Let me explain the significance of Ben's big grin. This is day two of the project. We had to mount not only the new solar arch as seen above him, but to fully install the rudder as well .
The arch proved to be very heavy and slow to lift. As we stood on the stern it seemed a little dangerous so we had to take our time and use caution. This is because we had to remove the lifelines and stern rails to mount the arch.
Overall it went smoothly. We were able to bolt it down in position and secure the lifelines that first afternoon on the boat. Fortunately we had great weather. The highs were in the 60's and it was sunny all day.
The next day proved to be the big challenge. Prior to coming down to the boat I had prepared the stainless steel retaining collar to roughly fit the rudder shaft. It's like a wedding ring that has been on your finger for 20+ years. It didn't want to come off and it doesn't want to go back on. It has to fit just right. Too tight and it won't go on at all. Too loose and it will damage the rudder bushing.
Starting about 0800 I began sanding the inside of the collar to fit. Five hours later and some thirty trips in and out of a very small locker the collar budged and finally moved smoothly down the rudder shaft where I bolted it in place. Ben helped me mount the rest of the steering quadrant and cables. We balanced the steering wheel positions to center and tested the rudder. It worked flawlessly. The new bushing and fiberglass work had returned it to just about factory new standards. Ben's smile reflects some 100 hours of labor over a period of 18 months. I am just as glad to have this done and over with.
P.S. For any Beneteau 510 owners out there. If you decide to replace the delrin rudder bushing. I would recommend cutting the collar off with a silicon carbide cutting disk. First remove the steering quadrant by loosening the cables and removing four mounting bolts. Then carefully cut the stainless collar off the shaft. You will wind up damaging the old collar and a little of the fiberglass at the top of the tube. Make two cuts 180 degrees apart. Wear a mask as this stuff is nasty. Have the boatyard raise the boat to get the rudder out. Then make up a 3/4" plywood disk that loosely fits into the hole where the rudder came out. From outside the boat have a stout 2/4 about 5' long and a mechanics bottle jack ~ 5 ton. Nail the plywood disk onto the 2/4 and insert up into the rudder shaft hole plywood first. Use the bottle jack to push the delrin bushing up and out.
I used a company in California to bid out replacing the Bushing. It arrived about three weeks later and was exactly what I ordered. Email me and I will be glad to send you Gary's info. It was ~ $200 with shipping. He also was able to get me a quote for the collar. But, I had it welded and fitted it back on the rudder. It saved me $300 but in hindsight with all the gear I had to buy to remove the collar, I broke even. If I had to do it over I would cut it off and replace with new. It would have saved me many hours of labor! Good luck with your project.
Fair Winds
Scott Trefethen
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