As I stated in part 1 of this post, I opted to repair the tiller rather than simply buy a new one. The reason was two-fold; Obviously it’s less expensive to repair than replace and secondly, if I repair, I gain some bit of new knowledge.

I did a small bit of internet research and talked with a friend about repairing it and the consensus was to simply use epoxy to repair the broken tiller end.

I already had some 2-part epoxy. It was Gorilla brand with 3300 psi bond strength, so I figured that would be plenty strong enough.

I gathered my clamps, gloves, epoxy and went to work.

I gathered my clamps, gloves, epoxy and went to work.

I mixed up the epoxy, spread the split apart a little more than it was already and put the epoxy within the split. I put it as far down into the split as I could. I then clamped the tiller end shut with the C-clamps. If you’re wondering what the paint-stirrers are for, you’ll see in the next photo.

I didn't want the C-clamps to damage the tiller, so I used the paint stirrers as a buffer between the clamp and tiller to reduce the likelihood of damage.

I didn’t want the C-clamps to damage the tiller, so I used the paint stirrers as a buffer between the clamp and tiller to reduce the likelihood of damage.

I let it sit for a couple days and it seems like a successful repair. The bolt holes are still unprotected, old and worn out, so my next step was to fill the bolt holes with epoxy. The idea is to re-drill the bolt holes and also reinforce the holes with some type of metal sleeve inside the hole.

Bolt holes filled with epoxy, ready to be re-drilled.

Bolt holes filled with epoxy, ready to be re-drilled.

I don’t have a full workshop full of all the necessary tools and equipment necessary to perform all tasks, so most times, I have to adapt and overcome [a term I learned and embraced while in the military.] So in order to re-drill the bolt holes, I used the tiller brackets clamped together to help align my drill so it’d be a more accurate hole. This method worked, for the most part, as I only missed one of the three holes by less than 1/16 of an inch. It was an easy fix to simply drill from the opposite side on that one hole to get everything aligned.

Tiller brackets clamped together to help align drill bit.

Tiller brackets clamped together to help align drill bit.

Pre-drilling

Pre-drilling

Neatly drilled bolt holes

Neatly drilled bolt holes

I took the tiller to the boat today and re-installed it. See below video for results.

Any ideas, thoughts or input on how I did this? Please comment.

Mike