Bad geometry of steering cable mount, failed clamp

[tribologist]

I took the board under the starboard bed out to try to run a cable for a transim mounted sonar and found a cracked steering cable clamp. To me it looks like the mount is to long causing the angle to be larger than the 45 deg its designed for.

Is this the original bracket/clamp? Looks like nylon. Not a good choice if you like stuff to last 50 years +

Im going to cut 1-3/8 from the ball bracket and make a new clamp out of some Ultem plastic. Ultem is good for 1000 years.... i happened to have a ball nose endmill that was a tad to big so i hand ground that to fit the ball pocket. Its good to have a machine shop in the gararge when dealing with vintage stuff..

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[dkirsop]

Yep, that's the original and it is a known failure point although after 40 plus years "failure" sounds a little harsh. I replaced mine with an off the shelf metal clamp that replaces the plastic but it sounds like you have a fix well in hand.

[tribologist]

Getting there. Mill is an ABENE VHF made in Stockholm around 1940 ies. SN 481, Bought it in Rhode Island 7 years ago.

The white thing behind it was made in Sweden -67 (like me...) recognizing it? That was our last restauration project.

Ulf

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[tribologist]

New clamp installed. Should outlast the boat...

Geometry is much better now. I shortened the bracket 1-1/8 only since the thread was so sloppy. It seems sufficient since it is not binding at end of stroke now. A metal clamp would have saved some time but no one had them in stock around here and they were silly expensive. Saved enough to pay for an extension cable for the sonar..... the reason to open up there was to try to route the sonar cable so i would not need an extension but it was not looking good. Another find is that the swim platform has screws going into the ducts...

Ulf

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[WillieC]

Looking good. You have probably already done so, but if not, check the lock to lock on the wheel. My rudder was so poorly adjusted the boat only turned one way, well not quite. PO said it was because of the single prop, but even he noticed it was odd. Being new to boats, what did I know? He never had the thing out of the water so didn't really get a good look at the rudder limits from behind. One of my sons noticed it one day (boat was on the trailer) while I was fooling around inside. No brainer.

PS, you really shouldn't tell us ALL the projects you are fixing and the tools you have. We may pester the heck out of you!

[tribologist]

You get a lot of friends if you have a machine shop and a TIG welder.. Not unusual to get a phone call from a friend of a friend at 10:30pm+ neading help fixing a plow in a middle of a snow storm. After that the driveway cleans it self for a while...

I would be happy trading some machining for a 7x6-1/2x3/8 piece of mahogny to put behind my switch panel. I hate woodworking!!!

Ulf