Rudder post Repair

[upei1]

Hello all. I own a 1965 O'Day tempest. I have had a great summer learning how to sail her. When she was put back in the water at the beginning of the season, i noticed that there was a lot of rudder play (I mean A LOT ). A colleague suggested checking the bolt which holds the tiller assembly/clamp in place. I did and it was cracked. I have replaced it with a machine grade bolt, but as you can see in the photo, the the bronze post hole is very distorted. The screw will not grab in the front 2/3rds of the post. The bolt currently grabs only the threads in the rear. I am wondering if any of you have had a similar issue, and faced with economic restrictions, how you dealt with it. Thanks for any and all help. The rudder post goes down through the hull.

[SHNOOL]

Can you retap it? It is solid brass, so should be soft enough to try yourself. Then go to a bigger bolt? I know it is hard with how close to the edges it is now, but it's all I have.

[casey1999]

I am not sure of all the details, maybe if you could send more pics would be good. Seems like the clamp was loose then the bolt started to work back and forth wearing the threads away. One thing, was the original bolt bronze? I would be carfull about installing a harder material. You can get a bronze bolt. What material were you going to use. Do not use a carbon steel- that will rust. Again, not clear on the details so these suggestions might not be right:
1. Drill hole all the way through and place nut on outside of post.
2. Make sure the clamp is tight.
3. Bolt material should be the same as the original (what was original?).
Again, more pics may help.

[casey1999]

Originally Posted by SHNOOL

Can you retap it? It is solid brass, so should be soft enough to try yourself. Then go to a bigger bolt? I know it is hard with how close to the edges it is now, but it's all I have.

He said post was bronze- still should be able to retap, but looks like hole would be much larger then and would weaken the post. Again I am not clear on how the clamp works so a weaker post at that point may or may not be a problem.

[captflood]

GREETINGS EARTHLING. You may wish to remove the ruder and stock and get you local garage to braze up the hole and redrill the hole to size required, time o drill a hole in the rudder an install a shackle so if anything happens you can put a rope on it. GO SAFE.

[OtterGreen]

i did the above, drill a bigger hole with bigger bolt but my post was aluminum.

[TQA]

JB WELD is your friend here. [ an epoxy]

Fill drill and retap starting the tap in the remaining threads if at all possible.

A better repair would be to build up the hole with weld/braze and a GOOD welder with a MIG plant should be able to do it in situ.

[upei1]

First off, thanks to all of you for your replies. I would like to be able to re-tap it. The clamp assembly encircles the entire post. it is split in the rear, and a bolt squeezes the two sides together. This hole is in the front and is for a bolt which, i can only surmise, helps keep the clamp from sliding and/or spinning around the bronze post. I will post more pics this weekend when i get back to the boat.

Shnool, if i go to a bigger bolt, i will have to tap the clamp assembly as well. I will post a pic soon and you can tell me if the clamp can accept the larger diameter bolt.

Casey999 I don't know what the original bolt material was. The cracked bolt that I removed was stainless steel ( I believe). The current bolt is just there until I pull her at the end of October. I hope it will be clearer when i post more pictures.

Captflood?OtterGreen/TQA: I am probably leaning toward the brazing or JB weld option. If I use the JB Weld, should I wax/oil the bolt so i can extract it after the epoxy cures? This way I have threads to tie into. The rear threads will hold the bolt in place while the epoxy cures around it.....Either that, or find someone to braze. I can drill and tap it myself. Once again thanks for all your suggestions. the same ideas are being suggested from different sources, so I know I am on the right track


and one more newbie question...what is the difference between brazing and soldering???

[upei1]

captflood? could you expound a little more on the shackle and rope suggestion for the rudder post? I think I know what you mean, but that leaves a lot open to interpretation !

[upei1]

closer photo of rudder post. the silver portion in the hole has been extracted already. It was the broken portion of the bolt