A frame fitting

[Pinto]

Hi all.

Ive just bought an a frame from ebay which is a good fit for our zodiac pro 9, and I'm looking for some advice on fitting. It is of the non adjustable type, with two fixing flange on each side ,and one on each foot.
Because the travel on the engine's stearing arm taking up almost all of the width of the transom I may have to raise the A frame off of the deck and /or fit stand offs the give the a frame approx an inch of clearance from the transom.

I'm currently thinking of stainless steel tubes, washers and/or stiff rubber bushes ( although theese may be hard to source). Any suggestions or advice on any part of this is welcome. I will not know exact measurements until I get the frame down to the boat, hopefully this weekend.


Thanks in advance

John

[doggypaddle]

can you get some washers/blocks of the correct thickness made by boring and parting some stainless stock of the right outer diameter?
I think tubes may look a bit gash and because of the thin wall likley to dig into the deck. if you can get thick wall tube and tig a washer either end that would probably look OK?

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by Pinto

Hi all.
I'm currently thinking of stainless steel tubes, washers and/or stiff rubber bushes ( although theese may be hard to source). Any suggestions or advice on any part of this is welcome.

Aluminum blocks? Match the dimensions of the flange, drill bolt holes in the appropriate places, and add an inch or two to the length of the bolts you would have used normally.

I would caulk under all surfaces the aluminum hits, and liberally apply an aluminum safe anti-seize to the entire length of the bolts. Aluminum and SS (or other metals for that matter) often don't play nice together.

jky

[K&S]

Hi, if it helps i have attached a couple of pics of our a frame fixings.

Our frame is secured on the outboard side of the transom using s/s U bolts as the attachment. Good idea as it leaves the transom less cluttered and means less holes. Also means it can't interfere with the steering arm.

On the inboard end of the a frame the feet are mounted on platforms with a stud to bolt the a frame down. Pretty easy to manufacture and glass into place.

[Pinto]

Hi Guys, and thanks for the inputs

I've been down today and the a frame fits well, sitting on the deck with very little room to spare at the sides. This does mean that it is not very tall. As the rake angle of the a frame does not match that of the transom, it will effectively stand off about 1.5 inches at the top of the transom allowing plenty of room for the travel of the steering arm behind it.

So the plan is:
1/ Buy and fit the navigation lights ( no where near 1m seperation)
2/Bolt the frame onto the deck ( do I need to fit helicoils, some form of rubber cushioning?)
3/Secure the frame to the transom by bolting through it ( the weight will be carried on the deck) and use rubber spacers to fill the stand off gap ( so far the best I have come up with is bored rubber bungs as spacers, cut to suit)
4/Re-position the radio antenna to a clamp on the a frame
5/ Disconnect the steering cable, re-arrange it through the a frame bars, and re connect it. Do I need any precautions in unbolting this?

As before, all you comments are appreciatted

thanks

John

[K&S]

Originally Posted by Pinto

Hi Guys, and thanks for the inputs

I've been down today and the a frame fits well, sitting on the deck with very little room to spare at the sides. This does mean that it is not very tall.

I'm sure youve checked but just incase - the engine can still tilt all the way up?

Originally Posted by Pinto

As the rake angle of the a frame does not match that of the transom, it will effectively stand off about 1.5 inches at the top of the transom allowing plenty of room for the travel of the steering arm behind it.

Originally Posted by Pinto

So the plan is:
1/ Buy and fit the navigation lights ( no where near 1m seperation)
2/Bolt the frame onto the deck ( do I need to fit helicoils, some form of rubber cushioning?)
3/Secure the frame to the transom by bolting through it ( the weight will be carried on the deck) and use rubber spacers to fill the stand off gap ( so far the best I have come up with is bored rubber bungs as spacers, cut to suit)
4/Re-position the radio antenna to a clamp on the a frame
5/ Disconnect the steering cable, re-arrange it through the a frame bars, and re connect it. Do I need any precautions in unbolting this?

1. see link below - you could easily adapt the length to meet 1m seperation, having said that there a lot of small boats that dont have the 1 m seperation ourselves included.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ALL-ROUND-WHIT...ayphotohosting

2. see pic 2 on our earlier post - i'd be tempted to make wooden pads and shape to the correct angle if that helps with allingnment at the transom then either fibergalss or epoxy them onto the floor. this would disperss the weight / strain over a bigger area. it wont take much leaning on the a frame to put a good strain on a small fixing in the floor also acess to the underside of the floor is at best going to be difficult. you could also incororate a stainless stud so the nut (domed) can easily be undone and the a frame removed if required.

3. Could you use s/s rectangle - probably more strength and it might take a better shape if it is overtightened and crushed slightly to take the shape. Maybe put a rubber washer between the two bits of metal (although salt water and uv will probably make short work of rubber)

4. - easy enough.

5. Fairly straight forward - better with the leg down incase the engine falls to one side. Make sure you dont loose the nuts bolts etc there expensive
Just make sure you keep a nice big 'loose' bend in the steering cable when re positioning the cable.


last thing - think it threw and dont just 'whack' it on as its easy to make a mess of your shiny gel coat - not so easy to make it pretty again