70 E32 projects

G-day or nite fellow ericson fans, I have a couple of projects lined up. One is replacing the gate valve in the head. The head sole is aprox 3/4" above the hull. The backing plate is between & the gate valve nut is above the sole.. So far no leaks.. Any suggestions for replacing the g-valve w/ a ball valve?? Should I leave the old backing plate & copy the present setup???Next I plan on replacing the old rigging.. My calipers showed the wire to be 1/4" or just a hair less.. I am inclined to replace all with 1/4"" Any ideas or suggestions???? Thanks for any help....Mike

Gate Valve Replacement

Hey Mike -

I would replace your gate valves with Forespar ball valves. As for the backing plate, if the old one is in good condition, then you could leave it. If you end up needing to replace the sole, the valves will be easy enough to take out again, etc. You can see their products at http://www.forespar.com - lots of good stuff.

Don't know much about replacing the rigging - except that the location of your homeport is important (in terms of length of useful life vs. corrosion), as well as the type of sailing you do. I'll need to replace mine in another 2-3 years (but that's another project...).

Thanks,
//sse

Hi,
I just replaced all of the standing rigging, running rigging,fasteners, shieves, ect.. ect...... I also painted mast, added boom vang. I will be running lines aft to cockpit soon. Let me know of any questions. I did most of the work and would like to share what I learned. It was great fun!