[skipmac]

Hi Tor,

Previous post I think addressed most of your suggestions like the epoxy fill in the holes. Doing that, one by one with all the deck fittings.

One problem with the washer idea is once the track is on the deck the bolt shaft will be hidden under the track and inaccessible. #@@!@$#^%%$!!!! Plus the alignment of the bolts that will be angled.

@Robert Fine via maillist wrote:

Skip, could you send a picture of your staysail track? I’ve been
wondering about the best way to control the thing.

Bob

On Sun, Aug 31, 2014 at 6:11 AM, Silverheels via maillist <
> wrote:

Skip,

I don’t have that track on Silverheels, but if I’m picturing your
description correctly I do have a couple of ideas:

Using fully threaded bolts, put them through the track as usual
and then screw on a nut most of the way up followed by a broad,
snug-fitting washer. Then mount the track as usual, securing all
the bolt washers or backing plates and their nuts beneath the
deck. Once it’s securely mounted, squirt a blob of bedding
compound onto each shank outside at deck level and tighten down
those upper nuts, but not so tight that they squeeze out all the
bedding. Just enough to press the washer snuggly onto the bedding
and form a seal. I just made that up, but it seems like it would
work.

And in case it doesn’t work perfectly forever, while the track is
off drill out the mounting holes a size or two larger, put pieces
of tape over the bottoms, fill them all with epoxy and, once dry,
re-drill the holes to the correct size. Forever after, if/when a
bolt does leak at least the water won’t get into the balsa core
and rot it.

Have fun,

Tor

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Silverheels, P-424 #17
http://www.silverheels.us

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Original Message

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Post generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum

[skipmac]

@Ken Page via maillist wrote:

If you know the track is leaking why not just unbolt it, clean up the
bolts, track and deck then lay a new bead down under the track, assemble
and be done. Jobs like this tend to be easier than most think once the
bolts are exposed.

Hi Ken,

My description was a bit fuzzy and I tried but failed to upload a diagram.

Did remove the track, overdrilled the holes in the deck, dried out a couple that had leaked into the wood core, refilled all the holes with expoxy then redrilled the holes for the track but each now surrounded by epoxy so any future leaks will not wet the wood core.

But when I went to reinstall the track the bottom I discovered the bottom of the track isn’t flat but if you look at it end on, there is a channel down the middle of the bottom end to end. So again, end on it has a flat area on each side to sit on the deck but in the middle where the bolts pass through is open. Shaped kind of like this.

[_/_]

So the bolts come down through the middle of the inverted V area open for about 1″. So a bead under the flat areas on either side would bed the track but would not be over the holes. I could put a bead around the holes but pushing the bolt through the track into the holes will be blind and I will have no idea if the caulk is all pushed aside, left with gaps to leak into my overhead or what.

Tried to think of an easy way to put something around the exposed section of the bolt that would hold a washer flush to the bottom of the track that would then press down against the hole and the butyl tape I would like to use. So far every idea for that solution I’ve thought about have potential issues.

1. Various ways to install a washer onto the bolts so the washer is held flush with the bottom of the track and the washer can then cap off the deck holes and whatever goop I use to seal.

Problem, the deck is cambered and the holes in the track and matching holes through the deck are perpendicular to the track at each point. So would be very difficult to preinstall the bolts and then push the whole assembly into the deck holes.

2. Fill the slot with epoxy flush to the bottom of the track then redrill the bolt holes.

Problem, Pearson partially filled the slot with something (5200 maybe) which I have tried to remove but so far have spent a lot of time to remove a little of the caulk. If I try to fill with epoxy will it stick to whatever remaining caulk is in the slot?

3. The only idea I have so far is to fill the whole slot with a compatible goop (maybe one of the few places on the boat I would use 5200 or would 4200 work?) so the the deck holes are sealed off all the way inside that slot.

Problems? Can’t think of any serious ones yet. Any comments on this idea?

[skipmac]

Another issue with AGMs, not only are the voltage sensitive but I believe they are less tolerant of abuse in general. AGM specs I have seen say they should be fully charged on a regular basis or they may die and early death. If you are on shore power regularly, have extra solar capacity or some other way to top off the batteries on a regular basis OK. But off the grid and charging to 80-90% AGMs may not be the best option.

[skipmac]

Trojan T-105 comes highly recommended but I think several others are considered equivalent. Also, to confuse the issue I think there are 2-3 actual manufacturers whose batteries are rebranded and sold under a variety of names.

There is a thread about this on Cruiser’s Forum. If I recall, Penn is another brand.

[skipmac]

Hi Dennis,

My last boat, a 34′ sloop, had a rudder like I think you are describing. It was a skeg hung rudder but the there was a section that protruded maybe 12″ below the bottom of the skeg and forward to the front edge of the skeg. So that lower section of rudder was balanced, ahead of the rudder post. The boat was very responsive and very light at the helm. The light touch I think was at least partly due to the balanced section. When you put the rudder over, the lower section had water pressure helping turn the rudder and made it much easier to steer.

I have thought about doing the same thing with my Pearson. To avoid potential damage in a grounding I would make the lower section lighter in construction IE a breakaway section.

[skipmac]

Hi Alan,

If you have any trouble finding the seal just remember that the W58 is the same engine as the Perkins 4.154 series 200.

[skipmac]

@madsailor wrote:

I think you can just up the voltage on your old board stretcher.

That will do the trick. The stretcher is 12V DC. I’ll plug it into 240V AC. Should give me 20 times more power. Might even be good enough to stretch titanium.

[skipmac]

@cstewart wrote:

What if it is too long?
(just said that to give you something else to think about)

Too long I got a grinder to fix that, Too short I don’t think my board stretcher works on stainless and my wife won’t let me buy a new steel stretcher.

[skipmac]

From cstewart How about you take it all off and start at the bow and come aft, butting each piece to the next so there are no gaps.

And from Robert Fine
If the gap is the same as the strip length, start on one end an be
careful there are no bends away from the curve.

From careful measurements I think the gap is exactly the length of the new piece. My preference is to follow Robert’s suggestion because it seems like less work (my lazy bone strikes again) and I see a lower risk of creating a big headache and having to take it off and start over again if it doesn’t work out perfectly.

The suggestion to remove all the strips and start over does give me an idea. Redoing the whole side would be a bit of a pain because the new screw holes would almost match or just miss the old ones so to get the new screws to hold I would have to first plug all the old screw holes (about 120 if I recall). But the old strip from the bow is relatively short so here’s my new plan.

Start screwing the new strip flush at the aft end and work my way forward. If I reach the forward end and I’m flush or close enough then I’m good. If I’m off and the gap is more than I can live with then remove the short strip going to the bow, plug those screw holes and reattach.

Thanks all for the ideas and suggestions. I love group think.

[skipmac]

@patn wrote:

wouldn’t it make more sense to start in the middle and go to each end?
that way regardless the ends will either be on or they will be off by
the same amount…

– pat

Arghh!!! I was already confused and now you think up a third option.

But if I start on one end I will have at least one end right. But is it better to have one end right and one end off or both ends off a little? But they’re 20′ apart so if one end is on you won’t even see the other end from there but which end would I rather have on, the one by the bow or the one by the cockpit?

Maybe if I start on one end and the other is off I can cut a sliver off the old strip (which of course I saved) and glue it in the gap.

This is giving me a headache. Think I’ll go to bed and think about it some more.

[skipmac]

Once the teak is basically clean for maintenance I just use a damp sponge for serious cleaning and something like Murphy’s or the lemony stuff for final wipe and lighter cleaning.

[skipmac]

Hi Rich,

Yes I saw not just a variation in the grain orientation of the teak boards I was staining but also a wide variation in the color and darkness of the pieces. Between the two the color of the finished pieces varied a lot.

The paneling on the other hand, was much more consistent and the results reflected that.

I have a few places where the original finish had been wet and turned a yellowish white color. Did an experiment with the old paneling I replaced to see which method of refinishing would match the best. My son-in-law who builds fancy houses with fancy kitchens and trim for people with a lot more money that I recommended sanding very lightly with very fine grit to get off the old finish.

I used 220 and got off the discolored finish without sanding down into the veneer on the panel. Then tried sections with varnish only, stain then varnish, etc. Varnish only left a noticeably lighter patch. Stain then varnish was darker. Still not a perfect match to the surrounding wood but close enough. Also, there were some small spots in the grain where I couldn’t get all the old, white finish off but the varnish made that disappear.

Have not tried a stripper test yet. Would love to hear the results if you try that technique.

Skip

[skipmac]

I had to replace some of the paneling around the old leaky ports in my 1983/1984 422. On the recommendation of another owner I tried Minwax Gunstock shade stain and a clear satin varnish on the new teak paneling and it was a perfect match to the existing woodwork. Even where the paneling butted right up against the original bulkhead you couldn’t tell the difference.

I used the same stain on some solid teak trim and it came out the right shade but some of the pieces were a little lighter. Looking closely at the different pieces that was due to the variations in the cut and grain of the boards.

[skipmac]

@Paperbird wrote:

definitely will ask them. Also may just grab a wrench and pull the velvet transmission off myself and see what I can find inside.

Back to the original question, to prevent totally hijacking the thread, I decided to replace our strainer and put in a groco 750, same as I used on the AC system. That way I have 2 of them on the boat and can always pull the one out of the AC system if something bad happens to the critical one on the engine. Also let’s me carry 1 spare basket that fits both.

Having matching strainers is a good idea but where my air con is mounted I don’t think I have room for the large Groco. But I’m going to have a look see. If it fits I may have a small one for sale.

RE: Velvet Drive. Mine runs perfectly but the PO let a leak from the anti-syphon drip on the back of the engine for a couple of years, right where it bolts to the transmission and the case is very corroded. It might be fine for years and I’ve cleaned it up and repainted but it does make me nervous.

So maybe you can sell me the case and keep all the guts. (that’s a joke in case my wry humor gets lost in translation).

I think the PO did upgrade the V-drive to a model 26 so may be good there.

[skipmac]

Hi, is that you Greg? Hope all is well. Are you starting to wonder if the winter will ever end?

You say the transmission you pulled is no good. So what model was it? I have the BW Velvet Drive which is running fine for now but is showing its age and might need some work down the road. If you had the same I might be able to put the two together and maybe end up with one good unit.

Actually as I think about it the same might apply to my V-drive. What model Walter do you have?

By the way, what V-drive did you get with the new Beta? Another Walter or is there some other option out there?

Skip

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