Hey John, When I took out the windows there was rotten core sticking out of the hole and no sign of any sealant around the windows. (The windows and the jib track seemed to be where most of my leaks were coming from. I can why now!) So I pulled out all of the pieces that I could with my hands. Then I went back with a long screwdriver and 'chiseled' out as much of the old core that I could. I noticed that some of the walls had separated and weren't the same thickness as the rest of the window so I took some measurements with a caliper of the other windows. Then I mixed up some resin, added in a little filler to the first batch and poured it into the slot that I cleared out with the screwdriver.(bottoms of window holes only) Then I mixed another batch of epoxy and put in enough filler to make it like a peanut butter consistency, (OK, mine was more like mashed potatoes, and there certainly were some lumps). I loaded up a spreader and forced as much of the mix into the slot, all the way around the holes. Then I took a popsicle stick and pushed it into the slot all the way around the holes too, to get out an air pockets that may be in there and to force as much mix as I could in there. Then loaded up the spreader and pressed it in again. My theory was if I added enough mix there wouldn't be any space for water to go to! After that I taped over the slot then put clamps on the parts that had separated and tightened until I got to the proper thickness. Let cure and released the clamps.
I wouldn't do the tape again. I thought it would help keep everything smooth and make clean up easier. Lesson learned! I had to sand most of it off, which gummed up the sandpaper a bit, but I had to sand it down anyway. I thought the spots that were wider were just going to pull apart again when I released the clamps, I thought that when I put the window back it that it would be able to get to the original shape and the resin wouldn't make it stay all bumped out, but they stayed together after I took the clamps off and until I put the windows back in. Which was after all of the deck painting, so that worked out well. Win some, lose some. Not a terribly hard job, or really that time consuming, the good thing was that it was something I could do under the tarp while it was raining for the three solid weeks of rain we had. Hope this helps... -Ivan --- On Mon, 6/22/09, John Guttridge <[email protected]> wrote: From: John Guttridge <[email protected]> Subject: RE: [IC27A] Re: Mast Step removal To: [email protected] Date: Monday, June 22, 2009, 12:29 PM Ivan, How did you do the filler/epoxying? I am about to have to do some of this myself and would love some pointers. The bolts in the step are just lag screws. On my boat the ground strap goes to one of the shroud chainplates. I had 3 sets of wiring that had all be used at one time or another that I ripped out when I had the step down. I ended up drilling ¾” holes through the deck and chipping out the rotted wood from the holes as far as I could reach with the screwdriver and then pouring epoxy in and setting threaded inserts in the epoxy. It worked pretty well but I am concerned that there may be more rot that should probably be addressed next cold season while there is no sailing to do. Best, John From: ic...@yahoogroups. com [mailto:IC27A@ yahoogroups. com] On Behalf Of ivan Sent: Monday, June 22, 2009 12:20 PM To: ic...@yahoogroups. com Subject: Re: [IC27A] Re: Mast Step removal Thanks Lee, I was really concerned about those bolts, but it sounds pretty simple. I have had too many this looks simple let's just take care of it too, fixes that have turned into projects of themselves during this project. I didn't want this to be another one I'm a little concerned for these wires... there are about 9 wires sticking out of the step. 5 go to the connector, (2 wires go to one terminal) 3 are just taped off then there is a really thick stranded copper wire that has a metal band crimped over it just as it exits the step. I'm guessing this is the mast ground and it looks to go down to the keel. Do I have to release and re-crimp the band to the wire? The deck has been dry and solid which is surprising since the reason for the whole deck painting project was to do that when I had all of the deck hardware off to re-bed so I could stop the leaks. Seems like most of my problem was around the windows which had most of the coring rotted out. I think the coring is 100% resin and filler now! But I regress, beveling out the hole to make the sealant work better... do this beveling on the deck or on the mast step? -Ivan --- On Mon, 6/22/09, Lee Scott <lsc...@oldjags. com> wrote: From: Lee Scott <lsc...@oldjags. com> Subject: [IC27A] Re: Mast Step removal To: ic...@yahoogroups. com Date: Monday, June 22, 2009, 10:41 AM Removing and reinstalling the mast step is not difficult at all (I'm assuming the mast is already down) You don't need to do anything with the compression post, unless you're also going to replace the wiring to the mast. Even then, it might (just barely) be possible to use the old wire to pull the new one down to the bilge. The original wiring is not tinned marine grade wire, so this would be a good time to replace it. Just remove the 4 lag bolts and get a sharp chisel or similar to slowly pry up the step away from the deck. There should be a little slack in the wire under the step to let you get the step loose, but you'll have to remove the 4-pin connector at the end of the wire if you want to take it completely off. You'll need a teeny-tiny screw driver to release the wires. While you've got the bolts out, it's a good time to check the deck core and make sure you haven't had any moisture penetration. If you bevel the edges of the holes with a countersink, the sealant you use will seal a lot better against the bolts and be less likely to leak in the future. Lee Scott '87 C-27 #6350 --- In ic...@yahoogroups. com, ivan <deweyweekender@ ...> wrote: > > So I had to order hinges for the forward hatch since the pins just crumbled when I went to put them back on. While I was on CD I thought I would get the mast organizer off my wish list and onto the boat. Well when I went to the boat to finish some other deck hardware installations I looked at the mast step and wondered... > > How long is it going to take to get this one off and put this organizer back one? Do I have to to take out the support beam to do this? > > The bolts holding it on look like they have seen some effects of the environment and could be tricky to take off. So my questions are this from anybody who has tackled this job, how hard is it to get the old mast step off? Any tips or tricks? How hard is it to reinstall the new step? Any tips or tricks? What had to be done with the wiring to get it through the step, or to get the step off? > > All help is appreciated since I'm hoping to get her back in the water next week!!! FINALLY! > > --- On Sun, 6/21/09, Glenn <glenn.hagele@ ...> wrote: > > From: Glenn <glenn.hagele@ ...> > Subject: [IC27A] Re: boarding ladder > To: ic...@yahoogroups. com > Date: Sunday, June 21, 2009, 1:05 PM > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Perhaps this is the ladder you seek. > > > > http://sfbay. craigslist. org/nby/boa/ 1229842337. html > > > > http://sfbay. craigslist. org/eby/boa/ 1222976184. html >
