Maineiac wrote:
You know, looking at those photos again, and after dropping my rudder a couple weeks ago, I recall removing the pintle nuts was remarkably easy. They weren't nyloc and had no lock washers, just bigass nuts on bigass washers in a bigass blob of 5200 or something as much fun, on a stainless plate on the inside. I'd have to say they probably loosened over time. Which is why I asked the metal monkey to throw new nylocs on there when he's done playing with the stainless. It makes sense that they might be loose after 40 years (I think that's a '78). And there's only 3 pintle bolts in that one, I THINK. Can't remember. Loosening of those nuts over decades with the rudder working against them, side to side on that pintle plate would make sense, and account for that crack at the juncture of the hull and fairing.
Do not, I repeat DO NOT use 5200 or you will regret it the next time you have to remove the rubber say to replace the skeg or rebuild the rudder, both of which I had to do. I use 3M 4000 and it still was a bear to remove, 5200 would have been impossible.