Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.
are you sure yours is actually fiberglassed into the hull. i have a '96 C250 and mine isn't. it has this inside the fiberglass tube. if you remove the exhaust hose you can see down there more clearly
Thanks for the information. Unfortunately it seems, as per image below, we have the original turning ball which according to Catalina Direct must be removed before installing a new device.
Question is how to remove the original turning ball... any suggestions?
Henk & Johanna "Floating", a few off your "barnacles". "Someday Lady" '95 C250WB #151 ('03 - 2016) "Sea ya" 30ft Bayliner (04-2018 - 09-2018) "Mariah" '96 C250WB #191 (05-2019 - 15-05-2023) "Lady J" '00 C250WK #499 (05-2021 - 09-2022)
dunno. i would imagine that if it's glassed into the hull, it's likely that there is a bronze pin holding it inside a matrix of fiberglass. which too me say's the boat would need to be hauled and the ball cut out. i vaguely remember reading somewhere about someone doing something similar but it wasn't to a C250, may have been a C22 or C25
though for me the bigger question isn't how to get it out. anyone can do that. i'd be more curious how you get it back in!
the simple answer might be that you knock out the existing ball and retrofit in the assembly from the link i mentioned.
but i'm no expert, don't quote me. you could always try calling Catalina, i'm sure they've heard this problem before and might have a solution.
Ok, I got the old one out. It was still turning but the alignment was off since the pin had worn a larger hole into the fiberglass tube.
This is how i got it out.
1st, I lifted the boat to about 3.5 feet up. This makes it a good level work under while seated
2nd, I used a hacksaw blade without the handle and added a point with a belt sander to get at the pin in the turning ball from underneath. All my power tools (dremmel, saws-all, etc..... would not fit up into the slot.).
3rd, I sawed for an hour since i could only move the blade back a forth an little bit especially at first.
After I sawed though one side of the pin and the ball would not come out I inserted a broom stick from the top and whacked the ball out from above using a rubber mallet. ( I did not want to spend another hour sawing the other side) It popped out easily causing no damage.
The new assembly fits inside the old and was easily installed and held in place by a pin (this time from the top inside the cabin).
Hopefully this will make my newly refurbished center board easier to lift and deploy with the full range of motion.
Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ. The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.