Time for the mast to get a paint job, I think.
That will require an inquiry into the track and track fastenings. Who's done it?
Has anybody here done a restoration on their mast who would like to share their experiences? I have rotton luck drilling out fastenings from aluminum when they've corroded themselves together, for instance.
I was the one that sawsalled the casting from the bottom of the mast!
Wouldn't mind doing the rest with a little more finesse.
I haven't done it, but the PO did.
I don't know how they took all the screws out, but I would invest in a high quality screw extraction bit and a high quality drill bit to match. And lots of time.
Or just buy a new mast section.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.
-km
aka, "sell out"
S/V Beyond the Sea
C&C 35 mkIII
Latest edition of Good Old Boat has an article on boom restoration that might be of help.
Thanks Bill, have that issue, will take te time to study it.
Capt mrgnstm, will report, sir, when I start agonizing.
PO?
What da PO? A generational gap no doubt. Had a dog once named Tu Fu. And a cat named Li PO. Named after sixth century wandering poets in China. Both candidate names for 338.
Here slightly nauticallized is one from the old inebriate
To Tu Fu from Shantung
You ask me how I spend my time -
I nestle against the mast
and listen tp autumn winds
in the rigging all night and day.
Shantung wine can't get me drunk
The local poets bore me
My thoughts remain with you
like the Wen River, endlessly flowing.
P.O. : Previous Owner; one whom most current owners blame boat problems on; scape-goat
PPO : previous-previous owner (twice removed); one whom some current owners can claim screwed something up, but pulled the wool over the P.O's eyes;
Poe : Poe-t who wrote about ravens, among other things.
Pooh: Cuddly bear character, often found on my 2month-old son's clothes (becaue mom dresses him)
also, Good Old Boat chose the easy way out: New Boom! no regard for the condition of the boom once the hardware was removed.
Last edited by mrgnstrn; 03-25-2004 at 01:31 PM.
-km
aka, "sell out"
S/V Beyond the Sea
C&C 35 mkIII
A good quality (not Hong's of Taiwan or China's Finest---there is genuinely a big difference!) old-fashioned smack-it-with-a-hammer-oops-that-was-my-wrist!-get-the-chevy-doors-loose impact driver will do wonders at getting those screws undone.
Dave
Ebb
I thought you had a carbon fiber mast in your sights. Besides, I was hoping to snag 338's mast in case I 'botched beyond belief 'our mast
Hardware removal? Did you search the forum here yet? I remember saving some info about a year or so ago on removal and reattachment of hardware because I thought it would be particularly handy when we started working on the mast. Maybe it was Tim L's site or Wally B. but I thought it was Theis right here. There are some miracle solutions out there but I suppose one has to be concerned with their effect on paint adhesion in the end. Like Dave sez, impact drivers can be very handy. Judicious application of heat may also work. I'd save the extractors for last resort. I really like the fact that you're months ahead of us so you can solve all of the problems before we get to them up hereSeriously, Ebb, I'm looking forward to seeing what's next. You have an outstanding rebuild going on out there and I appreciate all of the 'heads-ups' and information you're sharing. And hats off to Bill and all the others that have put this web site up and keep it running. After all, isn't this what the whole internet thing was supposed to be about? Tony G
Right on all you say Tony. And this IS the greatest site. What a marvelous help this has been in my adventure with 338!
Other skipper's topsides are being sprayed at the yard as we speak. There's one guy who is the 'pro'. He sprays Awlgrip and Sterling. Sterling, evidently, but hearsay only on my part, has the better brushable. That would mean I COULD save the expense of hiring the job and do it myself. BLAH, blah.
It is taking FOREVER to fair the topsides. And I've even got myself in deeper by fairing the keel just forward of the rudder. Can't stand it any more!
I have found a scratch filler called SuperFil, a waterbourne epoxy that I will report on when I get to it.
Haven't done anything on the mast by way of prep. But painting it and the boom would be a way to prep myself to paint the topsides with Sterling. (I sprayed a fabulous LPU orangepeel on a boat once!) However, I can barely work with a dustmask any more much less than a fullface fresh air hood that I would probably insist on. Think I can do without the personal LPU experience. It may not be more than $1000 (?) if I get the prep perfect down to the hibuild.
Maybe the mast and boom should be aimed more at touck up and maintenance. Therefor something more friendly than LPU, what product I don't know. The way I'm going, something you can do in stages.
I'll go the whole route of painting the aluminum according to Hoyle. But I'll check in with you guys on that.
On that note, I've scraped (goddam silacone) and scrubbed and filled (with LabMetal) the little old opening ports and the window frames. They are at the powder coaters for a nice metalic bronze (with a satin clear top coat, yup) color coat. They'll never become green. Wonder if they do masts?
Last edited by ebb; 03-26-2004 at 11:19 AM.
Someone was saying that they used vinegar to soften frozen fastenings in aluminum. We're talking 'white' - not Bragg's organic applecider with the mother still in it - but you never know.
IMPORTANT:
Again, someone was saying that there is a manual screw loosener on the market. It something you hit with a hammer that progresses the screw. Must be a spring loaded gizmo. It's a bear to keep a screwdriver blade in the slot at the best of times - so it's hard to believe this works,
Anybody used this tool? Or seen it?
Last edited by ebb; 03-29-2004 at 07:27 AM.
the gizmo would be the impact driver previously mentioned. They work but take a little getting used to (the okay, smack it hard, really hard oops that was my wrist sounds like the voice of experience) Have used them to free frozen screws on old Caterpillars and farm equipment. They work on the principle of surprise- smack it hard on one end, which mechanically translates the impact to tremendous torque on the other that happens so fast the frozen offender never knows what hit it and doesn't have time to resist. All they are designed to do is break frozen parts free. You still get to screwdriver all those lovely screws out once you get them loose. Have fun. And watch your wrist. Some kind of wrist protector isn't a bad idea. Forcefully swung hammers and wrists do not go well together.
Tom
Geeeeeze! Tom... Was imagining something you held in yer fist and hit with a ballpeen hammer! Not an air tool, tho the estate here has a couple compressors. I mean the mast ain't no D8 - and we're into aluminum not rusty 1/2 inch plate! I would kill the mast and the track with something I couldn't feel or finesse.
I KNOW it was a HAND tool I heard about. The big stuff scares the ............... out of me!
Check out this discussion of painting the mast from Tim's site.
http://www.triton381.com/forum/viewt...d30095c2e77223
The screw bits that come with an impact driver will probably be too large for the small screws on the mast. You can first hammer the bit into the screw head so it can get a grip. Then stick the tool on the bit and pound away.
I didn't have much luck with an impact driver.
C'pete, Tim's site does indeed have some helpful markers to an Awlgriped mast.
There is a group of 5 or 6 cans of liquids one has to buy to do it the Awlgrip way. Cleaners etchers thinners and the color. Toxic comes with the territory.
I probably wouldn't have any luck either with the "Hand impact driver and bit set" $14 from JC Whitney.
Stuck fastenings can be turned out with it 14 or 18 volt cordless with a varible speed. I think the cordless gearing is more gradual than a plug in, but then who's tried all the brands? It's amazing, tho, the amount of torque the modern cordless drivers can generate, especially when one is leaning on them.
Have to use a bit that EXACTLY fits the phillips in the track and lean on the tool while just barely engaging it to provide a deadslow but irresistable turning force. (Used this method on the windows and the opening ports.)
Here's what some other guys suggest.
Propane torch on the metal around the fastening (idea is to expand that metal not the fastening) But if face to face with the guy I would point out that 'expanding' the metal surely would tighten it around the screw!
Another sez: heat the screw with a torch.
Another tip (a good one IMCO) is to tighten first, then back it out.
Hit the screw befor you do anything.
Set the bit into the screwhead by hitting it. Both tipsters agreed that what was required were light taps, not whacks, like you get with the impact driver.
Then there are the liquid loosers to try: PBP Blaster, Liquid Wrench, and gasoline. No actual OILs here, as we are attempting to break thru the white oxide that has expanded and is holding the fastening. Oil and maybe these liquids might contaminate the spar as well.
All methods basically aim at cracking the white stuff. There isn't too much of that in the few turns in the wall of a spar. So, whatever works. One guy pointed out that the problem with fittings like cleats on the mast is that the fastening is frozen IN the cleat. He says he cuts them in half and turns them out.
You mean you've sailed all these years with the mainsail tugging away at the track and never wondered what was holding things together?
Now you've got me SO paranoid that I'm going to TRY to back a few screws out of the big stick today.
You befor me, Tony, maybe freezing helps too! (shrinking vs expanding)
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