Gudgeon location

Picked up an 85 H18, it appears to be in reasonable shape, it has just been sitting for a while. I'm stripping it down and repairing/replacing/sealing the entire boat. When I removed the two piece gudeons I noticed the bottom pieces were moved up so that top holes in the hulls lined up with the bottom holes on the brackets. The bottom hull holes had screws in them and the top holes on the gudgeon did not have screws at all.
Am I looking at a lazy modification, i.e., previous owner didn't want to drill and tap the top holes, or is something else going on here? Why would he want to move the bracket up? The top bracket is in the stock location.
2 nd question should I pull the cross bars and reseal the hull attachment points?

Thanks in advance for any comments.

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Calcommon

More crazy than lazy. The bottom gudgeon should have all 4 screws! That is a highly stressed connection. Yes, drill and tap then place 2 more screws.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

any guess as to why he would move the bracket up?

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Calcommon

A 1985 H18 would have been suppled with the original style H18 rudder casting system. Around 86 or 87, the casting system was upgraded to the H17 style (which is now standard on the 17, 18, 20, & Tiger). The original H18 rudder housings used different upper and lower castings than the updated version and required that the lower gudgeon be relocated. Most likely, the previous owner upgraded the rudder casting system (you can tell it's the new system by the adjustable rake feature and a plastic cam) and relocated the gudgeon but did not drill and tap new holes in the transom for the gudgeons.

You should get the additional four screws and drill and tap the additional four holes (two per hull). I believe the screws are #12-24.

sm

For this one, it's not really necessary to seal the hull attachment points unless you notice there's a leak. You can do the bubble test to find out, or just go sail and see if the boat even leaks. If you do end up pulling the crossbars off, it's a good idea to give them a good look over, especially near the bolt holes to inspect for cracks.

Also, on an '85, you should definitely install the X-bar to hull reinforcement kit if it hasn't been done already. And give the hulls a through look over under the flange at the anchor points.

sm

ok that makes sense, it does have the newer rudder castings.

I'll do search on the reinforcement and see if it has been done.

thank you very much

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Calcommon

The origonal hardware in my 84' H18 were #SS10-24's ... the #12's mentioned above were used as a replacement when a SS screw stripped out of the aluminum backing plate. #12's are not easy to find everywhere so most people just use #SS1/4-20's. I went and found "SS CAPHEAD 1/4-20's when I had to replace my worn gudgeons and the screws broke off due to corrosion. Much better fit between allen head and "tool" vs phillip's head and "tool" for installation and removal of the hardware.

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HarryMurphey
H-18 mag/ #9458
Fleet 54 Div 11