New to me E26 - stiff steering

[BDEidson]

Well, I'm happy to say I've closed the deal on the E26 that I've been asking questions about re: cockpit led reefing. I worked on the boat over the weekend and with the help of the previous owner measured for new sails. Today, I met with the sailmaker and those are underway.

Attached are a couple pictures of the boat. It needs just a little work - cleaning, new blower, and a holding tank installed. Two questions for you folks:

* Has anyone found the tiller steering on the E26 to be somewhat stiff? I thought I was *patiently* working the rusted grease fitting to replace it, but I snapped it off. Neverthless, I was able to put a fair amount of grease into the hole after I drilled it out - it seemed to improve things a bit. The tiller isn't so stiff as to be unusable - it's as if I had a brake turned on it. I don't see any sort of brake - the PO says it's probably just a matter of sitting and that it should ease up a bit once it is in the water.

What is the typical feel of these boats?

* The interior cushions are in decent shape, but dusty and smell a bit of diesel fuel. I cleaned out the bilges carefully and the boat smells quite nice right now. The PO says the fuel smell is primarily from him spilling oil when he last winterized boat (it has sat for two years). That seems likely. But any case....since I'm finding the zippers to the cushions frozen, has anyone... A)found a great way to unztick frozen zippers so I can dryclean the cushions B) found a good way to clean upholstery with a steamer, or some spray treatment? Right now, I have cushions on back deck, taking in sunlight and fresh air for the next few days....

Thanks,

Bill

 

[Loren Beach]

Cushion threads:
http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=1912&referrerid=28

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=5290&referrerid=28

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=7500&referrerid=28

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=8456&referrerid=28

One other caveat: we owned a top loader washing machine at the time, and that came close to ruining the covers. Nowadays we have a gentle front-loader, and that's they only type I would recommend for cleaning upholstery.

As to the rudder shaft being stiff, the owner of a local boat yard once told me to put in some "Marvel Mystery Oil" to help lube up the ancient hardened grease. Might be worth a try...

LB

edit: all of the original zipper pulls on our boat were corroded beyond use and had to be replaced. The aluminum turns to a white oxide in salt air.

 

[BDEidson]

E26- stiff helm & cushion cleaning

Thanks, Loren - I didn't see these cushion-cleaning links before - very good. I think I will try the steam clean option first before tackling those zippers. The cushions should look good with just some cleaning - really not bad now.

As for the helm, yet another use for Marvel Mystery Oil! I'll try it.

I did see some of your threads earlier about your 28+ having a stiff wheel did that turn out to be a function of the wheel cables or sheaves? Or related to the shaft?

All the best,

Bill

 

[Stu Jackson]

Cushion cleaning

www.pureayre.com

Recommended by Peggie Hall

 

[tenders]

The shaft of the rudder is probably sitting in dried-up, dusty, caked-on lubricant. I suggest dropping the rudder: it's easy if you remove what should be 2 bolts holding the "cap" of the rudder to the top of the shaft, but it's helpful to have somebody on the ground to catch the rudder in case it slides out. The rudder is much heavier than you'd expect.

Then take a rag soaked in acetone and ream out the oily, dirty rudder tube with a couple of long sticks until it's clean. Also wipe off all the oil from the rudder shaft.

At this point it should be relatively simple to dig or drill out the broken zerk fitting and put in a new STAINLESS one.

Without doing anything else, put the rudder back into the shaft and see if it moves relatively freely (which it should) or wobbles (which it should not). If it wobbles, wrapping it with a sleeve, a thin sheet of mylar from an art supply store, might stop it. Or, inject the tube with some graphite-thickened epoxy -- there are comprehensive instructions on how to do this on the West System website.

Then put on a coat of bearing grease on the rudder shaft, put it back into the tube, and reattach the rudder cap.

 

[BDEidson]

E26- stiff helm & cushion cleaning

Thanks - the PO and I were talking about just that today. I'm hiring him to help me with some of the projects and dropping the rudder like you suggested is a definite possibility....assuming the Marvel Mystery Oil solution doesn't work out.

On the cushions, I appreciate the info about PureAyre - I'm going to give that a shot after steam cleaning the cushions.

All the best,

Bill