Autopilot Quadrant Reuse

[felizcortez]

I have a 1980 Tartan 37 and am in the process of installing a B&G autopilot.

I had an older below decks rotary auto pilot that was driven by a chain that has a quadrant attached to the rudder post. I've included some pictures for your reference. The new autopilot is going to be a linear drive ram and I'm wondering whether I can reuse the old quadrant and drill holes in it. I've seen other installs and most of them have tiller arms that extend off the rudder post to attach the RAM.

My plan if I can reuse this is to grind off the gears on the bottom so that the pin that attaches the ram to the quadrant has a flat spot for the nut on the bottom.

Anyone see any issues with this?

[sailormed]

As long as you respect the geometry of the arm extending from one extreme to the other and the distance from the center is correct for the couple the arm will generate I see no problem.