Well, I disassembled Touche's steering system yesterday for a loooong overdue maintenance session. As in it's never been done in 47 years! Touche's steering system is by Morch.
If you haven't checked your steering system, maybe this will inspire you to do so. Oh, no! Someone stole my pedestal!! https://drive.google.com/open?id=12p-nlp8FEwqR0zhDrqlHqxkb7UMa0iSx I hope you find this helpful. I found some items of concern. Concern 1. One of the steering cables had a broken strand. - See: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Mu-dmCnPnDFdd5jGHnkBAGSqbGL6jnrw - The break occurred where the cable made a sharp bend around the quadrant just before the adjusting stud. - See: http://www.bwsailing.com/bw/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Edson-Quadrant-Dwg.jpg - A buddy of mine who recently rebuilt the system in his Hans Christian 38 said he saw the same on his Concern 2. Some of the teeth on the chain sprocket were damaged. This was a complete surprise. - See: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1amngA8i-rm1IkBvn0HhyVGeNrj7T6NSk - And: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1a1czFpkvfnyQuFbNIlfHZehhwk-Wyl-8 - This was apparently caused by the way C&C/Morch made stops to limit the travel of the rudder. They put a bolt at each end of the chain. The bolts must have caused the damage when the wheel reached its limit. - Note the two bolts with washers and nuts through the links of the chain here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1nvJzh8xWDgetBCEE8eeOAtz4-up4ZvCf Non-concerns. The rest of the system looked pretty good. The idler sheaves and bracket under the pedestal appeared to be in good condition. I started to remove it but decided it will be easier to just pull the pins, remove the sheaves, clean, lube and re-install. The turning sheaves and brackets looked to be in good condition. (See: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1jie9IxSqSKorp3FaJtcKjbsNh3nD1TBU). I cleaned them and will lube and re-install. Next I needed to disassemble the engine control assembly so it can be stripped and painted. Using guidance from Chuck, here's that process. - Back off or remove the two small Phillips head retaining machine screws. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1VxT_ApckY55M7xXKoctIShPmIKxgrFUj - Move one lever COMPLETELY to one side and push the other lever out. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1nqwnvA1UYDEHFVfuH9xi_-sy6YJrSOLE - Then remove the other lever. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1pjlIMBqk3lTdZ0vtSWg6TfnNFOcpXQZY Next steps. - Strip powder coat off the pedestal and associated parts and paint with AwlGrip. Buddy of mine has leftover paint from painting his mast. - Replace both cables. I'm deciding on this. Edson's cable and wire kits look like simple swaged thimble eyes and fine thread eye bolts. I have a Nicropress swaging tool, swages and thimbles. I could make up the wire and buy the eye bolts. On the other hand, we have a local rigging shop who could machine swage nicer replacements. I think I may ask them for a quote. - The sprocket. Hmmmm. The chain makes a full 180 degree wrap over the sprocket. I believe there are plenty of undamaged teeth that will work. On the other hand, I could try to get the sprocket off the shaft and have a machine shop make a new one. I think that would be a risky option. First, I'm not sure how I would remove the sprocket. It has set screws ( https://drive.google.com/open?id=12GbE75ERXZGgz_NalJ93RcXf6rKvL5fi). I removed a small one on the sprocket and a larger one on a collar adjacent to it. I suspect there is a keyway on the sprocket. It showed no signs of moving. There are some inventive ways to try to pull the shaft but again, they all have risk. Then there's the issue of the bearings. If I muck up the bearings, I'm screwed. - Give some thought to a better way to stop the wheel at the travel limits. Here's the link to the folder with all the pics. https://drive.google.com/open?id=14-oaTFUoebWqxBo8xeUm9K8tPn7xObKE So, again, if you haven't check your steering system, you might want to move that up your work list a bit. :) Dennis C. Touche' 35-1 #83 Mandeville, LA
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