E 38 rudder removal

[e38 owner]

Our rudder has some delamination and could use some bearings. We have a yacht specialties wheel and one piece quadrant. I removed the bolt from the quadrant hoping to remove the rudder to repair it over the winter. It appears that is the only thing holding the rudder in the boat. The quadrant is still firmly affixed to the rudder post and the rudder is not going anywhere. Any suggestions. It is currently soaking with bp blaster. Will post pics later. Can't figure it out on the ipad

 

[gregdettmer]

Removed my rudder a couple of years ago.

My recollection is the quadrant is two parts. The main section is what is shown in the pictures. There is a small piece that attaches around the shaft with one bolt on each side, essentially clamping to the shaft. The through bolt goes the both halves and the rudder. Need to remove the two bolts and it should allow the main quadrant to come away. There is also a packing in the gland just below the quadrant. If the packing bolts are very tight, the packing will also hold the rudder up in place but with some side to side turning of the rudder it will slowly drop down.

There probably will not be any bearings to replace. If the rudder shaft has excess movement the shaft or hull tube are worn. Can be repaired with some epoxy resin and graphite powder. The "West Systems Epoxy" website has some detailed instructions on how to perform such a repair.

Regards
Greg
s/v Spirit Soul
1980 E38

 

[Christian Williams]

Rotated 180.

 

[e38 owner]

thank you

Ill be up there in a couple weeks and try again