1969 Mustang Stringer Rebuild

vondy wrote: Here's one for ya Pete. I was hoping to keep my strut on the boat but had to remove the bolts to completely grind the bilge. Well of course the strut fell off so once everything is said and done I'll have to get that back on. I feel like it may be more involved than just applying 5200 and bolting back up. Also, there was no wood backing plate for the strut, bolted straight to the hull, is that normal?

Check just to make sure there's no wood buried in the glass. I have seen thickened areas around the struts using glass only and no wood.

Well, now you know the strut wasn't bedded very well in a decent compound. It's probably good it came off!!

When you get ready to put it back on, dry fit it and with a new cutlass bearing (might as well    ) get the shaft back up into the log. See if the shaft turns freely (is happy) when it's roughly centered in the log. If not, see which direction you need to move the shaft to make it turn easier and we'll look at shimming the strut.

vondy wrote: Looked like clear silicone sealing up the bottom of the strut. I assume I should use 5200 when reinstalling?

Probably and one of the reasons "I hate silicone"!!

Yes, 5200 is my choice.

You should be able to push that seal through. If not I would only loosen the cap bolts just enough to be bale to do so. Mine came out very easily without loosening anything. I did re-torque the cap bolts afterwards. IIRC they did move a tad on a few of them. Make sure you have the torque order and specs for your engine if you do. Did you not replace the front seal while you had the timing cover off?
I had my disty out when I replaced my timing set. so I just lined up the marks on the crank and cam and started over on the timing. Easy enough. Are you painting the motor now? Or waiting til next winter?
Sorry, haven't looked at the other thread.

I scrubbed the daylights out of mine with a citrus based degreaser and then wiped with acetone.   I did not have the luxury of a power washer being middle of winter when I did it.... I did clean and panit whilst I had the entire engine stripped down. manifolds, covers, bellhousing, oil pan, etc everything was off it.

When it comes to lag bolts, is there any specific metal I should be using? Regular stainless?

What if I went with a bolt like this?


That way I could pull the engine without having to pull the lags.

Absolutely, positively stainless. You've put the last stringer job you should have to do in a lifetime in there right? So why not the last bolt as well?

TX Wind wrote: Absolutely, positively stainless. You've put the last stringer job you should have to do in a lifetime in there right? So why not the last bolt as well?

Jeff,
I can tell you haven't been around wood boats very much!!!    Lifetime? You are optimistic!!!! Guess what, stainless rusts if kept moist!! There are those that made the mistake of using them for their wood boat restorations. They found out the hard way later that only silicon bronze should be used.

David,
McMaster does have the hanger bolts in 18-8 stainless. That's the best grade they are made in. You will want to make sure the holes in the new stringers get a good CPES treatment and then plenty of 5200.

Traditionally silicone bronze lags were used but I think those days are long passed.

These Pete?
rod

what would you suggest as far as length, threads, etc...?

Thanks!

8122pbrainard wrote: TX Wind wrote: Absolutely, positively stainless. You've put the last stringer job you should have to do in a lifetime in there right? So why not the last bolt as well? Jeff, I can tell you haven't been around wood boats very much!!!    Lifetime? You are optimistic!!!! Guess what, stainless rusts if kept moist!! There are those that made the mistake of using them for their wood boat restorations.

Pete, I was overstating it a bit as a compliment to the fine job he has done on the stringers. I do know that stainless will rust. My father is a marine contractor remember?

However, your suggestion with epoxy setting the bolts is an excellent one. We used epoxy set in the wind industry to set foundation bolts into the bedrock. We tensioned the bolts to 620,000 pounds. I never calculated it but they told me that it would launch a 4.25" Nut about 5 miles if it broke. The thrust vector equivalent at the top is the same as a 757 so the foundation is under a dynamic torquing load in excess of 22,000,000 foot lbs. This often exceeds the compressive strength of even the best concrete, so epoxy bedding is also used to create the foot for the tower and spread the load across the concrete foundation to prevent pulverizing the concrete. Epoxy is some good *************** David. Our field break tests of our epoxy were around 18,000 psi for compressive strength compared to 3000 for the typical sidewalk.

By the way Pete. Since you're a Wisconsin boy, I built a couple of the windfarms up by Fond du Lac. I worked for Alliant Energy and we built a windfarm for Wisconsin Energy. Talk about awkward since they are competitors. And cold? You guys have to be kidding me. I'm still defrosting. I'll take a TX 100 over a Wisconsin -20 any day of the week.

Oh and for the record Pete, we used a different foundation in Wisconsin.

Ahhh...the ones off 41 are on your left. I did not build those but if I remember correctly there were about 80 there. My direct responsibility was for Bluesky/ Greenfields which were actually two farms rolled into one representing 88 turbines off of 151 near Malone. In relative terms the Wisconsin turbines were actually some of the smaller turbines I installed. Only 1.67 MW compared to the more typical 2.1MW and some 2.5MW I had put up. My function was as the Civil Construction Manager which means I was responsible for coordination of all of the construction from the clearing of trees to the erection and final walkdowns excluding tower wiring and substation. I was also indirectly involved with Cedar Ridge which has another 50 turbines or so and is also in the same area.

They are literally beyond the imagination they are so large Pete. I was in constant amazement everyday.

So there you go David. Pete has just completely over engineered your mounting bolt issue on a reasonable budget. That's the way it should be.

Pete, we are so blessed to have you on this site. You are the rarest form of engineer; anally meticulous and yet practical. In my experience most engineers can't build a shoe box if their mother's life depended on it. But you could give it a helm an engine and a prop.

God knew Jesus couldn't be here for a while so he gave us ski boats to walk on water with. Then he gave us Pete to keep us from screwing them up.

So I just got back from a shop down the street that specializes in screw, bolts, etc. They did not have any hanger bolts in stainless, neither did the hardware store I went to. Don't even see any on McMaster's. There are some here hangers they have 5 and 6 inchers. What size diameter is normal for the mounts? 3/8?

I measured my old lags and they are 1/2 inch diameter and 6 inches long. What do you think Pete? I know you got some wedges on your boat

I would love anything that is easier to adjust. You say they basically have slots to slide the wedges up and down? That way you don't have to re drill if you have to make an adjustment. You think you could get me some? Before the stringer job I used 4 wedges, two for the front because I could not get the alignment right without adjusting the front.

Thanks Pete!

I just got off the phone with Ted, he's sending me 4 of the small ones today. Hopefully I'll get them by Saturday. He suggest the longer ones but those are 9 inches long and I know I didn't leave that much of a notch in my floors for those. So getting the smaller 6 inch ones, pretty much the same length as my last ones.

Originally I only had wedges in the back. Not sure how they ever thought you could align it perfectly without some for the front.