Refurbing the boom

[noworries]

So I took the boom off the boat yesterday to fix the outhaul (it doesn't budge, from my research here it seems to have a swivel where it doesn't need one and tangles up inside)

To those that have tried this themselves, is it worth the hassle to strip all the hardware off and paint it?  At first I was thinking about just patching the paint job where it's needed, but now I'm not so sure.  The thought of having to remove ALL those frozen screws is making me wonder if it's worth the hassle.

[noworries]

The admiral said I might as well paint it while I got it off, so here goes.  I was having a helluva time with my impact screwdriver (wack it type) until I decided to put together a bunch of adapters to use my 1/2" pneumatic impact wrench.  That made short work of all the number 3 phillips heads on the track, but the #2 for everything else either came right out with it, or snapped off.  So it's drill time, but at least I'm moving quickly again!

[Stephen Butler]

We finished redoing both our mast and boom in September.  Stripped everything off, had the yard awlgrip both, and then replaced everything.  Was it worth it?  Definitely yes.  We had been doing touch ups for the last few years and both the boom and mast were getting very shabby appearing and there was some corrosion starting in the aluminum spars.  We also wanted to replace our lights, recheck our standing rigging, add a tv antenna, new wiring, new sheaves and halyards, etc., etc.  We received quotes for a turn-key job, but most were at or near $10K, so we tackled those part of the job that we could handle.  Would strongly suggest getting a professional to paint the boom....maybe an auto shop or your local yard.  As for removing the bits and pieces, we purchased a new Milwaukee drill and impact wrench, and a set of cobolt bits.  Stripping was done in 8 hours without damage to the spars.   When replacing the fitting, we borrowed a heavy duty rivet gun, and a tap and die set.  The hardest part of the job was finding ss rivets at an affordable price.  We ended up purchasing these from JSI in St. Petersburg...very reasonable and marine quality.  The new stick and boom are beautiful!

[Ron Hill]

no : What really hurts is that the original owner's Admiral had him pay extra to get those "pretty" painted spars rather than the anodized NO maintenance spars!!

I know - because that's what happened to me !!    

[noworries]

We thought about just leaving it bare metal... but then it wouldn't match the mast... although not sure how big of an issue that is really.

How much did you end up paying to have your boom painted?

I've got about 10 screws left to drill out.  It sucks.  I'm getting ready to order some cobalt bits.

[Ron Hill]

no : Forget about the bare metal aluminum in a salt water environment !!!  They must be coated!!

[BillG]

look into having it powdercoated, matched the color perfectly and cost about 150.00 6 years ago.

[Stephen Butler]

Our costs for the mast and boom refurb was approximately $3.5k.  This included the yard charges of $2.6k for mast removal and resetting, sanding, 2 coats of primer, and the final awlgrip coat.  We added 1 new halyard, the mount for the tv antenna, some wiring, new lights, and some new fittings.  We already had previously taken advantage of sales to get new sheaves, new vang, new traveler, etc.  As for drilling out screws, yes, get the hardened cobolt drills....very easy to break but it will make an easier job of it.  You will most likely have to oversize the replacement screws, but this is no problem.  We had returned the borrowed tools when we discovered 2 bolt hole that needed retapping...just used a ss bolt and some cutting oil and redid them...slowly, but it worked.  Good luck with your project....time consuming and filled with lots of detailed work, but certainly doable.

[noworries]

thanks, I'm going to look into powder coating it... I'm still waiting on my cobalt drill bits from amazon. 

[noworries]

WOW what fun this project is.  My cobalt tips came in.  So far the screws that were left in my boom after I went at it with an impact screwdriver are one with the boom.  To the point where I can drill 80% through the middle of a SS screw and it STILL won't budge.  I finally used a drill press and just had to go bigger on a few of the holes.

The ends of the boom are finally off.  I still have 2 stubborn screws left from a cleat to deal with.

I'll take a picture of the internals later today, but I'm wondering what can be done to make it more reliable (I don't ever want to have to take this thing apart again!)

Once I got the ends off I was so happy I just pulled it through, I never saw what was binding up the outhaul. 

[Ted Pounds]

Don't know about making it more reliable, but if you use anti-seize compound (most recommend Lanocote) when you put it back together then if you have to take it apart later it will be a breeze.   

[TonyP]

I am having fixing problems of our X5 pilot to the binnacle and found a small squashable anchor.
It is approx 1/4' x 1/2' and takes a 3/16 thread. I found them at a specialist nut & bolt shop.
It is Aluminium shaft with SS thread
cheers
Tony

[Craig Illman]

I think the proper term is "Riv-Nut"

[TonyP]

So a "small squashy thready thingy" just doesn't do!!!

[Craig Illman]

I never thought about using rivnuts on the boat. They might work better than tapping the thin wall of the boom and be less vulnerable to dissimilar metal corrosion. The only ever time I've used them was for attaching the roof rack rails to the top of the station wagon.