Rudder Gudgeon Replacement

[Raya]

Petrus,

Was your old gudgeon fitting a RF 905? The spec for the RM589 states a gap width of 44mm and my rudder is around 50mm. If the RM589 is indeed a direct replacement for the RF905, I might replace mine as they are a bit the worse for wear.

[PetrusP]

Hi Ray,
You're right, it's about 5mm tight which means a little bit of rudder modification will be required, I figure it's as close as it's going to get so am happy to make it work. As far as the shape goes it's almost exact. Hope that helps!

[Dr. Peter]

This is how I accessed mine>

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=497&start=10

[atles]

Hi petrus.. we met at bribie, possibly on yor maiden launch. Sounds like you are hooked on the investigator refurbishment program .. a very worthwhile project. Good to hear you are getting out on the water.. maybe we can get out together with rich's " sky bird " and mine sometime. It would be something to see, 3 I 563's out for a sail after all these years ... terry. narangba.. # 126

yes i love to go out with you guys !!

[Raya]

I had to do a small repair to my rudder, so decided to replace the rudder gudgeon which had a fatigue crack. I bought a pair of Riley 591 gudgeons from Keeley Marine. (You can order online now). These gudgeons are slightly wider (51mm) than the pair that Petrus used. They differed slightly from the originals in that the arms were a few millimetres longer and the shoulder near the pivot was wider than the arms by about 2mm. (see the photo below). I routed a little material out of rudder to make the top gudgeon fit. For the lower gudgeon, I ground the shoulders from the fitting and shortened the arms. For both methods, I had to shave a millimetre or so from the font face of the rudder so that the old holes would align. The first method is probably the quickest, providing that you have a router (and a steady hand).