Mutineer Centerboard Trunk Cover - Debacle in progress

duffy · Post by **duffy** » Fri Jun 24, 2011 8:49 pm

Forum noob here. Looks like a pretty active board though. Hopefully someone can provide sage advice for my rapidly deteriorating situation...

I got a '79 Mutineer last fall and made a laundry list of things to "fix" this spring while getting as much time on the water as I could before the Colorado cold shut me down.

I've ticked off most of the low hanging fruit, but a couple beers got the better of me last weekend and I convinced myself that the best way to re-finish the centerboard trunk cover was to remove it. So zip... out came the obvious screws on the top, but that didn't quite do it... Better unscrew the mainsheet block baseplate. Uh oh...

At this point I'm sure many of you are shaking your heads and either sighing or chuckling to yourself at the extent of my folly.

It gets worse.

Once I realized my error (that the block assembly is secured not only through the teak top, but also through the fiberglass trunk cover) I then decided the only way to proceed was to start drilling out the rivets that attach the trunk cover to the hull.

Well. I've now discovered that it's also attached by something else. Maybe some adhesive? Hidden screws? Magic troll snot? I'm at a total loss.

Has anyone attempted this "repair" before?

Any suggestions for what to do next would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Guster · Post by **Guster** » Sat Jun 25, 2011 4:51 am

duffy · Post by **duffy** » Sat Jun 25, 2011 9:38 am

Thanks for the words of inspiration Dan.

Time to grab the Mallet of Project Mastery and get to work. I'll let you know how it goes...

-duffy

CaptainScott · Post by **CaptainScott** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 12:25 pm

Welcome aboard Duffy!
Glad to have yet another Chrysler sailor and another Mutt aboard!

If you have not already found it, go to our main page at
http://chryslersailors.com

and you will find a documents tabs with Chrysler and then Mutineer.
It has a very nice copy of the original owners manual that was graciously donated by one of our members! It is 6+ MB in size though so if you are on a slower connection, it may take a while!

Again, Welcome!
Scott

duffy · Post by **duffy** » Sun Jul 03, 2011 9:14 pm

Thanks for the welcome Scott, and for the encouragement Dan.

I did it! And I lived to tell the tale.

In fact I even put together a step-by-step on the process I took, for what it's worth, and would be happy to share it with your community.

It's a 3.3 MB PDF, temporarily located in my public dropbox.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6402583/79Mutin ... rocess.pdf

I'll try to find a more permanent home for it if you think it bears scrutiny.

Happy 4th,
Duffy

CaptainScott · Post by **CaptainScott** » Sun Jul 03, 2011 10:01 pm

Hey Duffy,
That doc looks pretty nice! If we can get on of the Mutineer owners to check it out for accuracy I'd love to snag a copy and put it in out main page! I would host it here in this site so you woul not neet to worry about it ever going away!

IF that is OK for you let me know!

Scott

duffy · Post by **duffy** » Mon Jul 04, 2011 6:19 am

That would be great Scott.

Thanks,
Duffy

CaptainScott · Post by **CaptainScott** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 3:14 pm

Thanks Duffy!
I have now hosted your document for removing the Centerboard Trunk from a Mutineer in our archives!

It is hosted on our site now and can be accessed through our main page selecting documentation,Chrysler, 15' Mutineer, and last "Trunk Removal"!

Thank you very much for the document! If space is a concern at your current hosting site, no worries, it is now stored here!!!!

Thank you again for a great looking document!

Someone someday probably very soon will find this and LOVE IT!

Scott

duffy · Post by **duffy** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 8:59 pm

Works for me Scott. Always feels good to give back a little...

Happy sailing.

-Duffy

PS. I used to sail Lightnings all over the San Juans for camp Four Winds Westward Ho (on Orcas). This time of the year always makes me feel a little nostalgic...

Guster · Post by **Guster** » Wed Jul 06, 2011 7:14 am

Duffy,

Great write up. I wish you had done that a few years ago before I did mine!

My mutt is a 1980 model and it is nearly identical to yours. But my mainsheet block was not held on by those expansion anchors. Mine had zinc (I think) nylock nuts. They were so corroded only one sill had any meat to it. The other 3 were being held just by the nylon, the nuts rusted away.

Have fun with that thing. They are a blast.

Dan