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OK, the final result: On my boat, the clamping bolt on the tiller arm has to be completely removed before the tiller arm can be removed. Once I did that the tiller arm wiggled off, and the rudder gradually slid out the bottom without binding. I used a floor jack to hold it in place so that it didn't fall on the floor.
I chased the threads where the broken zerk was with a 1/4-28 tap, put in a new zerk with some thread lock.
There were two O-rings on the rudder shaft, top and bottom. I replaced them at a cost of $1.10.
I used some 1200 grit wet sandpaper to touch up the rudder shaft (which wasn't bent, BTW). Reassembly was easy, just lubed everything, now it's all buttoned up. Now I only have to wait until next April to try it out.
Last edited by Miss Rita; 11-03-2012 at 07:51 PM.
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