deck organizer replacement

[mdidomenico]

i'm about to embark on replacing my very very tired original 2 sheave organizers with three sheave organizers.  i picked up a new set from garhauer.  unfortunately the bolt holes don't like up (which isn't terribly surprising).  i saw some old posts on the forum that there is a large metal plate underneath holding the organizer down.  however, that post was from a mk 1.5 owner.  can anyone confirm that the the mk 1's also have this plate?  does anyone know the size?  as an aside if i didn't want to drill/tap this plate but rather through bolt it, does anyone know what's inside the organizer plinth and inside the molded channel in the cabin that runs from the mast outward?  since my mast is keel stepped, they might be hollow, which would mean through bolting probably isn't a good idea, but there could be plywood too

[Noah]

There is a 3/8" thick x 2" wide aluminum plate under the deck organizer blocks on the MK1. Drill and tap your extra holes.

[Ron Hill]

mdid : I went with the 3 sheave deck organizers and with the one on the starboard side I moved it aft so the was less of a 90 degree angle making the pull easier. Look in the Mainsheet tech notes for may article w/pictures. - if you are interested.

On the port side I just used the 3 sheave organizer , but didn't need to drill and tape a Noah mentioned!! 

I hope that your organizers are Ball Bearing to also lighten the pull required !?!

A few thoughts

[waughoo]

I understand that you already bought your replacements, however, if you're interested, you COULD send your existing units to Garhauer and they will build you a set with the same bolt pattern.  I ended up going a different route, but was pretty happy to know this service existed.

[mdidomenico]

I understand that you already bought your replacements, however, if you're interested, you COULD send your existing units to Garhauer and they will build you a set with the same bolt pattern.  I ended up going a different route, but was pretty happy to know this service existed.

understood and i've talked to the garhauer people and they're quite helpful.  but in my case since i upsized the sheaves one size and going with a three sheave version, only one of the holes could ever line up.

[waughoo]

Gotcha... I didn't know about the rest of your project scope.  Then the previous advice given about the plate in the deck is accurate.  I replaced mine, a double, with a tripple from garhauer.  I just lined it up, drilled the hole with a new drill bit that corresponds to the tap I was going to use, then tapped the hole.  It was relatively simple.  Make sure to use tef-gel on the threads of the screws.  It will make future maintenance SOOOO much nicer.