hulls and tramp frame that will not come apart

Once the nuts are off can the striker simply be pulled out or does the rod that points down from under the mast need to be removed first?

Bad advice. You can loosen the nuts if you want, but you can't take the rod off (at least without bending it) without removing the castings from the front crossbar.

I've never heard about Hammond's advice (soaking in Coke), but it makes sense. Phosphoric acid (the acid in Coke) is used to etch aluminum prior to painting / epoxy.

Why do you want to take the front crossbar off anyway?

The only reason I thought about taking it off was to facilitate removing the front crossbar on my boat which I have not gotten to move even a fraction of an inch. I have been able to remove the rear one and I was thinking that removing the dolphin striker might help remove some tension that might be contributing to the stuck cross bar.

The dolphin striker - tight or loose - has no effect on whether you can get the tramp frame off the boat. Especially since you already have the rest of the frame off.

There's really no reason to take the front crossbar off unless you're painting the hulls and need the hulls separate to fit into a paint booth or something like that. Since it's stuck so badly, you're likely to break something by trying to remove it.

I have owned 16s for over ten years and never had the need to take them apart. I'm on my sixth 16 now (first one was a 1973 - bought new).

They will come apart.
Unless the casting or cross bar is bad you shouldn't need to.

You just need a "Perky"

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Pat Bisesi
Fleet 204 Syracuse, NY

Rather than beating the heck out of it, try a little heat. Not too much, just a little, with a torch. I've only met one boat I couldn't get apart. Had to bust out the sawzall.

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Sail Revolution
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