Steering Installation....

After many months we were finally able to get the new steering ram installed this morning.  Earlier this week I purchased a block of aluminum and a piece if 3/16 stainless steel at the Metal Supermarket.  Then yesterday I purchased about $100 worth of hardware at Fastenal.  Last night my neighbour, Clayton helped me pre-drill the steel and the aluminum and this morning my father in law, Ed came and helped me with the installation....

We had partial success...  The aluminum and steel went together PERFECTLY, however, the steering plate on the rudder needed to be drilled out from 1/2" to 3/4"...  Easier said than done!

I purchased a drill kit at Princess Auto for $30 the other day that had a 9/16", 5/8" and a 3/4" drill bit.  Everywhere else wanted more than $30 for just the 3/4" bit....  Now I know why...  We tried to drill the steering plate on the rudder for almost an hour before we got less than a quarter of the way through and ruined the bits.....

This afternoon I went back to Princess Auto and found, what I hope, is a better quality 3/4" bit and bought 2 of them....  Tomorrow I will try again to get the rod end connected....

That all said, we used a smaller nut and bolt to hold it in place to see how the other end might line up and in the end we seem to have both helms working GREAT!  We still need to do a little more bleeding, but in the end we should be good to go....