I inherited a 1977 O'day 27 and find there is some play in the rudder. It is tiller steered. There has been some play for a while and thought I best take the rudder off to see what is going on. The rudder is original equipment.
The space in the opening at the bottom of the rudder tube is about 3/16 larger in comparison to the diameter of the rudder steering tube (stainless steel).
The steering tube appears to be completely fiberglass, there was a fiber gasket on top that I thought was a bushing, but was really just a spacer from the cockpit floor. Over the years, the shaft of the rudder was often greased when out of the water for bottom paint.
I can see in the tube at the bottom, after cleaning some of the old grease away with acetone, that there was gelcoat in the tube that is worn everywhere except for the front of the tube (toward bow).
Oddly, the sole of the cockpit, under the fiber gasket, appears to have been incorrectly hole cut in the first place and then there was glass placed to hold the tube in place. There appears to be a bushing at the top near the sole, but if it is, it is glassed in. Manufacturering mistakes?
There seem to be some pits and cracks in the fiberglassnear the bottom, inside the tube where the tube is in the water. Minor but somewhat concerning considering that the tube is maximum 1/4 inch thick based on my calculations.
I'm worried about this wearing through. It still seems structurally sound, but I can see some light through fiberglass near the base of the tube when I get down under the seats and close the lid and have someone shine a light up the bottom of the tube.
I'm wondering if some sort of bushing would help or if I should purse the injected expoxy solution (with graphite) that the West System outlines.
Anyone come across this on an older O'day 27, on a similar boat or similarly constructed tube?
Thanks,
Dave
The space in the opening at the bottom of the rudder tube is about 3/16 larger in comparison to the diameter of the rudder steering tube (stainless steel).
The steering tube appears to be completely fiberglass, there was a fiber gasket on top that I thought was a bushing, but was really just a spacer from the cockpit floor. Over the years, the shaft of the rudder was often greased when out of the water for bottom paint.
I can see in the tube at the bottom, after cleaning some of the old grease away with acetone, that there was gelcoat in the tube that is worn everywhere except for the front of the tube (toward bow).
Oddly, the sole of the cockpit, under the fiber gasket, appears to have been incorrectly hole cut in the first place and then there was glass placed to hold the tube in place. There appears to be a bushing at the top near the sole, but if it is, it is glassed in. Manufacturering mistakes?
There seem to be some pits and cracks in the fiberglassnear the bottom, inside the tube where the tube is in the water. Minor but somewhat concerning considering that the tube is maximum 1/4 inch thick based on my calculations.
I'm worried about this wearing through. It still seems structurally sound, but I can see some light through fiberglass near the base of the tube when I get down under the seats and close the lid and have someone shine a light up the bottom of the tube.
I'm wondering if some sort of bushing would help or if I should purse the injected expoxy solution (with graphite) that the West System outlines.
Anyone come across this on an older O'day 27, on a similar boat or similarly constructed tube?
Thanks,
Dave