Repair of Rudder Assembly

The rudder shaft does not need lubrication, so dripping water is not necessary. Tighten it down snug with pliers and you should be drip free.

tighten it down more until it stops dripping. The goretex I believe is a dripless material unlike the waxed packing material.

you need to have it as tight as possible so that you have 2-3 drops per minute if you used the waxed packing material.

No. It's not necessary.

Great! I put them in the nut and then onto the shaft. Tried to get them so the ends met pretty well, figured when I tightened down they would expand together. I hand tightened only with two hands and then firmed up the lock nut. Gonna try to take it to the river this week and check it out.

Thanks!

DavidF, I got the packing and wrapped it around the shaft and cut both ends at same time kind of like an overlap. 4 strands came out so I figured I would put 4 back in. When I placed them in the packing nut the ends didn't meet like they did wrapped around the shaft. Should I wrap around the shaft and then carefully place the packing nut on? Or did I screw up and need to redo. OOps!

Since you are a newbie, let me explain further. When I said three wraps, I meant three individual wraps, NOT one length wrapped around the shaft three times. Cut the flax packing so that the two ends butt tightly against each other when the packing is wrapped around the shaft. Stagger the joints of each wrap relative to each other...say 120 degree stagger.

Do NOT overtighten the packing nut. the goal is to compress the packing enough to stop water from coming in, but NOT so much that excess friction is created which will make the steering stiff.

If you repack the drive shaft, you do it the same way, but not overtightening is even more important as overtight condition will overheat the packing and rapidly wear the shaft. The goal is just tight enough that you get a slow drip of water as the shaft is turning. The dripping water helps keep the packing and shaft cool to the touch even when at speed.

Note that there are different sized flax packing, but I THINK you will need the 3/16" size for your rudder packing.

I recommend Life Boat Caulk. It is designed for use above or below the waterline AND never turns rock hard. It has some adhesive qualities, but can be easily seperated in the future. Some will recommend 3M 3200 or something like that, but I do not like the idea of "glueing" these types of parts in place.

You will need a minimum of three wraps of rope packing. I believe the diameter of the shaft is 1-1/4"...so you will need at least 4" for each wrap or 12" total.

No need to mark the steering arm positin as the top of the rudder shaft has a square boss that will prevent improper placement of the arm on the rudder....unless you have the rudder turned 90 degrees from straight ahead on purpose.

You may get lucky when I did mine I did not have to have a helper. The countersink head and countersunk plate held the screw and I was able to tighten the nuts without any problem. I would guess that there is a slight change in the taper angles that make it lock up and not spin. You can make a mark on the top the screw and watch it as you are tightening the nut with an box end wrench and you'll see if turns. Good luck

I was going to replace the packing for the rudder, having noticed more than a little seepage coming form that area. (I have a 69 SN). Inspecting it further I discovered that most of the water was seeping in around the plate that bolts through the hull.
On the outside of the hull there are four through bolts, they look to be carriage bolts, with the heads on the outside.
It looks like I'm going to take the rudder off and the plate assembly that holds it in place, then reseal with marine calking. I will then also repack the nut.
Anything else I need to watch for here?
Thanks