Association Forum - Replacing gudgeon

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

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.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Replacing gudgeon

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

josephlee4
Deckhand

Member Avatar

1 Posts

Initially Posted - 03/24/2007 : 11:23:41

the bolts that hold the bottom gudgeon have snapped off and are still in the fibreglass. Has anyone had success in making this kind of a repair? Thanks,

Edited by - josephlee4 on 03/24/2007 11:25:01

Leon Sisson
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1893 Posts

Response Posted - 03/24/2007 : 13:26:48

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by josephlee4 the bolts that hold the bottom gudgeon have snapped off and are still in the fibreglass. Has anyone had success in making this kind of a repair? Thanks,<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">I'd start by taking a look at the problem from inside the boat. If that area is slathered over in gelcoat resin, try chipping or grinding it off enough to tell what you're looking at. I think most, if not all, C-25s were built with a bronze backing plate embedded in the transom tapped for the lower gudgeon bolts. If that's what you've got, you'll need to approach the problem as bolts broken off in metal. Try backing them out by center drilling each bolt from inside the boat. With a bit of luck, the drill bit will spin the bolt, backing out what's left of it. If you can't get at them from inside, or they don't seem inclined to either center drill neatly or back out easily from there, then center drill each from the outside. Unlike typical broken bolt in metal removal, there's no reason to be concerned about damaging the female threads -- you won't be needing them again.

Once the broken bolt stubs are out of the holes, enlarge the holes in the metal plate (if you have one) to 5/16". enlarge the holes in the fiberglass and wood to 5/8". Refill the holes with reinforced epoxy resin. Redrill to 5/16". If needed, enlarge the holes in the gudgeon to 5/16". Reinstall with a strong sealant/adhesive, such as 3M-4200.

To preserve the original bolt pattern location and alignment, only over drill, fill, and redrill one hole at a time, using the other two holes to align the gudgeon, which is then used as a drilling jig to redrill the filled hole exactly where it was originally. If your boat doesn't have the bronze backing plate embedded in the transom (or even if it does, and you're feeling fanatical), install a backing plate before reinstalling the gudgeon. Although epoxy saturate plywood is a favorite backing plate material, this close to the waterline I'd use something less water soluable and biodegradable. Consider a rectangle of 3/16" to 1/4" thick fiberglass (make you own or cut from a junked hull), or 1/6" to 1/8" thick stainless steel plate. Aluminum is easier to work with, but a bit too easily dissolved in saltwater for my tastes. Bronze would be fine, but may be difficult to find, depending on your local sources and resourcefulness at scrounging.

At some point, you'll likey need to grind or sand the inboard side of the repair flat to accept the tape dam for applying and retaining epoxy, the backing plate if used, fender washers, and sealant. Be sure to lock the threads of the new nuts somehow -- Nylocks, 2nd locknut, goo on the threads, etc. (Actually, the goo on the threads option comes for free, and is quite unavoidable!

)

Good luck, and feel free to ask us more detailed questions if you're not clear on how you'll proceed.

-- Leon S.

Edited by - on

britinusa
Web Editor

Members Avatar

USA
5404 Posts

Response Posted - 03/24/2007 : 13:40:24

And of course... welcome to the thread. Let us know where you are located and more details about your boat. You'll find the guys-n-gals here eager to share their knowledge and to share sailing venues too.

Paul

Edited by - on

djn
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1561 Posts

Response Posted - 03/24/2007 : 14:16:34

Hi Joe, welcome to the board. I had one that was snapped off on my boat. I drilled it and used an Easy-out to get the bolt out then drilled all the way through the haul and bolted on a new pair of heavy duty grudeons from Catalina Direct.....you can find them in the links. I used fender washers from WM. Cheers.

Edited by - on

ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

3072 Posts

Response Posted - 03/24/2007 : 16:36:40

Most of the bottom gudgeons I've seen on C25's have been through-bolted. Crawl back to the transom and take a look. If that's the case you can just drive the broken bolt out to the inside of the hull with a punch or a smaller bolt and a hammer.

If not you'll have to drill it out and use a through-bolt to replace (stronger that way).

Edited by - on

Topic

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

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.