Ski Pylon Mounting Bracket Help

[92SupraComp]

Ok, we have a 1992 Supra Compt Ts6m that is in great need of tlc. And that is what we are doing this summer. We are the 2nd owners since 1994. Well since we have had the boat the lowest part of the large bracket has been rusting and flaking into the bildge pump area. Infact now that I am closely looking at it this year its lost about half the metal that used to be there. But I have inspected the large bracket and found it to be a very sturdy custom piece for these boats. One major problem is that they used steel and didn't paint it. I have found many little things that Supra shouldn't have done for these high class boats, and this is the most major thing.

Now to my question. How do you get the floor piece out to remove the other 12 bolts to then remove the entire bracket. I can see seems in the original carpet which I have partially cut up and found seems in the floor boards. Only prob is that it appears to be all glassed to gether :mad:

Has any one done this??

Thanks,
Joe

PS. can't wait to futher explore the fourms on this site. Cant believe i just found it!

[92SupraComp]

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This the bottom of the bracket that sits against the bottom of the boat and is held in by the front 2 bolts for the front skeg. As you can see it is greatly rusted. I might try to reinforce it but atm i am concerned about getting it out and painting it to stop the rusting.

[bens250ex]

You might have to cut the section of floor to get it out. When I did my rebuild I set mine up so I could pull that board out to get in the bilge.

[Blackntan90]

I too had this happen to my pylon bracket(although not as bad- sorry). I vacuumed up all the loose rust, and wire brushed what I could get to. I then painted it through the bilge pump access plate and though the engine area. I used one of those 'Turn rust to black primer' type of paints, then regular Rust-oleum. It has been 5-6 years now and I only get the occasional rust flakes now. It was soo bad before that my bilge pump was getting clogged, but I am not ready to tear my floor up ...yet!

[92SupraComp]

well we were thinking on either taking a grinder with a cutting wheel or a recip. saw to the floor board and then just find some way to remount the piece. has anyone had the bracket out before?? it looks to be one impressive piece(when in good shape).

[bens250ex]

I have had mine out, heavy as crap that's for sure

[92SupraComp]

how long ago did you have it out? plus. did you end up cutting the floor or did happen to have the engine out and just slide the bracket out?

[bens250ex]

I did a full stringer job on my boat over the winter so I had to replace floor and all. I put it back in a couple months ago prob around march

[92SupraComp]

what boat do you have? our boat every thing has a good thick layer of glass. cant find any wood any where. and the boat has seen water come up onto the carpet because the plug was forgotten once... but our stringers feel very study. The only way we can think of to remove it is to cut the section of floor out and then find a way to remount it back in. Unless someone know how the floor comes up.

[bens250ex]

Your boat has wood under the fiberglass. I have a comp too.

[92SupraComp]

yes i know it is wood base. but everything is still strong and has many thick coats of fiber glass. even the wood blocks that hold the windshields in are glassed over. speaking of which. we need a new left windshield. we were thinking about making one out of Acrylic. but back to the ski pylon bracket i guess no one knows how to do it theright way. so i guess we just have to cut that piece of floor out

[bens250ex]

I don't think there is any procedure called the "right way" while working on these boats. They all seem to be unique in different ways . To do this. If the floor don't come up the cut it out.

[jshepp122]

Cut the piece of floor out along the stringers that run that way, before putting it back in because it was one piece put wood reinforcements underneath it just like the back panel area in back of the engine cover, and replace the floor. If you had that much rust there was a big problem somewhere down the line, all the older comps i've seen I havnt seen anything that bad especially on a 94. I have a 89 with no rust in that area, looks like the boat was flooded many times.

[92SupraComp]

no just the one time flood. the "muffler" has leaked for a long time (since we owned and longer) and normal prop shaft leak, and 5 years ago the water pump seal started leaking. but we never let the water get above the bilge pump before pumping it out. (this would be just over the bottom part of the bracket where the bolts go through) this is a bare piece of steel that is original. the boat prob has over 1500 hrs. (hour gauge stopped at 350 and some) but supra really should have painted the piece but oh well.

and that was the plan from the start. cut the piece out and find ways to support it when we re-install it.

we have fixed the muffler and it is completely hollow now. We have parts on way to fix leaky water pump. And Shaft leak is only a tad bit more than normal but wont be touched.

[jshepp122]

no just the one time flood. the "muffler" has leaked for a long time (since we owned and longer) and normal prop shaft leak, and 5 years ago the water pump seal started leaking. but we never let the water get above the bilge pump before pumping it out. (this would be just over the bottom part of the bracket where the bolts go through) this is a bare piece of steel that is original. the boat prob has over 1500 hrs. (hour gauge stopped at 350 and some) but supra really should have painted the piece but oh well.

and that was the plan from the start. cut the piece out and find ways to support it when we re-install it.

we have fixed the muffler and it is completely hollow now. We have parts on way to fix leaky water pump. And Shaft leak is only a tad bit more than normal but wont be touched.

Supra did paint the bracket thats why Im not understanding why yours was not, was it replaced somewhere down the line or someone else worked on it? It might of even flaked off but they painted them all black

[92SupraComp]

really???? wow. all i can see is bare steel when i look at the bracket. ok here we go. Its a 1992 that was sold at a supra Dealership On Sunapee Lake, NH. We bought it in 1994 from someone on Sunapee Lake. The hour gauge stopped running at 350 hours before we bought the boat. so who knows how many hours it had. We really havent done anything till this summer. She has just been needing more and more tlc over the years and we are finally giving her the tlc.

Now the previous owner all that we know of has over heated the exhaust bad! we had to cut off the 4 sections of 3.5" hose to get the "muffler" out. He over heated it so bad that the ENTIRE baffle in the fiberglass muffler lost almost all of its resin causing it to just collapse into big chunks that I removed a months ago. The two outlets on the muffler were leaking as well. It was in terrible shape. So we glassed almost the entire thing and now its like new.

Other than that nothing else was wrong with the boat. I wonder if it is a different bracket or some how it didnt get painted. Idk. The boat does have its original carpet which means no one has pulled up the floor....

[jshepp122]

You can take the boat to a dealer and find out how many hours on it, my guess is the rust that got to it ate the paint off, best bet is to find someone it happened to ( i think there was someone in this thread it did) and see if there's was painted. Every one I ran into has been black. I'd contact a supra dealer and talk to a tech, they would know best what supra did and did not do since they've maybe ran in to some that havnt been painted????? mine are black and rust free still after 25 yrs and black

[92SupraComp]

how would supra know how many hours are on the boat??? also. it must have been a lousy paint job then i guess. but. as for calling supra. just use a number from this site??

[jshepp122]

If you take it to a mechanic they can plug a machine in to the motor and see how many hours are on it, yea just search dealers in your area with the find dealers, you can try any boat repair shop that deals with supra's to find out. blackntan90 said he had it happen to his, you can see if his was painted too. If you replace it only suggestion I can make is use a acid wash primer then a 2k then black paint. The acid wash will kill any moisture on it already and protect it from rusting

[cadunkle]

If you take it to a mechanic they can plug a machine in to the motor and see how many hours are on it, yea just search dealers in your area with the find dealers, you can try any boat repair shop that deals with supra's to find out.

Plug a machine into what? The carb? Or the hour gauge? There is no way to know how many hours on that engine and it really doesn't matter since engines are cheap, quick, and easy.

[matt k]

just for context, the bracket on my 87 comp with 800 hours that was bought and has lived its entire life in NH is painted black and pretty much rust-free. The pics of yours scared me enough to go check. I recalled it being clean, but your talk of unpainted steel had me worried! I wonder what caused yours to get that bad. Is the rest of the bilge paint in good shape? What about the other brackets and metal fixtures in there?

[92SupraComp]

Plug a machine into what? The carb? Or the hour gauge? There is no way to know how many hours on that engine and it really doesn't matter since engines are cheap, quick, and easy.

hey. dont forget the electronic coil pack! i never thought of it but it prob does keep track of hours on the boat. I might just look a Supra dealer as we got a new hour gauge and it already has 3.5 hours on it just from me running it in the drive way. :)

[92SupraComp]

just for context, the bracket on my 87 comp with 800 hours that was bought and has lived its entire life in NH is painted black and pretty much rust-free. The pics of yours scared me enough to go check. I recalled it being clean, but your talk of unpainted steel had me worried! I wonder what caused yours to get that bad. Is the rest of the bilge paint in good shape? What about the other brackets and metal fixtures in there?

well thats the thing. EVERYTHING is glassed over but the bracket. the bilge pump area is fine except for the chunks of that darn bracket floating around in there. But yes. The bracket from what I can see in all crazy positions I make to see it is just bare steel. No paint to be found.

[matt k]

huh. maybe you just got a weird unpainted one from the factory. It seems like the QC/QA at the factory in the 80s wasn't quite what it might have been. But that's not all too surprising from a smaller manufacturer.

[jshepp122]

Plug a machine into what? The carb? Or the hour gauge? There is no way to know how many hours on that engine and it really doesn't matter since engines are cheap, quick, and easy.
Weather or not its factory on mine I have a plug under the dash with a chip/board on it that the harness is plugged in to, thats what skiers pier plugged in to to get my hours when I bought it. want pics??

[92SupraComp]

Weather or not its factory on mine I have a plug under the dash with a chip/board on it that the harness is plugged in to, thats what skiers pier plugged in to to get my hours when I bought it. want pics??

oh. the idiot box keeps track?? i have to find a supra dealer to find out how many hours are on this thing. I'm expecting 1500+

[eatsleepski]

I know this is an old posting but I have a '91 TS6M with the rusty pylon bracket issue that has been slowly developing over the years. It has recently developed a little looseness or minor movement at the bottom of the black pylon where it seats on the bracket, if indeed it does slide onto a fitting on the bracket. So, I'm assuming it's not all one piece then. Pictures for reference:

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Questions:

1) Is there a maintenance manual that describes how it comes together and how to repair/replace the rusted pylon bracket?
2) Can the pylon be removed from the lower bracket? Is it loosened by the two set bolts shown in the attached picture?
3) Is it easier to cut out that section of the floor to replace the bracket? (see note below)
4) what are the torque specs for the bracket and pylon set bolts?

note: If I'm going to eventually remove the engine for an overhaul then it appears the floor doesn't need to be cut out.

thanks for any input on this subject.

[eatsleepski]

I know this is an old posting but I have a '91 TS6M with the rusty pylon bracket issue that has been slowly developing over the years. It has recently developed a little looseness or minor movement at the bottom of the black pylon where it seats on the bracket, if indeed it does slide onto a fitting on the bracket. So, I'm assuming it's not all one piece then. Pictures for reference:

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15500

Questions:

1) Is there a maintenance manual that describes how it comes together and how to repair/replace the rusted pylon bracket?
2) Can the pylon be removed from the lower bracket? Is it loosened by the two set bolts shown in the attached picture?
3) Is it easier to cut out that section of the floor to replace the bracket? (see note below)
4) what are the torque specs for the bracket and pylon set bolts?

note: If I'm going to eventually remove the engine for an overhaul then it appears the floor doesn't need to be cut out.

thanks for any input on this subject.
------------------------------------------------------

(Ref: 1991 Supra Comp TS6M, 1330 hrs., year-round use, never winterized, etc., etc.)


I guess I have to answer my own questions, but in case anyone else has this problem the following info applies to my own boat anyway and may apply to yours, who knows how they build these things:

1) I haven't located a service manual that describes this level of maintenance. So, figure it out.
2) yes the pylon can be removed from the baseplate by loosening the 4 set bolts which are accessible from the bilge area. Tight access but do-able without removing anything.
3) the section of the floor at the pylon has already been sectioned off and secured with at least two screws and lightly fiberglassed over to conceal the screws and this fact. Remove this first and you can get to the baseplate. Figure it out.
4) torque specs would probably be as tight as you can get them. Guessing near 80+ ft/lbs for the pylon, like a wheel lug net. Don't over tighten the bolts to the stringer though. It's wood. Figure it out.

Final note: I haven't found a source for a replacement baseplate so I'll have a welder fab me a new one or repair the rusted bottom part of the bracket.

[cjtpilot]

Ok, first since you have a 92 there isn't any wood it is all composite so thats good. Second there is a member on here that just had this happen and that piece of flooring comes out, there are screws holding it down hopefully he will chime in on this and can give you more details.

[Jetlink]

Screws and bondo hold that floor plate in place. Happy hunting, I have the more problematic pre-92 boat so I just rip out the floor if I need to get to the pylon.

[foxriverat]

Here you go.https://forum.supraboats.com/showthread.php?17820-Pylon-mount-cracked

[eatsleepski]

Thanks for inputs above. I got it figured out already. Here are a few pics. Yes, without a little courage, critical analysis, some input from other Supra owners ... and a little luck ... this at first seems an impossible task left up to the experts for the big bucks. But, when I'm not skiing I like to have all this extra fun. I guess that's why they call it pleasure craft marine. I work on my 4Runners too.

The pictures tell the story. I'll check with SKIDIM to see if they have a recommendation for a replacement bracket, but I may just get mine repaired by a welder. Thanks again.


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[foxriverat]

You won't be able to replace that bracket. Just bring it to a good welding shop. Guy I brought it to torched of the old flat piece off at the weld. Said it would come out cleaner and didn't trust cutting blade would slide and get crooked on weld. (I couldn't believe how clean in looked) fabricated a new piece for the bottom and welded it on.

[eatsleepski]

You won't be able to replace that bracket. Just bring it to a good welding shop. Guy I brought it to torched of the old flat piece off at the weld. Said it would come out cleaner and didn't trust cutting blade would slide and get crooked on weld. (I couldn't believe how clean in looked) fabricated a new piece for the bottom and welded it on.


That's what I figured. Thanks.

[eatsleepski]

That's what I figured. Thanks.

FYI. Repaired/Welded bracket. The bend was slightly off so it was necessary to use hard plastic cutting board as a thick gasket. I think this will help keep the new steel from always resting in water too.

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[4nryde]

Anyone have advice on methods for separating the pylon from the bracket? Mine is corroded in place.


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[Jetlink]

Make a small cut down the bracket tube that holds the pylon, that should help relieve the pressure caused by all the corrosion in there. Then, pull the pylon, clean up the corrosion and paint it. Weld the cut you made and then install the whole thing again.

[4nryde]

My bracket is exactly like the one pictured. The tube is welded top and bottom. Will cutting the tube loosen it up?


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[Jetlink]

It will relieve the pressure from the corrosion that I suspect is holding your pylon in the bracket. A small cut up the back of the bracket I want to say should allow you to get the pylon removed and then clean it all up, paint and put it back together. That is what I had to do with mine to get the bracket and pylon to come apart after being together for almost three decades.

Don't forget to weld up the bracket after you get the pylon out but before you paint it too.

[foxriverat]

I assume you loosened the 4 bolts that hold pylon in. Try dousing pb blaster on it every day for a week. Put a pipe wrench around a rag and try to twist it loose. If that doesn't work. Try heating with torch

[4nryde]

Bolts are out. I tried using a strap wrench to twist it....broke the strap. Used a torch on the bracket, no luck. I think i will need to cut the bracket as advised by jetlink.


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[Jetlink]

Bolts are out. I tried using a strap wrench to twist it....broke the strap. Used a torch on the bracket, no luck. I think i will need to cut the bracket as advised by jetlink.

Yup, you did everything that I tried to get my pylon free from the bracket and you are where I ended up. Even after you make the cut up the back side of the bracket, it will still give you a little trouble, at least mine did.