Steve, My comments are below your observations. --- "Steve McClellan (at Home)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Now, I can raise and lower the board all day, within > an inch of full retracted position, but if I retract > it that LAST INCH (which I would need to do to put > it on the trailer) it gets stuck, won't come down > without prying again.
The new board I got from would also not go up the last inch without getting stuck. My M15 is #310, 1984 and believe there has been some swelling on the centerboard trunk near the top. I did have to grind off a little gelcoat with belt sander on both sides to get it to fit. Unfortunately I took a little too much off and it gets wedged in somehow if I trailer it with the centerboard weight on the pendant. If I trailer with the the pendant loose there is no problem. Clean the well out first and if it still sticks, grind away, repaint any exposed metal from the grinding. > I'm wondering -- is that what most people have for a > pivot pin? Or was mine replaced at one time, > perhaps persuant to some damage? The oringinal M15s came with a stainless steel pin that is just some gelcoat away from the surface on both sides. The pin will vibrate through the gel coat if you do a lot of trailering. Since my old board never retracted all the way this put some of the boat weight on the centerboard pin while trailering. I think this contributed a lot to the loosening of the pin. The pin on mine is orginal even though I lost the board while sailing. The pin was only in the hole by an inch when I swam under the boat. I epoxied it in and it came loose, I used boat life to dampen the vibration effects and it came loose. I now use sail repair tape over both sides of the CB trunk and have not had the problem. A nut on the end of the bolt works fine, just adds a little drag. > I'm just planning to remove the pin and drop the > board out (gently of course, with due regard for > it's weight). I'm not expecting any surprises. > Should I? For you all who have done this, am I > forgetting something? If the boat is too high off the ground you can't rest the aft end of the board on the ground while you line up the pin to replace it. It's amazing how heavy an awkward shaped 35 lb board gets when trying for alignment. The weight is a ways back from the hole you are trying to look trough. The corallary is that if the boat is too low to the ground you cannot tilt the board out of the slot. The rear of the board is around 18 inchs + tall. Doug Kelch "Seas the Day" M15 #310 Formerly of Peoria, Ill __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
