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Pedestal Refinish

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
I don't think you'll have problems. The cables have adjustment screws on the end to give you plenty of slack.

The master link of the chain pops right off, and goes back on easily when finished.

The final readjustment of the cable tension is just a matter of putting it all back together and then snugging up the cables to about 1" deflection or maybe a little less, and not bar taut. And you can always readjust later.

Do note whether the cables are crossed--or not--inside the pedestal, so they go back in the same way.

Removing the axle and sprocket is not ordinarily necessary and introduces other issues (there's a stainless roll pin which needs to be knocked out with a drift pin, and a new roll pin purchased).
 
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Afrakes

Sustaining Member
While you're there

While you're at it check the wheel axle for play. After 36 years the axle bushings may need replacement. Worth checking now. With tension on the adjustment cables the play will not be noticeable. No roll pin on the assembly I worked on. Just a key and two set screws offset ninety degrees that fit into dimples drilled in the axle.
 

Hagar2sail

Member III
Blogs Author
Thanks for all the help. We successfully got the pedistal off the boat today. Luckily the corrosion seems to just be on the surface so we will be able to clean it up and repaint it. We haven’t removed the sprocket, I think I see the roll pin Christian was talking about. Thinking about removing it because we are hopefully going to be putting the pedistal in a blast cabinet and media blasting it, so might not be great to have that attached. Not sure yet.

Quadrant arrangement seems to be to be different than others and I can’t quite figure out what gives us our stops?? The quadrant also hits our water tank *just slightly*. Second picture. For some reason it posted upside down. Third picture is the aft side of the rudder stock where you can see the cables terminate.

0AD26985-C53A-4DE0-B324-E400546828B6.jpg
108B68D8-1A5E-4306-AB25-7341C95A4F73.jpg
E31383B2-954A-42C1-B4BA-8E6DC50027D4.jpg
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
FWIW, the gear looks good to my eye. Bronze quadrant. Good upper bearing with good grease nipple. Good lower bearing with packing gland and no big signs of leaks. I don't recognize that (grease?) fitting on the rudder tube. Anyhow, the tube and bearing want lots of grease annually.

Regarding the rudder stops, one of the ways Ericson did it was to mount a post on the quadrant and also something for the post to hit at extreme deflection on both sides. In the case below, "L"-shaped pieces of aluminum bolted as stops. Sometimes one transverse span of oak is used to stop the mounted post.

Stops are important because someday somebody is going to let the helm go at four knots in reverse, and that innocent lapse can cause rudder damage. Merely turning the wheel hard over will reveal stops or lack of. If rudder stops only by hitting the hull, that's high on the fix-it list.

If quadrant only scraping the tank a little, and has been without issues, I would try to ignore it.

1-E32-3 upper rudder post bearing .JPG
 

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Parrothead

Member III
Now that you have it removed, there is a very specialized priming protocol for aluminum in the marine environment that I learned from LeFiell Manufacturing, spar manufacturers dating back at least 45 years, maybe longer. I have used it for painting spars on two boats and one Edson pedestal, the latest spar and pedestal refinish on my current boat. It has survived perfectly for the past 14 years and counting.

Let me know if there is any interest and I'll reply with details.
 

Hagar2sail

Member III
Blogs Author
Thanks Christian for turning that picture in that post. I have to try and figure out how to fix them when posting from my Phone, seems like you have no control over orientation.

Parrot, I have some thoughts of my own, including blasting, then doing a Zinc Chromate primer and a 2 part epoxy finish, but I am always open to other options!

I can't seem to find it, but I remember someone else posting about redoing their mast. They used a different primer, and did sections, sanding back into each "finished" section before priming it. As I understand it, you have about a golden hour with aluminum before it re-passivates and the coatings won't stick well.
 
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Hagar2sail

Member III
Blogs Author
When I repaired both sheaves at the bottom of our pedestal, I crawled back and undid the clamps that held the cable ends together inside the quadrant. Trivia: even after all these years & decades, those cables straighten out like new! Tape the cable ends so the strands will not unlay.

I have never explored the nether regions of a 35, so others will have comment on that part.

When you do have the pedestal base out of the cockpit, be sure to over-drill, epoxy in, and re-drill for those large holes. You do not want to have any moisture and rot getting into the plywood coring in the cockpit sole! :0

Link to related thread:
http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoex...son-Olson-34-failure-of-wheel-steering-system

Link to my boat is in reply 2 in that thread.

And... here is another great link:
http://tkronaboat.com/binacle-refinish.html

And Loren has already basically found it for me. It was TKR that redid his mast. Good read on his site.

http://tkronaboat.com/mast-refinish.html
 

Parrothead

Member III
Here is the paint protocol for aluminum I learned from LeFiell and have used successfully


  • Strip all hardware to raw metal
  • Sand lightly with 220 grit for smoothness
  • Soap and water wash
    **The following steps are time critical, must be done within 1/2 hour of each other**
  • Acid wash with Alumiprep 33
  • Apply Alodine conversion coating
  • Apply strontium chromate primer (not zinc chromate because of a long term reaction between aluminum and zinc)
    **End time critical operations**
  • Apply suitable primer for top coat
  • Wet sand primer with 400 grit
  • Apply top coat of choice. My preference is 2 part polyurethane such as Interlux Perfection


Following a suitable cure time I recommend coating the finished product with three coats of paste wax prior to reassembly.

Alumiprep 33 and Alodine are available from Aircraft Spruce, strontium chromate primer can be found just about anywhere including Jamestown Distributors and even eBay.
 

mfield

Member III
Zinc Chromate is quite nasty poisonous stuff and seems to have been replaced with Zinc Phosphate primer.

I have had good results with Zinc Phosphate and ordinary Krylon enamel.
 

mjsouleman

Sustaining Member
Moderator
Sharon,

I am sanding and painting my boom and after reading this thread, I contacted Aircraft Spruce for the zinc Chromate and engine enamel and got this reply back:

I am sold on the Zinc Chromate but still reading for an alternative to the gray engine enamel

MJS

[FONT=&quot]PTI ZINC CHROMATE GREEN AEROSOL $17.75 per can [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]TEMPO LYCOMING GRAY ENGINE ENAMEL $8.50 per can[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns. We look forward to the next opportunity to serve you.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Best Regards,[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Amy Stinchcomb | Sales Associate[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Aircraft Spruce & Specialty Co.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][/FONT][COLOR=var(--themePrimary)][FONT=&quot]452 Dividend Dr, Peachtree City, GA 30269[/FONT][/COLOR]
[FONT=&quot](P) 800 824 1930 (ext 502) | (F) 770 487 2308[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]amystinchcomb@aircraftspruce.com[/FONT]
www.aircraftspruce.com[FONT=&quot]

[/FONT]
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Aircraft Spruce...

Funny that this vendor should get a mention. I just ordered up a part from them after a quick and helpful email exchange with one of their reps. Nice folks.
Their on-line catalog has quite an amazing amount of parts and products, and lots of them can apply to boats.
 

mjsouleman

Sustaining Member
Moderator
Follow up:
I asked Amy Stinchcomb from Aircraft Spruce about Zinc Phospate and if the engine enamel came in white, her response:

Zinc Phosphate primer aerosol can for $17.50 per can

PTI white engine enamel for $18.50 per can


MJS


Sharon,

I am sanding and painting my boom and after reading this thread, I contacted Aircraft Spruce for the zinc Chromate and engine enamel and got this reply back:

I am sold on the Zinc Chromate but still reading for an alternative to the gray engine enamel

MJS

[FONT=&amp]PTI ZINC CHROMATE GREEN AEROSOL $17.75 per can [/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]TEMPO LYCOMING GRAY ENGINE ENAMEL $8.50 per can[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns. We look forward to the next opportunity to serve you.[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]Best Regards,[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]Amy Stinchcomb | Sales Associate[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Aircraft Spruce & Specialty Co.[/FONT]
[COLOR=var(--themePrimary)][FONT=&amp]452 Dividend Dr, Peachtree City, GA 30269[/FONT][/COLOR]
[FONT=&amp](P) 800 824 1930 (ext 502) | (F) 770 487 2308[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]amystinchcomb@aircraftspruce.com[/FONT]
www.aircraftspruce.com[FONT=&amp]

[/FONT]
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
They're famous among airplane builders, and if you think we got personality problems...they've seen it all. :)
 

Kenneth K

1985 32-3, Puget Sound
Blogs Author
Galvanic Corrosion - Pedestal Refinish

The question seems to come up alot related to corrosion of the steering pedestal--that question being, Do dissimilar metals need to be in saltwater for galvanic corrosion to occur? The answer seems to be not just no, but that the metals need not be in any water at all--galvanic corrosion is said to occur both in soil and in merely "moist" conditions.

I was adding an exterior electrical line to my shed the other day. The exterior box at the house (that I'm tapping into) is a "weatherproof" aluminum box that is kept mostly dry by the roof eaves. Here's what I saw inside (I had already disconnected the ground wire before taking the picture):

20190305_130554 (2).jpg

Aluminum vs copper in a "moist" environment (albeit, occasionally in the presence of 120VAC). This box is about 2 years old. Looks about like the base of my steering pedestal.....
 
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Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Right, the air all around our saltwater boats is full of salt aerosols, such that crystals form on fittings. And on the houses in my neighborhood, too, near the ocean, where the door fixtures rot out every ten years.

The answer for boats is Tef-gel or its competitors, and it needs to be applied any time dissimilar metals are touching. Good news is that it solves the problem.

In the case of aluminum pedestal bases eaten completely away, I have a hunch it relates to stray currents and the wiring of the compass light.
 

Kenneth K

1985 32-3, Puget Sound
Blogs Author
Has anyone tried screwing a zinc to the pedestal base (after sanding the white paint away underneath)? If it worked, it would be cheap and easy protection for a costly and time consuming problem.
 

toddster

Curator of Broken Parts
Blogs Author
Zinc anodes won't protect aluminum. Magnesium? What do they do for aluminum boats? Maybe some weaker alloy of aluminum. My Sailomat has one pin of something so soft that you can scratch it with a fingernail, and it seems to be the sacrificial bit.
 

sharonov

Member II
Has anyone tried screwing a zinc to the pedestal base (after sanding the white paint away underneath)? If it worked, it would be cheap and easy protection for a costly and time consuming problem.
I don't think this will work: electrode potential for Al is -1.662V and -0.762V for Zn. Pedestal will be protecting the zinc, not the other way around.
 
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