Binnacle corrosion (1985 E38)

[EricFox]

Has anyone suffered corrosion at the base of their binnacle? There appears to be a fracture that has allowed for water ingress. Given the limited extent I'm not concerned about weakness (though it is getting close to the one bolt - may need to drill a new hole a few cm to the right), but I do want to prevent it from getting worse. I'm thinking of grinding with a dremel tool down to good metal, then fill with resin, then paint. Does anyone know what metal the binnacle is made from?

 

[peaman]

That looks pretty rough, but if the metal is sound, find a primer specifically made for aluminum. It’s yellow. Clean it up bright, prime and paint with your choice of finish coat. If you really want to fill, I would prime first, then fill, and if metal is exposed while sanding the fill, prime again.

 

[EricFox]

Thanks, peaman - much appreciated - that's what I'll do.

 

[Christian Williams]

Yes, pedestal corrosion is common. Yours doesn't look too bad.

I wonder if it has been worked on before. The racetrack shape and the apparent circle. Are the current machine screws equidistant, or has one already been moved to a new hole? (Hard to be sure from the photos).

I agree on resin filler. You might grease the stainless machine screw heads with Tef-gel as corrosion barrier.

Things could be worse.

 

[Afrakes]

I'd caution drilling a "new" hole as there is a very important devise just under the cockpit sole that might object. Those bolts run through specific holes in the devise. By the way, the pedestal base is made from cast aluminum. The devise is an idler pulley assembly and the location of the holes through the pedestal base are specific to Edson or Yacht Specialties steering components.

 

[davehi]

My pedestal looked slightly worse than yours so I removed the pedestal and found that the corrosion was much more extensive. I found a replacement at a boat salvage yard for $225.

 

[EricFox]

Thanks all for the advice. Wow, what you uncovered, Christian, must have been quite the unpleasant surprise - I'm surprised that the pedestal was still standing based on the photos. It indeed looks like a previous owner may have moved a hole in my pedestal - I'll check when I'm next at the boat. Unless I find more rot that I can see, I'll dremel to good metal, determine if I need to move the bolt (taking care to avoid anything important underneath if a new hole is necessary), prime, fill, and paint. And maybe start trolling salvage sites for used pedestals.

 

[bumbugo]

Our pedestal is in pretty bad shape as well. A bit worse than Eric's photos. There is a crack at one of the bolts. It appears there was an attempt by a PO to repair it. I found a replacement pedestal at a salvage yard in Maryland https://www.sailboatparts.com/. It was $80 including shipping. The replacement is in great shape. Before we install we will have it sandblasted and powder coated

 

[Christian Williams]

Powder coating is high class. I am here to report however that a pedestal can also be spray-painted in place with hardware-store Rustoleum gloss white. The result is quite satisfying. Also allows for touch ups as needed, with minimal masking.

 

[bumbugo]

Thanks Christian for the advice on painting. Actually the powder coating was surprisingly inexpensive, but I do get your point about touch-ups.