Thanks all for your advice and suggestions.
I sent a description and pictures to NAVTEC and talked through the history of the boat. Their advice was to rehead all the rod within the next year and replace the ss screws in the turnbuckles. We've disassembled and polished and inspected all the tangs, thru bolts, mast head fitting etc. We found some corrosion but it's pretty amazing how little for a boat that is almost 20 yrs old. We have switched all the fittings from rivets to fine thread screws. The large rivets (6mm) had to be tapped to a 5/16" ms. We're painting the aluminum under the fittings with zinc chromate paint and bedding with marine silicone. The ms are sealed with teflon sealant.
The boom is being reinforced with two 36" internal sleeves secured with epoxy and 1/4" ms - probably overkill but it provides sufficient reinforcement to install a vang.
Now we're interested to find open body turnbuckle screws (7/16" 20tpi, 5/8" 18tpi and 1/2" 24tpi) at a reasonable price - any suggestions?
Thanks again for your assistance.
Best regards, John DeLong
|