I had an origional post here about this problem but it was 6/6/2008 so it appears to be gone. Nevertheless I fixed problem by having a part machined for me. If anyone needs the same I can put you in touch with the man who made it and he will be happy to do it again. I attached pix for all to see. The original part was plastic and being chewed up by the bolt through the rudder post. The plastic collar the bolt was through broke in half.
I had a new collar manufactured from stainless steel tubing welded to a flat 4"square stainless steel plate and I painted with the metal spray paint you by in a can and the finished product looks and works great. You have to do this when the boat is out of the water of course. The plastic collar was also maufactured in the machine shop. The whole thing cost me $500. I think the new part is better than the origional. I could never find anyone who stocked this part for replacement, however if you are such a person who would like to stock it, I can put you in touch with the person who made this one. It took several runs to the boat to make it fit just right, but the end result was a perfect fit.
I had a new collar manufactured from stainless steel tubing welded to a flat 4"square stainless steel plate and I painted with the metal spray paint you by in a can and the finished product looks and works great. You have to do this when the boat is out of the water of course. The plastic collar was also maufactured in the machine shop. The whole thing cost me $500. I think the new part is better than the origional. I could never find anyone who stocked this part for replacement, however if you are such a person who would like to stock it, I can put you in touch with the person who made this one. It took several runs to the boat to make it fit just right, but the end result was a perfect fit.
