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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Swing Keel Work

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Cate
Navigator

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199 Posts

Initially Posted - 03/21/2007 : 06:54:32

As part of our spring project list, we are taking the boat to a yard to have the keel inspected and replace any parts. We will be putting in the hanger casting and spacers to eleminate the clunking movement. I talked to Chris at Catalina Yachts and he gave me the prices on all possible parts we may need. They were pretty similar to CD except for the hanger casting kit, which was $30 less. Their kit did not come with the Loctite stuff. All in all the total cost ofr parts is around $230.

I will take pictures of this project so folks can see what we did.

1983 C-25, Standard rig, swing keel

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Justin
Admiral

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502 Posts

Response Posted - 03/21/2007 : 10:19:51

Cate, I plan to do the same or at least was planning to. I'm putting all boat expenses on hold because my job is coming to an end (life of a gov. contractor) and I need to get something lined up first. Good luck with your projects, I look forward to seeing how it goes. I hope I don't have any surprises when I attempt mine in the upcoming months.

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djn
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1561 Posts

Response Posted - 03/21/2007 : 10:19:57

Pictures would be great. You can then post them in the tech tips. When a person buys a swing keel, it really helps them understand that whole system if they can see pics. Cheers.

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stampeder
Master Marine Consultant

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1608 Posts

Response Posted - 03/21/2007 : 21:04:34

good luck on your project. I'll have my SK in the sling in a couple weeks and hopefully all I'll have to do is regular maintenance. I bought new keel cable and accessories two years ago but it was still looking new last spring. This year for sure, I will replace the cable, turning ball and hose regardless of what it looks like.

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Brooke Willson
Admiral

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USA
983 Posts

Response Posted - 03/22/2007 : 15:31:23

If you replace the hanger castings, there's a strong possibility you won't need to worry about spacers. The hangers are oversized and need to be ground down to fit. When I put my new ones in eight years ago, it completely eliminated play and clunking, and there's been nary a clunk since.

Brooke

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jvockley
Deckhand

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8 Posts

Response Posted - 04/04/2007 : 10:01:16

Speaking of swing keels. This may be the ultimate in sailboat project nightmares....and I may have done the stupidest thing that I have ever done. I accepted the free donation of a 1984 Cat 25 for our boyscout troop. Our troop was looking for a sailboat that we could fix up. According to the owner, the boat had been in their yard, uncovered, on a trailer for the past 12-15 years. Obviously the swing keel was stored in the up position. The owners thought that it wouldn't be too hard to get the boat up and running again. At first, I agreed with them, but once I got into it I realized that much of the interior wood was dry rot, and the following needed to be replace: all electrical including fuse panel, switches, DC wiring, light fixtures (there was water inside the ligth bulbs), battery cables, AC wiring, all fresh water hoses, fittings and the galley faucet, everything that has to do with the "head". In addition, all of the exterior wood needed to be removed, sanded down and refinished. The interior needed to be cleaned and painted. And, of course, the bottom needed to be painted. Believe it or not, we could deal with all of these issues. We have kid power and I've used that to remove and sand all of the exterior wood, clean the interior, sand the interior wood and apply spar varnish to all, paint the interior fiberglass with epoxy, paint the bottom with epoxy, rip out and replace the freshwater system and remove and replace the "head" with a portapottie (sealand 965 model). We've also replaced the lighting on the trailer, the winch, the brake actuator, the brakes, the tires and the front support/wheel. It actually sounds worse than it is. I've only spent about $800 on the boat and trailer and the sails and interior cushions are in "like new" condition. If they weren't I would have thought that this boat actually spent the last 12-15 years at the bottom of the Chesapeake! I had a friend that has been sailing for years check the hull and he thinks that it is sound. My problem is the swing keel. How the heck do I check the pivot and replace the cable? Given the condition of every other system on the boat, I don't' dare try to float this boat without checking the pivot and cable. (Imagine a 2000lb keel laying on its side on the boat ramp under 3 ft of water.) I know that there is an access panel on the bottom of the boat, held on by four bolts. I understand that you can remove these bolts and see the hinge pin, but then what? Do you jack up the swing keel to take pressure off the pin? Do you need to get the boat off the trailer and remove the keel? Currently, the boat is sitting on the trailer and the swing keel is lowered down so that the rear end of the swing keel sits solidly on one of the cross members of the trailer. I think that it would be real easy to jack up the front end of the swing keel to work on the pin. Any suggestions (that don't include sinking the boat in the Bay) would be greatly appreciated. By the way, the scouts are having a blast working on the boat. Thanks

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ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 04/04/2007 : 23:49:36

"Do you jack up the swing keel to take pressure off the pin?"

An alternative is the 'all-thread' method. Remove one hanger bolt, screw in a piece of all-thread about 12" long into the hull and run a washer and nut up to hold the keel pivot (hinge) in place.

Repeat 3 more times until all the keel hinge bolts are replaced by all thread. Jam two nuts together on the bottom of each piece of all thread so you can keep it from turning and lower the keel and hangar assembly down onto a block by backing off the nuts holding it up evenly on all corners.

When the head of the keel is resting on blocks, you can remove the all thread and the keel pivots will simply come off the keel pin. Be sure to c-clamp some blocking in place so the keel can't fall over sideways.

Reinstalling the keel is just the reversal of the above process.

Be sure to inspect or renew the 'turning ball', keel 'pipe', hose clamps and the keel cable.
IMHO: Invest $12 in the 'catalina owners bible' from Catalina direct... it's a big help with these boats.

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ct95949
Captain

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Aruba
300 Posts

Response Posted - 04/05/2007 : 10:40:42

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Brooke Willson
 If you replace the hanger castings, there's a strong possibility you won't need to worry about spacers. The hangers are oversized and need to be ground down to fit. When I put my new ones in eight years ago, it completely eliminated play and clunking, and there's been nary a clunk since.
Brooke
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
When I did this project I found some wear in the hanger, more in the pin and much more in the keel pin hole. I drilled out the keel hole with a 1-1/4" bit then pressed in (with a hammer) a 1-1/4" O.D. x 1" I.D. bronze bushing. I lowered the keel with a floor jack and the keel winch and installed the bushing with the keel under the boat.
If your keel has a sloppy hole you'll still have 'clunk' even if all the other parts are new. Do a search (sorry

) and you will find more detailed descriptions of this job.

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jvockley
Deckhand

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8 Posts

Response Posted - 04/05/2007 : 10:47:55

Thanks for your input. This helps alot!

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