I did finally get around to removing the rudder the other day. Thanks to Jon, it went quickly. I'll outline the work below for any future reference and add to this post as I finish the project.
Under the cockpit sole; The quadrant was easily loosened and immediately slid free on the rudder shaft. It has a keyway cut into both the quadrant and shaft. The stuffing box, something I've never touched, was more of a problem and required a large pipe wrench to separate.
It's good to now have that loosened and working to stuff with new packing and be able to maintain. There's a grease fitting on the stuffing box which I think is clogged, I may remove that and replace. I've tried to pump grease into it but not sure it works. Does anyone use this?
On the rudder; I was able to fit a regular length 1 1/8" socket into the recess in the bronze rudder stock. It let go without too much work. With a long drift, I hammered the shaft up and out of the stock. The SS shaft is tapered and has a keyway , both of which fit the bronze stock.
Removal; I easily found the small strap of copper that covers the slot by the lower gudgeon and pintle. It was screwed into the mahogany.
There wasn't enough room to slide by and clear the hull above in my boats case though. I was easily able to remove the screws in the rudder gudgeon though. 3 # 14 FH bronze screws per side. This heavy bronze fitting has thick straps (1/4" +) that fit into a gain cut in the rudder. With the screws out, the rudder leaned back and I was able to lift it off the bronze shoe.
Reference of fasteners; 4 fasteners- #1,2,3,4 are from right to left in the photo or from the bottom of the rudder, #1, FH woods screws up to the top, #4, the rod threaded into the bronze stock.
With the rudder now in my shop, I've begun removing the broken fasteners. Nothing would come out by conventional means. The heads of the 2 lower FH screws(#1 and #2) too far gone, the 3/8" machine bolt(# 3) slot also useless. I drilled the head soff with progressively larger bits until the stock and rudder, with some prying, parted. This allowed me enough stem to turn the wood screws out with vise grips.
At this point; The upper fastener, #4, is a bronze rod (bolt cut and threaded ) is the rod you see. The threaded end in the bronze stock snapped off. Inside the gain cut in the rudder, the nut and threaded end were easily snapped off with a cold chisel. The state of the bronze is very weak now. It's now out of the rudder and I'll soon tackle drilling and removing the piece inside the rudder stock.
The 3/8" machine bolt(#3), is stuck inside the rudder as Jon found. This machine bolt is so far corroded, it's swollen inside the gain to the point the nut is in little pieces. The end in the bronze stock, is about half the diameter(very loose) and snapped right off. Some heavy pounding with a drift, to drive it in with the hope of cutting it into pieces, gave no movement. I think I'll have to cut it out and scarf a piece back in. (Not so, read on)
Basically, these fasteners have all given up the ghost on this rudder. It wouldn't have taken much more to make the rudder inoperable. I'll add photos and the repairs as I do them.
Before cutting #3 out, I tried drilling into it with a smaller bit. After an inch, it drifted off the bronze bolt. But then I had an idea. A 7/16"" long twist bit was snug in the hole now and followed it straight and true. That kept it on line with the bolt, but it was slow going. So I tightened a bar clamp to my handless Makita 1/2" drill and the gain cut in the rudder, and in a few minutes, I twisted the drill (press)right up the middle of the bronze bolt. Sweet.
With #3 out and clear, I drilled the stock out with a small bit and tried an easy out, no luck. Went to the next size, still no luck.
I went out to find new fasteners. Luckily, I have Rockport Marine down the hill. With a half century or more of wooden boat building, I found what I needed. I bought 2 1/2" x 10" bronze machine bolts, washers and nuts. For the wood screws, I stepped up in diameter to @24 FH 4" bronze wood screws.
Back in my shop, I started at the top, #4. With no way to budge what was left of the old broken bolt inside the stock, I used the correct sized drill for the 1/2" tap I mated to the new bronze machine bolts at the hardware. I picked up the matching die as well. (There were a few thread gauge sizes for the 1/2", get the right match).
#4; The drill took it back to a clean bronze hole(was the old bolt slightly smaller?). I went all the way through into the bore(whoops). This was easily retapped and fit the new bolt threads nicely. The 10" was just long enough to cut the FH off the other end of the bolt. I cut new threads onto the end with the die. Test fit, check.
#3; First, with the increased diameter, I redrilled the stock to a new 1/2" diameter hole. This was snug to the point the new machine bolt would not quite seat fully. Although snug in the wood, I test fit by tapping the bolt through the stock into the rudder. Check.
#2 and #1. Not being sure of the original size, I went up at least one diameter to #28 FH 4" woodscrews. This were a snug fit in the rudder stock. I increased the shank and screw pilotholes in the rudder. Snug partial fit. Check.
One last thing;, the larger FH woods screws, #1 and #2, as well as the larger diameter 1/2" machine bolt, #3, didn't fit the chamfer in the bronze stock for the flat heads to seat. Back to the hardware, I bought a 13/16" twist bit to enlarge these just a bit. There was plenty of stock for strength to work with.
Back together it all went. You get a real sense of the great design work that went into this rudder 50 years ago. It's a full 3" thick at the stock side tapering down to the bronze aft edge. Because this was an early glass hull, the aft edge of the keel is quite hefty resulting in that 3" thickness. It may well be that the systems and experience of building wooden rudders in that day made it a safer choice. And now, 50 years later, with new bronze fasteners pulling old wood and old bronze, still good as new today, back together, resulting in the same strength, plus a bit, it's still hard to argue their thinking and craftsmanship.
Then finally, installed on the boat. With the mid gudgeon loose on the rudder, the lower rudder pin in the shoe, I slowly pushed the rudder into place. At that point, with pliers, I realized the key in the slot between the rudder shaft and stock was bronze as it crumbled. I found 5/16" bronze key stock and cut a new one. Lining up the key ways, I gently taped the shaft into the bronze stock. I replaced the bronze nut on the SS rudder shaft with a SS nut with a plastic insert to keep it locked. All went back together nicely. I did put a strip of copper inside the lower shoe which took up some of the wear.
After tightening the quadrant above as well as taking up the play in the cables, I locked the wheel and tugged the rudder. Nice and tight again.