Cape Dory Typhoon, Weekender

Cape Dory Typhoon, Weekender

Saturday, February 6, 2016

Taff Rail Dry Fit & Engine Bracket Install


Saturday, February 6, 2016


It's getting down to crunch time!  I need to wrap up the Typhoon in order to 1. go sailing!, and 2. to make room for the Westsail 42 about ready to come down from Maryland.  After a leisurely morning, I started work on the boat around noon!, I began with cutting out a couple backing plates.  I needed a backing plate for the engine bracket to be installed on the poop deck, and one for the forward deck cleat.  Using a piece of fiberglass angle, I made the required just for the needed dimensions.


My priority today would be the engine bracket installation, so I proceeded in kind.


Patterning the fastener holes for the engine bracket, I transferred them to the fiberglass backing plate and drilled them out.  I slightly over-drilled the holes in order to allow for some margin of error in the tight spaces below the poop deck. 


Okay, I couldn't resist...I also drilled out the holes for the forward cleat backing plate.


I wanted to dress up the engine bracket installation a bit, and so I decided to fabricate a teak mounting plate for the bracket.


I worked the teak until I achieved my desired result.


Next step was to drill the holes to tap for fasteners.  I used a #7 - the drill bit required for a 1/4" 20 tap.


Once I had the holes drilled, I then tapped them for 1/4" 20 machine screws.  The screws I am using here are silicone bronze.  Also, the holes were over-drilled and filled with thickened epoxy during an earlier work session.


With the holes drilled and tapped, I then bored a tapper to allow for bedding compound to create a better seal.


The final install of the engine bracket; I will clean up the squeeze out later.


The next item for today was the installation, or at least dry-fit of the taff rail.  I aligned the rail on the trailing edge of the poop deck and marked for fasteners.  I ended up putting 9 fasteners to the right of center and 9 to the left of center.  The high number of fasteners may be a bit overkill, but I felt like the extreme deflection the rail had to endure made the number of fasteners necessary.



With the rail in the dry-fit phase - fasteners holes bored out with a forstner bit and then pre-drilled to accept a #8 panhead screw - I then removed the rail for further work.


I rounded all the edges and generally worked the rail into a pleasing shape.  I then sanded through to 220-grit paper, and then prepared for a thinned coat of Epifanes varnish.


With the varnish applied to the taff rail, I then cleaned up a bit and closed the shop for the day.  Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to go ahead and install the taff rail and bung the fastener holes. 



Total Time: 7 Hours

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