replacing tabernacle pin

[RyanN]

Thanks for the advice. Once the mast (with tabernacle) was off the boat, I pried the two apart just enough to get a hacksaw blade in there. I had to do this on both sides. The paint on the mast was already well bubbled so there was no permanent damage to the mast.
The current plan is to use drill out the hole in the tabernacle from 1.25" to 1.3" then use a 1.3" aluminum rod. The rod will be drilled and tapped on both ends to a depth of 1" and a 5/16 stainless bolt and fender washer on either end will secure the rod laterally.

I think that this would be the cheapest solution, and the shear load should be well within the strength of a 1.3" piece of aluminum rod.

The previous wedge was two pieces of mahogany and a 1/8" piece of high density plastic totaling about 1.75" total. I don't think there was any "wedge" to the block, all angles were 90 and the block was just knocked in while the shrouds were loose. My thought for the new wedge (or block) was to use aluminum rather than wood with some 1/8" UHMW between the wedge and the tabernacle and between the wedge and the mast base.

To isolate the sides of the mast from where they touch the tabernacle I was thinking of using UHMW tape. Does this hold up to UV long term?