[C38] Cutlass Bearing Strut Faring {and pedestal-related work}

[Marc Stewart]

Hi all,
Pictures to follow - but the idea of putting a faring
around the propeller strut appears to have been a
really bad idea in salt water. Pandora is alive and
well on Palancar. The yard reported really bad
pitting today on the propeller strut and suggested
replacing it (and cutlass bearing).  I'll post the
pictures when I get them tomorrow for interested parties.

Relating to the pedestal issue, surely the cockpit
deck has been an issue some have grappled. 
Especially in the wet Northwest, I would expect a wet
wood core - though it's not shown any lack of
stiffness in the six years I've owned the boat - and
have been doing the ostrich trick.

Thanks, 
Marc Stewart
Palancar, #26, 
Bainbridge Island, WA


------- Original Message -------
>From    : Max Soto[mailto:maxsoto at gmail.com]
Sent    : 11/14/2010 8:06:04 PM
To      : listserve at catalina38.org
Cc      : 
Subject : RE: Re: [C38] Cutlass Bearing Strut Faring

 Steve,Now that you already took out the pedestal,
have you seen a reinforcement recommendation for the
pedestal by Catalina on the tech info on the C38 web?
They said that we should install a couple of aluminum
plates right next to the pulleys in order
to stiffen a little bit more the pedestal.

Max

2010/11/14 Steve Smolinske <SSmolinske at rainierrubber.com>

When we pulled Pergrine upon purchase, they slide
some shims down the shaft as well for the very
reasons discussed here.   In the spring we are
putting on a new rudder and I will be adressing this
same issue at that time.  I just finished rebuilding
the pedestal and am planning on writing an article
about the entire steering system repair/rebuild after
we finish with the new rudder and post.  One thing I
can add at this point that I found out from Edson is
that our boats originally came with bronze pins for
the 4" pulleys on the crossed wire idler, they
recommend replacing them with stainless steel as they
have seen substantial wear on the bronze.   Mine did
have enough wear to prevent the pulley from sliding
freely side to side outside of the small groove that
was worn in the pin. Edson has the stainless pins
available as a replacement part.  Pretty pricey about
$40 bucks each.