Part: from D&R, about $85. I read it’s for a sunfish (good to know once salt water destroys pins & new ball is needed).
Time: 2.5 hours, but I was slow, methodical and inexperienced.
Difficulty level: easy
My skill level: low – I can follow instructions to reassemble a small engine, but can't do it without.
Tools: a Dremel with cutting wheel, 2lb mini sledge, cold steel chisel, hacksaw, silicone caulk, hand backsaw (baseboard saw), file, channel lock pliers.
Steps:
1. Removal.
This took all of the time. I was told “just remove the inboard locking nut and the outboard silicone, then the bailer will just tap out.” Well, yes. And no.
The locking nut was gone, so I used the Dremel to carefully score the corroded tube exposed above the cockpit floor.
Outboard, I used a backsaw to remove the caulk filling the gap between the bailer and the hull. I put a pipe on the tube and whacked lightly. No movement.
Dremelled away the bottom part of the bailer to allow a hacksaw into tube & then cut the length of the tube, full thickness. Again with the sledge. Again, no movement.
Hacksawed 3 more full thickness grooves along the length of the tube, then chiseled one segment out carefully, with no hull damage(!).
Again with the sledge. 5 light hits & it fell off.
2. Fitting.
Because of the hull’s “V” shape, even once tightened, the “O” ring didn’t contact the hull except in one small spot. This will leak. Some on this forum suggest using Marine Tex to create a flat surface. Perhaps, but I think doing that also creates another seam that can possibly leak, or material fail. I figure the fewer potential spots for leaks, the better. Since the factory used just caulking, so did I. Time will tell.
I filed down the “V” peak a little, without exposing fg, to make it somewhat flatter.
3. Replacement.
The easy part! A thick layer of silicone directly on the hull, in lieu of a base. A thin bead around the “nut” for the interior cockpit floor. Thin layer within bilge space. Secured “nut” finger tight, + ¼ turn with channel lock pliers. Smoothed silicone and eliminated any air pockets.
Observations:
*the original bailer had no “O” rings or washers, but the replacement does? *There was a thin layer of material on the threads of the tube. This material disintegrated into white powder if touched. The desiccated remnant of a sealant? *There was silicone on hull. If it was original, it looked perfect, even after 50 years. If a PO added that silicone, I’m baffled how they got it in there - so I’m thinking it was original. *the bilge space between floor and hull was a solid reddish substance. Not fg, looked to be epoxy. Intact after 50 years, no sign of leaks, so didn’t mess w it!