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PostPosted: Fri Aug 31, 2012 9:25 am 
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Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2007 9:08 am
Posts: 190
Location: St. Charles, IL
I bought a replacement mastbeam after cracking mine. The new one has a 2 rivit mast base and a completely frozen screw that resisted my every trick including heat. Broke the screw twice trying to remove it. Anyhoo..., I was trying to figure out how I'm going to get the rest of the screw out and put in a new plastic mast rotator bearing. Drilling the SS screw saw the bit wanter and bite into the much softer aluminum. Now I've buggered the new to me mast base and am no closer to a sailable 18.

Thoughts on how to proceed?

New mast base? The four hole one requires a new dolphin striker. Would I need to also remove the SS rod that tightens the dolphin striker assembly? I managed to strip the nut on the broken beam's dolphin striker bar, so I'm leery of doing the same on the old but new to me 2 hole beam.

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Dan St. Gean
'82 H 18
'96 H Wave


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PostPosted: Fri Aug 31, 2012 10:38 am 
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Joined: Mon May 09, 2005 10:25 am
Posts: 4176
Location: Jersey Shore
Get a new 4-rivet mast step, it's a better design than the 2-rivet step all around. Yes, you will need to purchase a new dolphin striker post to go with the step as the old and new are not interchangeable. The dolphin striker rod does not need to be removed to install the new mast step, however it does need to be free to move so that it can be tightened/loosened as necessary for the new step.

The first thing to do when trying to loosen a frozen striker bar is to use penetrating oil like liquid wrench down into where the striker bar passes through the casting. You can also try using a pair of vice grips on the rod to see if you can break it free of the crossbar end cap. If neither of these work, the last thing you can do (that I know of) is to disconnect the striker bar from the striker post. Then knock out one of the end castings from the crossbar (with the striker bar still installed). Since the post is no longer connected to the bar, there should be enough freedom to allow the end cap to move outward. Once the end cap pops out of the crossbar extrusion, clamp your vice grips on the striker bar and spin the end cap to free it from the bar. Then pull out the other endcap. If this doesn't work, I think your only option would be to cut the striker bar and replace that too.

You may also want to check out my previous post about bedding the mast step to the front crossbar.

http://www.hobiecat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=42441

sm


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PostPosted: Fri Aug 31, 2012 12:55 pm 
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Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2007 9:08 am
Posts: 190
Location: St. Charles, IL
Thanks for the writeup SRM, that was what I was thinking of doing. I was contemplating springing for the 100 bucks workth of step or parting out the $600 dollar boat. However, it's nice in most respects and worth the investment. What frosts me a bit is that I cut up my old 4 rivit post and striker to use on my double Tamanu/H18 project cat...and now I need that exact set of parts.

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Dan St. Gean
'82 H 18
'96 H Wave


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