Hey guys. I have some maintenance that I'm trying to get done so I can get going this season. I'd like you guys to read through my plan in case I run into any inconsistencies. The boat is an '81 with all original hardware as far as I can tell. I've sailed the boat for the past few years and it's been great racing against or going out with my friend and his old 16. The mast step has the typical broken hole for the link so I may replace that soon. The wheels in the jib traveler cars are falling apart and seem to be tearing up the jib sheet so I'd like to replace with the newer design like these
https://www.strictlysailinc.com/product ... car-block/. After a fixing a soft spot on the deck yesterday which turned out great (thanks a lot to this site) I decided to check my rudders. I never thought they had been a problem before but I found that I can't get the cams to return to the upright position when trying to raise the rudder. This makes it impossible for the rod on the top casting to go back into the spot in the cam to lock in the downward position because the cam is already stuck down. I have to pop the cam back up by wedging a flat head into it and depressing the plunger. I don't think the problem is with the spring/plunger/plastic screw, I think the cams are just old and broken down. They seem to flex and I think the rod just flexes the arm part of the cam and gets past it without moving the cam. Now the boat came with a bunch of spare parts and actually came with two complete other rudders. The castings on these rudders are much less worn than the ones currently on the boat that I have been using. These also appear to have old stiffening washers installed. Still only one of these rudders engages the cam properly. All rudders have the flared pins through the cams so I don't think the cams have been replaced unless they replaced them and flared them like from the factory. The rudder pins have some wear/grooves in them and when everything is tight there is still a lot of movement in all directions. I plan to replace the cams and install with the new style sister screws? haha my dad called them sex screws. I don't think they spring/plunger need replaced but I certainly could if you guys recommend. Do you guys think on one pair I should drill out the pin holes in the castings if needed, install those bushing pieces, and install new pin as well as add the components of the stiffening kit? My boat has the old style brackets (gudgeons?) for the rudder castings. I'm a bit weary of unscrewing the old, resealing and installing the new black one piece gudgeons maybe someone on here could advise whether it is worth the upgrade. Are they even interchangeable? Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks.