E35-2 Mast Step Crack

[JMS]

Looking at a “project” ’72 E35. It has some obvious problems—like the cabin fire —but I digress. Take a look at the photo of the mast step area, note the crack. It looked a bit largish to be a garden variety cosmetic gelcoat crack. There wasn’t any noticeable sponginess or sag in the immediate area around it.

What do you folks think? Any Ideas?

 

[Morgan Stinemetz]

To me it looks like compression post sag. Major stuff, that. If you notice that your shrouds are loose, that might confirm it.
Morgan Stinemetz

 

[Emerald]

This is probably no big deal if you know how to work with fiberglass. I had a very similar crack under the step of my mast, and it was a simple matter of recoring the step. I know this may not sound simple, but it really is not that hard if you work through it.

I put together an extensive step by step coverage of repairing my step on my website. The link directly to the section on the mast step is here:

http://home.comcast.net/~independence31/core/looksbad.html


and the projects page this came from:

http://home.comcast.net/~independence31/projects.html


Of note, the compression post was fine on Emerald, but this needs to be looked at also.


-David
Independence 31
Emerald

 

[JMS]

David, I have had your site bookmarked for ages, but somehow missed the step recore. Very complete and clear explanation of the repair. Thanks for the link.