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 Post subject: $1000 spring makeover!
PostPosted: Mon Apr 04, 2022 4:47 pm 
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Site Rank - Deck Hand

Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2021 2:06 pm
Posts: 7
New tramp from SLO on the way... CHECK!
New stainless rudder pins, shim kit, bushings... CHECK!
Spare set of "Cat Fever" sails from CL... CHECK!
New set of wing reinforcing brackets... CHECK!
Odds and ends and stuff and things... CHECK!

Here's my into thread from last year:
https://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=68731

After a week or two last summer of putting a minor polish on everything and replacing all the soft lines, she gave us a solid half-dozen outings before it got too cold. She's been anchored in the dunes waiting for the weather to turn! This year, she gets some upgrades. Also, I've learned that the HOBIE CAT Formula 1 special edition is in fact a thing... not just some 90's blaze pink too-much-Baywatch original owner has-to-let-everybody-know-it's-not-a-Prindle thing. However, next summer the hulls are getting some professional attention and the giant decals will be history. Fingers crossed the 32 year-old original factory wing-tramps can hang on one more season.

QUESTION #1: When installing the stainless wing reinforcing brackets on the aluminum crossbar, using stainless rivets, what kind of goop do I need to coat everything in to keep corrosion at bay.

QUESTION #2: The stainless bracket does not perfectly match the contour of the crossbar... should I just get piece of round stock as a guide and "enourage" it into shape with a 3lb beater?

QUESTION #3: What size rivets to use?

QUESTION #4: What are my DIY options for the reinforcing strut that is no longer made?

***THIS PICTURE IS FROM LAST SUMMER***
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 05, 2022 2:19 pm 
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Joined: Mon May 09, 2005 10:25 am
Posts: 4176
Location: Jersey Shore
1 - Coat the stainless hardware and fasteners with Tefgel to prevent corrosion.

2 - On my boat, I clamped the last inch or so of the bracket in a bench vice and bent the bracket inward by hand, then flipped it over and repeated on the other side. Using a pipe as a guide would probably work too. Either way, it needs to be bent a little so the bracket seats against the crossbar.

3 - The rivet diameter is 3/16”. Length about 1/2”. On my boat I drilled and tapped the crossbar for #10-24 machine screws so the brackets could be more easily removed if needed. You just need to be careful not to over-tighten the screws or risk stripping the threads (which I did on one and eneded up using a rivet there).

4 - Not sure about that one, but if you’re careful not to drag the boat by the wings, you’re probably ok without them (my boat doesn’t have the struts).

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PostPosted: Wed Apr 06, 2022 8:06 am 
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Site Rank - Deck Hand

Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2021 2:06 pm
Posts: 7
I'm building this boat for the long-haul... gonna have it for a long time, so want things as beefy as I can make them.

Just ordered these... new old stock laying around? They're just a piece of aluminum rod with some holes at each end... was going to ask somebody to measure theirs so I could make some when I came across these.
https://sailandskiconnection.com/store/ ... p142680156

So now I need a couple brackets, but want to wait until I get the struts to measure the diameter and get a bracket that is a good fit for width.
These are probably too wide and will be too much slop on the pins... but they're just "brackets" and any ol'stainless bracket will do fine:
https://westcoastsailing.net/hobie-trav ... 1AQAvD_BwE

EDIT: The new-old stock wing struts did not materialize... I have another plan in the works!


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PostPosted: Sat Apr 30, 2022 6:56 pm 
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Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2021 2:06 pm
Posts: 7
Made progress today!

For history, I bought this boat last summer and took the wings off during my initial refurbishment and "get it in the water quickly" maintenance... and never put them back on last season. They had been mounted long enough to show some minimal oval'ing in the tracks and I made the decision to install the reinforcing plates for this season.

Pro Tip:
Make a list and check it twice or rely on some friends who live around the corner to save your morning because you forgot a drill and socket set. Also, this job goes A LOT smoother with a helper. I added one new gelcoat repair to the list before I gave in and asked for a hand.

Discoveries: could only get the port side on... fitment and drill/rivet process went fairly smoothly. Only complaint is that I wish the brackets were formed to the exact shape of the crossbars... I persuaded them a little with a hammer at home on my bench-vice, but they're only 80% close.

Starboard side brackets need some material removed in order to be "outboard" enough on the crossbar to allow the skinnier supports to fit properly in their seats. No problem... those brackets are about 1000% overkill, so a little material and drilling a new hole for the 4th rivet is no biggie.

I have read about the idea of drill/tap the starboard rear bracket to make tramp changes easier... but I don't plan on changing this tramp out for a decade, so gonna rivet and forgetet.

Fingers crossed these wing tramps last another season. I have my doubts.

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PostPosted: Sun May 01, 2022 5:23 am 
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Site Rank - Deck Hand

Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2021 2:06 pm
Posts: 7
Also been working to get more use out of my trailer. I don't have room on my property to store more than one "small" trailer, so this one is going to do double duty. Good news is that I can turn it back into a Hobie trailer in about 15 minutes... I'm at about $140 for the conversion, with the 4x8 sheet of 1/2" plywood being more than half of that.

A 700lb rating on this trailer isn't much, but it'll do the jobs I need it to.

The wood bed comes off with 4x bolts, and the longer tongue with just two bolts.
The lights are held on by a "U" bolt, and I didn't cut the pigtail shorter, just stuffed it inside the new shorter tongue (still working on the new tongue, pics to follow).

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PostPosted: Sun May 22, 2022 9:24 am 
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Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2005 10:13 am
Posts: 1184
Location: Nepean S.C. Ottawa, Canada
Great conversion, well done.
Never, I repeat, never move the H18 using the wings to push or pull.
It was very difficult for me when I called out for volunteers to help me pull the boat up the ramp to be 'nice to them for the help' and to be firm with them not to use the wings.
Sometimes, I really miss my old H18SX.

Enjoy

_________________
2015 H16, with spin,
SOLD 1989 Hobie SX18 Sail # 1947 "In Theory..."
'Only two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. But I'm not sure about the former.'


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PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2022 5:44 am 
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Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2021 2:06 pm
Posts: 7
First blast of the year... not huge winds, but got the hull up solo a few times. Wing-tramps aren't gonna make it a whole season... another $500 to SLO coming right up!

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