Pearson 35 edson pedestal leaking

[spotfire]

I'm pretty sure, based on the teak tiller plate on my thirty five year old plastic boat, replacing the teak with a new teak trim ring would be problematic; I tried starboard and it pretty much collapsed when I cinched up the 5/16" bolts for the tiller head plate. You should probably hit your bolts with PB blaster or similar product for about a week before putting the wrench to them.



I'd also be suspect of the wood core in the cockpit floor. Now would be the ideal time to replace your trim ring and the plywood corewith Coosa board, so the trim ring and cockpit floor are strong enough for you to do pushups on the steering.


I did find that butyl has been the best sealant so far for this type of installation.



Good luck.

[Orion Jim]

Perhaps there is something in this similar post which you will find helpful.
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...on-243519.html

[stormalong]

Originally Posted by SVTatia

You have good advices above. The first and hardest part will be to remove the pedestal.
I am sure the large stainless bolts holding it down are welded to the aluminum thru corrosion, so check if the nuts underneath are moving, and if so you'll be able to remove the whole pedestal with the "integrated" bolts. Once its off it will be a lot easier to remove the bolts from the aluminum, but be extra careful - if you break the base, the cost will escalate exponentially.

The bolts on that age of pedestal will be aluminum. I noticed that someone earlier sad they were galvanized - not so.

Some history of my experience with these that you may find interesting.

When I bought my boat in the fall of 1990 the five year old pedestal was already peeling paint. That winter I removed it. Comments about being a contortionist are appropriate. My boat is bigger than the OP's but nobody leaves much space under there. The aluminum bolts freewheeled since they were flathead, not hex head. The newer Edson's are hex head. I had to drill them out - an easy job since they were aluminum. Edson sold me replacements - I hope they are still available.

As others had commented the balsa core in the cockpit floor cutout was unsealed. It had to be gouged out and was filled with microbaloons and epoxy. I repainted the pedestal over the winter and re-installed it in the spring.

Flash forward seven years. The boat and I were in Whangari, New Zealand. The mast needed overhaul and paint. The pedestal paint had not held up well. So this time I had the mast and pedestal professionally painted. When I put the pedestal back together in 1991 I used never seize on the aluminum bolts and 3M 5200 to seal the deck joint. This time it all came apart easily. The 5200 worked well and there was no sign of any leaks and, other than the paint everything was in good condition. Again re-assembled with never seize and 5200.

Now flash forward to 2009. Again in Whangari and again the mast needed an overhaul and paint. The pedestal too. This time the pedestal had some issues. The steering wheel axle hole was worn and the axle pins for the pulleys were severely warn - that surprised me. Edson said they had an insert for the steering wheel axle and they were surprised the the pulley axle pins were brass or bronze - they claimed that they always used stainless steel clevis pins. They sent me the insert and new pulley wheel bushings. This time I got radical. I disliked the slotted screws in the base. You can't put them back without chipping the paint on the screws. So while I had the steering wheel axle hole machined a tiny bit larger to fit the insert I also had the aluminum bolts welded in place. After sandblasting, filling, prime and paint you cannot see any evidence of the bolts being there. Having the bolts welded in made installation much easier - it became a one person job and proper torque was easy. At re-assembly I also had some stainless steel clevis pins machined with a hole most of the way down the axis, tapped for an M6 Zerc fitting and a cross hole drilled centered under the pulley bushings. Now the pulleys can be greased with a grease gun.

So now in 2020 it is all still good. There are a few small chips due to normal wear but the paint has held up well. I'm a dirt dweller now but still have the boat for local Pacific Northwest cruising. The high mileage passages are in the past for me.

[roverhi]

I said Pedestal base fasteners were galvanized because they were galvanized and a couple badly rusted below the pedestal base. Assume that Edson used custom galvanized fasteners with big heads because of galvanized closeness to aluminum on the galvanic scale. My boat is a '69 so they might have used aluminum fasteners at some other time.

[stormalong]

Originally Posted by roverhi

I said Pedestal base fasteners were galvanized because they were galvanized and a couple badly rusted below the pedestal base. Assume that Edson used custom galvanized fasteners with big heads because of galvanized closeness to aluminum on the galvanic scale. My boat is a '69 so they might have used aluminum fasteners at some other time.

OK, galvanized you say and I'm sure galvanized they were. I doubt Edson would have supplied them. Steel is magnetic and has no place in a steering pedestal.

[AKA-None]

I’ve routed groves in starboard and used a round gasket to seal it before on other projects

[Manateeman]

Break out another thousand and be prepared for days and days of work. You will find it is a complex and difficult rebuild to do correctly. You might want to consider alternatives. When the Edson system is new, it works fine but when the aluminum begins to corrode, it becomes difficult to remove parts. Often, everything needs to be disassembled. You will find stainless locked into aluminum. Threads corroded so even new parts cannot be used. It’s very frustrating because you cannot determine if the threads into the aluminum are ok until you remove the parts. Heat and use PB blaster on every fastening because if you break off a stainless bolt in the aluminum, you will have a horrible time repairing it. Sorry, but this job is no walk in the park.
Happy trails to you.
Mark and his “Mamba steering” manatee crew