gcarter
07-05-2009, 01:54 PM
Since I'm on a break from any glass work, I drug out the gimbal assembly to start cleaning and disassembly.
Almost immediately, I found a sure fire way to lose a boat!
This was the first time it'd been looked at since I pulled the boat apart two years ago.
If you look at the pictures, you can see a hole corroded through the gimbal housing. I's a little over 1/2" in diameter.
http://www.donzi.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=47776&stc=1&d=1246819581
http://www.donzi.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=47777&stc=1&d=1246819584
Most of us have seen these before. Usually water can start leaking through the threads of one of the middle mounting studs, or in this case, the big O-ring transom seal seemed to be the culprit. Water continues to leak through and sit on the inner part of the casting, eventually the paint breaks down and corrosion starts. Of course, this boat is 22 years old, so some of this stuff shouldn't be a surprise.
The area the hole(s) are located in is non-structural. All the engine and prop torque is taken out at the top and bottom of this casting, so all this portion of the casting does is keep the water out. But I guess that's kind of important.:wink:
Here's another picture of the corroded area after removing the mounting studs and roughly cleaning the area of the worst of the corrosion.
http://www.donzi.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=47778&stc=1&d=1246819584
So, what to do?:nilly::nilly:
The budget kitty is VERY thin, so finding another gimbal housing casting is not my first choice. Seems most of the one's I've seen on eBay are about $600.00 and there's no guarantee that the offered casting is in any better shape than the one I have. When I bought the Minx, it's gimbal was also corroded through, I bought another, it was also corroded through but the seller had sprayed black paint all over it so it was invisible in the photos!:bonk:I was able to have the hole welded up. It turned out to be very successful.
So what do you guys think I should do?
Keep in mind the budget!
Almost immediately, I found a sure fire way to lose a boat!
This was the first time it'd been looked at since I pulled the boat apart two years ago.
If you look at the pictures, you can see a hole corroded through the gimbal housing. I's a little over 1/2" in diameter.
http://www.donzi.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=47776&stc=1&d=1246819581
http://www.donzi.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=47777&stc=1&d=1246819584
Most of us have seen these before. Usually water can start leaking through the threads of one of the middle mounting studs, or in this case, the big O-ring transom seal seemed to be the culprit. Water continues to leak through and sit on the inner part of the casting, eventually the paint breaks down and corrosion starts. Of course, this boat is 22 years old, so some of this stuff shouldn't be a surprise.
The area the hole(s) are located in is non-structural. All the engine and prop torque is taken out at the top and bottom of this casting, so all this portion of the casting does is keep the water out. But I guess that's kind of important.:wink:
Here's another picture of the corroded area after removing the mounting studs and roughly cleaning the area of the worst of the corrosion.
http://www.donzi.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=47778&stc=1&d=1246819584
So, what to do?:nilly::nilly:
The budget kitty is VERY thin, so finding another gimbal housing casting is not my first choice. Seems most of the one's I've seen on eBay are about $600.00 and there's no guarantee that the offered casting is in any better shape than the one I have. When I bought the Minx, it's gimbal was also corroded through, I bought another, it was also corroded through but the seller had sprayed black paint all over it so it was invisible in the photos!:bonk:I was able to have the hole welded up. It turned out to be very successful.
So what do you guys think I should do?
Keep in mind the budget!