Whitlock Constellation pedestal

[billyruffn]

Anyone have experience in disassembly of a Whitlock Constellation steering pedestal? (I'm pretty sure it's a Constellation 600).

On the last day of our cruise the friction in the steering system increased for no apparent reason. My hypothesis is that the friction lock on the wheel is not releasing fully. This afternoon I attempted to disassemble that element of the pedestal and quickly arrived at the point where something mysterious was not allowing the brake assembly from detaching from the wheel shaft. I've searched the internet for info and found an installation manual on Lewmar's website that wasn't much help.

Anybody have first had knowledge of the Whitlock system?

UPDATE:

Problem solved. Steering friction was loose nuts (see my post on that subject). I got the pedestal apart finally and ordered a rebuild kit. It's been 15 years since any serious maintenance (aside from a bit of grease now and then) was done inside the pedestal so I'm going to replace bearings, seals and gaskets even though it seems to be working OK. That way we'll be good for another 15 years.