^^ +1 As soon as aluminium is laid bare, the surface oxidises which protects it from further oxidisation.
My mast is painted black. I am not looking forward to the time when it starts to bubble and have spots of bare making it look like it has the pox.
A local Walker H28 owner just uses white enamel from Bunnings on his boom and masts if he gets a scatch or a bit of paint off he just touches it up
My mast is bare aluminium and is an almost shiny dark grey. I have no idea if it has some treatment on it. I thought it might have been polished but now I'm thinking it might have had a clear treatment too.
Why put metal sealer on aluminium?! As cisco mentioned and I had previously understood; Aluminium gets its protection from Aluminium oxide which occurs when bare/dry aluminium is exposed to oxygen.
Would a metal sealer that DrRog is using prevent this? Does it set like a car clearcoat?
My mast is probably over 30 years old. The alloy looks like its new and I thought it may have been polished with something like car polish!
Select to expand quoteRamona said...
My mast is probably over 30 years old. The alloy looks like its new and I thought it may have been polished with something like car polish!
Aluminum From what I know they clear anodize it
Select to expand quoteDrRog said...
The product:
Most clear metal sealers I've come across will degrade with direct sun light (UV) exposure. Is this product UV-proof , and if so, who sells it in Aus? Thanks.
Select to expand quoteKarsten said... DrRog said...
The product:
Most clear metal sealers I've come across will degrade with direct sun light (UV) exposure. Is this product UV-proof , and if so, who sells it in Aus? Thanks.
You mean this stuff?
www.boatcraftnsw.com.au/candm/C&M219Clear%20Heavy%20Duty%20Sealer%20200709.pdf
While we are on the topic of mast whats the best way to remove old anodizing Ive worn out gold anodize masts and booms
I did some research a while ago and found some air craft paint stripped was the best after looking further I found it was taken off the market in USA because it was so carcinogenic
Would bead blasting work
Dr Rog
Could you possibly ask the riggers your working with? best way to strip anodized masts?
Good old wet and dry sandpaper and elbow grease should do it.
Blasting it will give you a surface that will need to be sanded if you want to leave it bare or clear coat it. Failing that you will need to paint it.
The best primer I have used on aluminium is PA 10. It will take virtually any other paint over it.
If you want to clear coat aluminium, I suggest Tectyl 151 if it is still available.
A thread on painting alloy masts here. messing-about.com/forums/topic/5921-painting-aluminum-masts/
Supercheap Auto have this but it is an expensive way to buy it.
www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/products/Valvoline-Tectyl-506-Rust-Preventative-400g.aspx?pid=1528#Cross
I'm at a loss to understand why you want to remove the anodizing. The anodizing is nothing more than a controlled layer of oxidation to which dye has been added to colour it.
If you really want to persist with the removal you need to do it mechanically ie. sanding.
Seems like a lot of hard work to me to remove a protective coating only to replace it with an inferior protective coating
loose change the masts have been there for 36 years mate . And I would like to use this boat for another 30 years if I live that long . Dont you think there be corrosion and flaking and plenty of bare places on both masts after that time at sea. Halyards ropes and sails have been flapping on them also in some areas there is no anodizing left in some areas. its all worn away or its corroded off or theres corrosion on it.
I am trying to restore this old girl . This is not hard work to me its a labor of love. If I spend the next three year restoring her. Ill only have maintenance to do for a long time and Ill be retired living on a pension. Wont be able to afford to do repairs then .Anodising looks pretty for a while but its stuffed now.
Select to expand quotesouthace said...
Great job but personally I would be putting engine instruments into the cockpit like I did!
Did you make this screen Southace?
From what Ive been told the Walker H28 dodgers will continually give you some where to bump your head. I like your screen Southace . With the right glazing it would last for years
Select to expand quoteHG02 said...
loose change the masts have been there for 36 years mate . And I would like to use this boat for another 30 years if I live that long . Dont you think there be corrosion and flaking and plenty of bare places on both masts after that time at sea. Halyards ropes and sails have been flapping on them also in some areas there is no anodizing left in some areas. its all worn away or its corroded off or theres corrosion on it.
I am trying to restore this old girl . This is not hard work to me its a labor of love. If I spend the next three year restoring her. Ill only have maintenance to do for a long time and Ill be retired living on a pension. Wont be able to afford to do repairs then .Anodising looks pretty for a while but its stuffed now.
Sorry HG, I didn't realise they are still the original sticks. You would think that after 36 years they had been replaced at some time .
After months of sorting shaft and gearbox today I managed to give her a clean and tidy up. Went for a drive around Scotland Island.
Has anybody worn a gearbox clutch out and what were the symptoms? I expected it would slip but are there other symptoms?
Select to expand quoteLooseChange said... HG02 said...
loose change the masts have been there for 36 years mate . And I would like to use this boat for another 30 years if I live that long . Dont you think there be corrosion and flaking and plenty of bare places on both masts after that time at sea. Halyards ropes and sails have been flapping on them also in some areas there is no anodizing left in some areas. its all worn away or its corroded off or theres corrosion on it.
I am trying to restore this old girl . This is not hard work to me its a labor of love. If I spend the next three year restoring her. Ill only have maintenance to do for a long time and Ill be retired living on a pension. Wont be able to afford to do repairs then .Anodising looks pretty for a while but its stuffed now.
Sorry HG, I didn't realise they are still the original sticks. You would think that after 36 years they had been replaced at some time .
Back in the early eighties I bought a motor cycle called a Vincent Rapide series C 1952 roughly it was made. After world war 2 a lot of old war planes were recycled . I do know the Vincent V twin motor and gear box aluminum came form those planes.
Any way when I roller her out of a Grace brothers shipping contain in Dandenong after it arrived from England I found the previous English owner had a small accident and the Primery cover had a hole in it which had been glues up , patched with epoxy .
When I got her home I dismantled the primary cover and clutch and clean the epoxy out of the motor . I called a mate of mine who is a really a trick fitter and tops in aluminum welding . He started welding up the hole in no time flat , when he finished he said to me look absolutely no impurities it weld was clean as a thistle. I filed it down and sanded it and when finished you would never have know that it had ever been welded. The recipe for making Aluminum has changed from world war 2. If you weld aluminum these days a lots of black crap comes out of where the weld was done .
Some once said that after the atom bomb was exploded it did some thing to metals I do not know if thats true or not
HG02,
You were lucky with that Al welding.
In the mid 90's I had a piston let go on an irrigation pump. Mate of mine welded up the 6' hole in the side and then we had to send it down to Sydney to get it treated in a hot bath of locktight. This was to stop the oil leaking out through the Al which today is porous. Seems all Al engine housings are treated this way now.
That black crap you mention is the locktight burning as you weld
.
Select to expand quoteMorningBird said...
After months of sorting shaft and gearbox today I managed to give her a clean and tidy up. Went for a drive around Scotland Island.
Has anybody worn a gearbox clutch out and what were the symptoms? I expected it would slip but are there other symptoms?
Did you drop the oil out of it yet?? If there are substantial amounts of metal particles in it, you have a problem.
I guess the only other symptoms would be noise due to worn bearings or broken gear teeth.
Only one way to know for sure and that is to pull it out and strip it and that shouldn't be too expensive an exercise. Probably worth it with the Lord Howe trip coming up.
No that's not lock tight it's the impurities in the aluminium I talking
Aluminium not aluminium blocks
Before
After
once the steps clip on she should start looking more of a lamb then a a piece of mutton
I still have some more sound proofing to do on the engine cover Im just so happy to nearly finish a job on this boat Ive far to many thing on the go . Another month and I can relax a bit . I want to get up on deck and get a few thing ready for spring so i can hoist a few sails rigging next year or the year after but she need a few ropes and halyards before she can sail. The Miizzen topping lift is handing on by a thread 
Bloody B.O.A.T $$$$$$$ Cisco 
It fits and its so nice to be able to use the steps again to get into the cabin. I may have some Grey marine carpet this week
Donk your right about the forward bulk head door. Ill either place the hinge on the main cabin side or build some sort of curtain
some thing like these make a track on both sides and roll it down from the top.
There are some perforated blinds I think with S/S guides down each side of the opening and they roll down from the top of the door space
Hi HG
I think if it opened to the rear instead of to the front it would be fine and if the space was available to do this it would be my first choice
The before and afters you have posted so far are amazing and I don't think it will be long before yours makes mine look shabby
Regards Don
Thanks for the reply Cisco. I changed the oil, twice as I couldn't get all of it out in one go. A lot of gunge which I think was the clutch wear particles but no metal bits. It had been awhile since the last oil change. There is no noise and no oil leaks and no vibration
I was wondering weather the gearbox not engaging gear properly might have been a worn gearbox symptom. As it turned out I couldn't find my split pins so had used a bit of mouseing wire in the morse control cable connection. It was restricting the cable movement, I put a split pin in and symptom appear to have gone.
A gearbox rebuild is cheap and simple compared to an engine rebuild. Your engine has been rebuilt so if you do the gearbox as well, all doubt will be removed.
Just remember the gearbox has thrust bearings which need to go in the right way around.
Just thought I would add to this topic, in Sydney waiting the return of auto ram etc, so decided to check and clean head (toilet) it has both into sea and on board tank, didnt wish to use tank, after cleaning, not a great job to do, but now at least it looks clean, cant see how it will ever work with anything bigger that a wet fart !!! dont think its been used for donks if ever ??????????????????????
Select to expand quote
Lexmark said...
Just thought I would add to this topic, in Sydney waiting the return of auto ram etc, so decided to check and clean head (toilet) it has both into sea and on board tank, didnt wish to use tank, after cleaning, not a great job to do, but now at least it looks clean, cant see how it will ever work with anything bigger that a wet fart !!! dont think its been used for donks if ever ??????????????????????
looks good and very simple Lexmarks
If nobody is looking I always bypass and go direct. It is called hanging the freckle or the dongle. 
Oooh yeah!! That feels good.
For when they are looking, a bucket in the cockpit does the job.
Ok While I am sitting here, At last my new pump, and ram ($2300) for auto steer arrived today, yep its the same as the old one, just bolt it on, yer right, after spending all afternoon redrilling the brackets, and almost finished pulled the ram to fit on guadrant, yep you guessed it unable to fit it, covered in grease, had a shower then dinner, and tomorrow will pull it all out again, still not sure what the problem is, the new one doesnt seem to have the movement at the other end of the ram, any ideas ?????
