Front Crossbar Cracked

Last year, a thunderstorm tossed my 1971 H-16 and caused quite a bit of damage. I discovered a large crack yesterday in the front crossbar, just inboard of the starboard casting. It runs through a jib track rivet, and goes 3/4 of the way around the bar. Obviously, I won't be sailing until this is fixed.





I'm located in Tempe, Arizona, and I'm interested in replacing the crossbar with a used one. If anyone has an old H-16 front crossbar for sale, let me know. I understand that shipping one of these might be pricey.

I'm planning to remove the tramp, remove the striker, and then drill out the rivets in the castings. I have a heavy-duty manual rivet puller, but will this serve for the massive SS rivets that hold these parts together?

If anyone has gone through this, I'd appreciate any tips and tricks to doing the job right. Thanks!

Rick

I think if you post this on the open forum you will get a better response. There are a lot of folks there that would not be looking at the H16 forum, but who would know where a beam is near you. There are plenty of them out there for not much money. You are right...the shipping is the bigger issue.

Don't try to repair it. You can find a complete assemby that will just slip into place. No need to drill anything.

Good luck.

Talk to Jeremy at Surf City. I'd bet he has one. A beam shouldn't be too expensive to ship, its not overly heavy, or big.

There's enough old 16s out there that you should be able to get a complete assembly rather than going through the pain of rebuilding.

Thanks for the tips, and I'm encouraged. I did cross-post to the open discussion forum here to see if I could get some ideas from the "other" sailors. :-)

Duct Tape!!! Use lots of duct tape! Geez, doesn't ANYONE here watch the Red Green Show?

Heh. I ended up buying a used crossbar from Jeremy at Surf City... shipped instantly, low cost, arrived intact and complete. All I have to do now is fully disassemble and reassemble my boat. :-)

Let me know if that one works out alright.

The boat came apart easily, with just a little "encouragement" from a rubber mallet.



The new one fit very well, and the boat looks new again.



Thanks again for the advice, encouragement, ...and parts!
Rick