Thanks Bill
I plan on working out the slack in my steering this winter.
The pintle and gudgeon cannot both be 1.000 in. There must be clearance in there. I hope to find it in the pintle, easier to replace.
Do most of the J30s have a little steering slop.Mostly noticed downwind. How have others handled this?

the clicking is part of the driver steering reflex input process.

in combination with other tactile inputs this provides a deeper "oneness" with the boat.

why would you want to disable this input?

Clicking? Mine is more like a "clunk". Not so loud when at the helm, but if you are below, it is pretty obvious

Yeah, mine is pretty sloppy too. I'd love to tighten it up a little. Would really help in light air especially.

Teflon tape or heat shrink tubing before a regatta helps.

I just spoke to Rod Johnstone. Rod seems to remember the clearance being .005" for the pintle to gudgeon. The pin was made of bronze and the gudgeon stainless so it wouldn't wear steel on steel.

Updated Drawings

Thanks to Will Museler who updated the drawings based on feedback from Rod Johnstone.

If you click on the pictures below, you can download a printable pdf file for each drawing.

Gents,
I'm unaware of what is on other boats but on Wildcat, if the pintle is bronze it has been plated.
So... with a set of calipers, check the size of the gudgeon hole and mike the pin size. The pin can be re-plated to build up the OD. After plating it can be ground to size. Likewise, the ID of the gudgeons could be filled with weld and re-sized (though I would be concerned about heat distortion on such thin material)
If it were my problem, I'd have the gudgeons cleaned up (oversized by .010 or so) to insure they are round and then re-plate the pins and have them ground .005 under the new gudgeon demension. Most any local machine shop should be able to help here.
You don't have much material to work with on the existing gudgeons. If you are making new, I would suggest making the gudgeons oversized and then bushing the holes with a .500 or 1.000 long bushing to give more surface area and something that can be replaced when necessary.

Roger, roger SS. ... don't think they would plate bronze with SS.
I know three boats with nice SS pins. As I remember Bill's boat has a set of nice SS pins ... with stainless locking pins as well.
I'm thinking the only thing bronze that moves, other than parts of the motor ... is the prop.

I'm thinking that somewhere we decided that the easiest way to fabricate new pintles was to cut a piece of 1" prop shaft and use a pin and washer on top and just the pin on the bottom.

I've got an extra set of stainless pintles if anyone is looking - I think they show normal wear - let me know if interested and I'll get some pictures.

-dan