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Rudder Mods

Posted: January 11th, 2011, 3:51 am
by Kevin Keller
I wanted my rudders to go up and down a little easier because they occasionally got stuck down at the wrong time. I wanted to increase the bearing area around the pivot. I bored out the old hole with my mill and then epoxied in a piece of hard plastic. I then bored out a 5/8" hole. I used some 5/8" delrin rod drilled a hole in the center for the bolt. I made the delrin bushing a little longer so it would not rotate once the bolt was tightened down. There is a nice tight fit between the too plastics and no play.

I epoxied some Aquarius supplied mylar sheet into each inside of the rudder casting. Now the rudders go up and down very easy.

Re: Rudder Mods

Posted: January 31st, 2011, 7:45 pm
by Eric2101
Looks great! I assume that the gudgeon is not the part that is going to go when the rudder does not give.
Please explain the engineering.

Re: Rudder Mods

Posted: February 2nd, 2011, 3:09 pm
by Kevin Keller
Eric,

It is my understanding that the gudgeon is the part that attaches to the rudder to the transom. I did put plastic gudgeon pins in my gudgeons. This is a sacrificial break point plus the plastic will wear instead of the aluminum gudgeon casting.

Regarding the pictures I posted above, the white plastic rod is not a sacrificial break point, it is just a bearing surface. Sorry I didn't include a picture of the hole I drilled in that white plastic rod. I bolted the original SS bolt back inside of that drilled hole. The rudder rotates around the white plastic rod (the white rod being stationary with the rudder casting).

Doing this gives the axle (which the rudder goes up and down) more of a bearing surface, for less wear and play. Compared to how it used to work it pops up and down very easy now.

Is this what you were asking?

Re: Rudder Mods

Posted: February 15th, 2011, 8:04 pm
by BugTussel
looks like a great mod. my biggest issue is the pulley system it does not let it come all the way up to the locked position. how much does this help the momentum bringing the rudders up?

Re: Rudder Mods

Posted: February 16th, 2011, 2:16 am
by Kevin Keller
It moves very easily now and just needs a quick tug on the rope usually. Even if it is already partially up just a tug usually gets it up. The buoyancy in the water helps too. Occasionally it gives me a hard time but most of the time it pops right up.

Re: Rudder Mods

Posted: September 17th, 2012, 6:04 pm
by vintagemilano
Hey, sorry about resurrecting an old thread but this one is already down the path I want to take. What kind of epoxy did you use for this or is there a particular type that is recommended? This winter I want to repair my rudders for an elongated bolt hole. What is the most desirable type of material to make a bushing out of to be glued in, I know Kevin here used generic hard plastic, is that the best? Are there technical specs about that kind of thing?

Thanks, Carson

Re: Rudder Mods

Posted: September 17th, 2012, 10:21 pm
by Kevin Keller
Carson,

I am not sure what kind of plastic my bushing is made out of, I had some scrap laying around which I used. I used the hexagonal shape so it doesn't turn in the rudder. I might have roughed up the outer surface for a better grip with the epoxy.

As for the epoxy, I just used the same epoxy used for fiberglass. I thickened it up with some cabosil or something. I think there is plenty of strength there.

I don't think there are any specs out there. The bushing is a hard plastic though.

Kevin

Re: Rudder Mods

Posted: January 12th, 2018, 5:38 am
by Kevin Keller
I’m repainting the tips of my rudders and decided to clean up the castings a little. One thing I did was sand and smooth the roller tracks. I sanded the outer bearing surfaces that the plastic washers slide up and down. I also sanded the slots where the plastic threaded rod slides up and down. This should help the rollers slide up and down much easier and cause less wear on the rod itself.
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