges is important. After it cures, wash away the amine blush, this is a water soluble by product of the epoxy curing. Some warm water and a scotchbrite pad will make quick work of this. Sand the side to be mated to the cockpit floor with 80 grit. Remove the dust. Don't wash with Acetone as it can affect the bond later.
Dry fit the new plywood and develop a method to apply pressure to the plywood after it is glued in place.A few pieces of lumber and wedges or a couple of bottle jacks might work. A lot of pressure is not needed just enough to get good squeeze out. Mix up a batch of epoxy and thicken it with an adhesive filler. Stick the plywood in place and apply pressure. Clean up the squeeze out. Go home and have a beer or three for all the work you've done in a miserable place.
Drill the new pedestal mounting holes and cable holes and seal the edges with epoxy. The penetrating epoxy will work here. From this point on it is essentially a new build, follow Edson's installation instructions. Since you are going to this much trouble, it would be wise to get the service kit from Edson and service all of the steering system, cables, bearings etc. It is possible to build your own cables even with buying the necessary tools for the cost of one of Edson's cables.
Good Luck!
Happy Fourth! Thanks to Dave for (again) passing along some good advice. 
Before starting, I would want to know what the O'Day cockpit sole is made of. On our boat it is cored with plywood to prepare it for the forces of wheel steering.
When we did our re-fit, I found no moisture in that sole, and was pleased at that. I did over drill, epoxy fill, and redrill for all of the big thru bolts for the steering base plate.
The OP will need good access to the underside of the cockpit to figure this all out.
I hope he reports on progress, and it will help if some pix are posted also.
Good Luck!
Before starting, I would want to know what the O'Day cockpit sole is made of. On our boat it is cored with plywood to prepare it for the forces of wheel steering.
When we did our re-fit, I found no moisture in that sole, and was pleased at that. I did over drill, epoxy fill, and redrill for all of the big thru bolts for the steering base plate.
The OP will need good access to the underside of the cockpit to figure this all out.
I hope he reports on progress, and it will help if some pix are posted also.
Good Luck!
The PO didn’t do you any favors but the pedestal itself is known for eventually leaking and getting the plywood wet.
For everything Dave said on the repair. You could check out the Boatworks Today YouTube channel for tips along the way too.
You could consider coosa instead of plywood. That would be relatively impervious to water if there ever were more leaks. Though if you install everything properly and rebed the pedestal effectively I suppose another 40 years like the original plywood lasted would be adequate.
For everything Dave said on the repair. You could check out the Boatworks Today YouTube channel for tips along the way too.You could consider coosa instead of plywood. That would be relatively impervious to water if there ever were more leaks. Though if you install everything properly and rebed the pedestal effectively I suppose another 40 years like the original plywood lasted would be adequate.
I thought about Coosa but would plywood (properly prepped as Dave suggested above) be better because I can get a plywood to fiberglass bond which is important for strength (?) and perhaps Coosa would not bond as strongly or not at all?
Also- another observation- only 1/2 plywood is rotted (about a 2ft/2ft section). The rest is perfect. So, to make my life easier I was thinking I would cut out the bad 1/2 and install new. There would be two separate, but butting up to each other, 1/2 marine plywoods. I don’t think two separate pieces would pose any issues so long as new piece properly bonds to underside of cockpit- thoughts?
Also- another observation- only 1/2 plywood is rotted (about a 2ft/2ft section). The rest is perfect. So, to make my life easier I was thinking I would cut out the bad 1/2 and install new. There would be two separate, but butting up to each other, 1/2 marine plywoods. I don’t think two separate pieces would pose any issues so long as new piece properly bonds to underside of cockpit- thoughts?
I’m not aware of any problems bonding coosa with epoxy, which generally forms very strong mechanical bonds. Probably no harm in using epoxy sealed plywood too though.
I agree you shouldn’t have any problem leaving the solid plywood and butting the new sheet against it. You could use some thickened epoxy to fill and seal the gap. If the plywood were a core laminated on each side I’d say the laminate was providing all the strength anyway. Since the plywood in your case is more of a backing plate you could consider maybe just adding some glass tape epoxied along the seam to tie the sheets together.
I agree you shouldn’t have any problem leaving the solid plywood and butting the new sheet against it. You could use some thickened epoxy to fill and seal the gap. If the plywood were a core laminated on each side I’d say the laminate was providing all the strength anyway. Since the plywood in your case is more of a backing plate you could consider maybe just adding some glass tape epoxied along the seam to tie the sheets together.
Also, be careful of getting a new idler. The base plates are thicker which cause the whole assembly to to correct the alignment. I don't think Edson realized this when they did the redesign of their idler plate assembly.
The pictures are helpful.
The steering cables need to be replaced. They should be rust free and lightly lubricated with 30w oil. The rust will also abrade the sheaves on the idler pulleys. Inspect them to ensure the grooves are smooth and the axle round. The axles can develop a flat spot which makes them hard to turn.
Coosa would work, but be much more expensive than plywood and it is a bit harder to work with. A while back Andy Miller on Boatworks Today used it to rebuild a transom. The videos might give some insight.
Replacing on the damaged section might be more challenging than just replacing the whole piece. Trying to get a nice clean straight cut on the intact plywood with damaging the glass would difficult. The old plywood will come off pretty easily with a chisel and mallet, some 40 grit should take care of a lot the remaining wood.
The other issue is joint strength. Butt joints are weak because the bonding surface is small, that's why scarf joints are used. Trying to put a good scarf joint on a small piece of wood could be an exercise in frustration.
Ideally, the wood should be marine ply. Sourcing a small piece might be challenging. It might be possible to find some usable scrap at a boat yard. If not, the plywood should have multiple plies, the more plies the better. This makes it more dimensionally stable.
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 21,450
Here is the speck on the various products they manufacture.
I suspect yes depending on how you set up your fasteners or build your project.
I suspect yes depending on how you set up your fasteners or build your project.