Repairing a older style rudder port

[TitanTn]

My boat was taking on water this past summer and I came to the conclusion that it had to be the rudder. After doing some initial research, I discovered that there are primarily two different types of rudder ports (the part that isn't the rudder or tiller arm). One has rope packing like the prop shaft, and the other has a grease zerk fitting and o-rings. Mine has the grease zerk.

So after pulling mine out of the boat (pics to follow), I found two grease seals and some kind of rubber sock which was completely torn and obviously the reason why the port was leaking. So I called the ever faithful Inboard Discount Marine and asked for a rebuild kit. Guess what. There isn't one. The type of port that I have was used in the mid- to late- 80's before being switched out to the type that had o-rings. The company is out of business and there is no where to get the rubber sock.

So I took the port and rudder into Ace Hardware and sat on the floor with boxes of o-rings until I found a combination that would work. Finding new grease seals was not easy either. I could not find them at any parts store, and didn't have luck initially on a Google search. Eventually I contacted the manufacturer and found a place to buy them online.

I unfortunately didn't take a lot of pics while the port was apart, but I'll try to illustrate what I did with the pics below.

Removal:
Very straight-forward. Remove the bolt holding the tiller arm to the top of the rudder. There should also be a cotter pin in the top of the rudder, but mine was missing. The bolt slide through a small cut-out in the side of the rudder post which is a key element to keeping the rudder in the boat. Once you pull the bolt out, your rudder is likely to drop down. It may take a little persuasion, but don't get too aggressive with a hammer as you could mushroom the rudder post and then it wouldn't slide out.

Once the rudder is out, the port is removed with the four main bolts. It's very helpful to have some help so one guy can be underneath while one is in the boat.


So here's the anatomy of my rudder port.


Grease seal 2 sits on a lip inside the port. The direction it sits is important because it will allow grease to go down the rudder post, but it resists letting grease (and water) back up. Grease seal 1 sits the same direction and attempts to keep grease inside the port.

Here's an image of the old seals I pulled out. They are shown top side up. This is the direction they're installed.


Here is where you can find replacement grease seals: http://www.bestpartsonline.com/servl...37.95-X/Detail

The rubber sock had a fat edge that set within a recessed lip at the bottom of the port. It was approximately 3 inches long and went to the bottom of seal 2. Here is a pic of what's left of the sock.



And here's an image of generic rudder port so I can show you where the recessed lip is that holds the sock in place. The recessed lip is on the inside.


Since I can only post four pics at a time, I'll continue in another post.