Repairing Upper Cudgeon Bolts

Hi All,
I've had a loose upper cudgeon bolt. (rudder pin slides through cudgeons) Have decided to bite the bullet and repair it.

Removed bolts after a sail on Sunday.

My question is...how do I screw them back in as there appears to be no retainer? Also noticed that one bolt is longer than the other.

All thoughts appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Hibbo

Hibbo, I need mroe clarification on what is wrong with your rudder gudgeon.

Does the rudder pin slide through the gudgeons? If so, you should only need to put a cotter pin (stainless steel from a boat store) through it to stop that from happening.

Or, are the gudgeon screws loose and the gudgeon is falling off? If this is the case can you describe your situation in more detail?

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

There are no nuts to retain the gudgeon screws, but rather a metal (stainless or aluminum?) plate glassed into the inside of the transon. There are some good cutaway pix in the Technical album at thebeachcats.com.

Sounds like the holes in your plate are stripped. The stock screws are #12 (hard to find in stainless steel). If the holes aren't stripped too bad, you can tap them to 1/4 inch (a tad larger than #12) and replace the screws with readily available 1/4 inch screws. Hope this helps.

Jerome Vaughan
Hobie 16
Clinton, Mississippi

Try here for hard to find stainless fasteners:

http://www.mcmaster.com

They have all sorts of good stuff

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

Thanks for your responses.

The upper cudgeon has been loose on one side since I bought the boat. Removal of the cudgeon on Sunday produced 2 bolts. One shorter than the other.

Closer inspection this arvo revealed the reason for the short bolt. It has broken off!

I guess it will be a case of carefully drilling the bolt out. Other suggestions appreciated.

Regards,
Hibbo

Hibbo,

As much as I hate to use them, try to get an EZ Out for the size screw you have in the Gudgeon. I don't know if they come that small. Check out the previous link for what is available.

Also as mentioned earlier look into increasing the size to a 1/4" screw. Keep this in mind if extracting the #12 doesn't go as planned.

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

This summer I tried to drill out a broken gudgeon screw and it wound up being a major ordeal, i eventually had a hole about 3/4" around where the original screw was and the boat was on the trailer about 2 weeks, with me working on it at least some every day. I would try everything i could find to get the old screw out without drilling but you have to do what you have to do.

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The pessimist complains about the wind, the optimist expects it to change, the realist adjusts the sails.