Thanks Bones! I should probably have included the history and why I have arrived at the conclusion why I think I need to proceed with this project. Bruce - I will take some pictures of the process and would be happy to share what I learn along the way just in case someone else might need it. Robbin, thanks for your response. I'll provide some background here and would love any feedback you may have. So here's my history with the boat. When I purchased it, it had been sitting in the San Francisco Bay area for approximately 5 years with the centerboard down. When we tried to put the boat on the trailer the centerboard would not retract. At this point, I had the boat yard remove the boat with a lift and put it on stands in the boatyard. I had them remove the centerboard and I ended up buying a un-used one from Jerry that he had stored here in Sacramento for years. I drove it back down to the bay where they had to grind it a bit to get it to fit into the trunk. I brought the boat up to Sacramento where it's been sitting for over year while I've been working on it. When I took it out for a test run, I could not get the centerboard to drop out of the trunk. Due to the boat sitting in the water for such a length of time, I think water has found its way deep into the keel. And while the boat has been sitting out in the warm Sacramento air the steel ballast punchings have begun to rust and swell, therefore pinching the centerboard. I believe that Sean experienced a very similar situation. I was hoping that I would not have to do much with the centerboard. And I am hopeful that if I remove the rusted punchings that are causing centerboard to be pinched, the centerboard will drop down. Thoughts? Todd Bradley M-23 #86 -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats [mailto:montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of bownez@juno.com Sent: Friday, November 06, 2015 5:47 AM To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Subject: Re: M_Boats: M 23 Keel ballast replacement Hello Brad, All of your reasoning and approach sounds correct to me. I don't think a bit of brass in the lead would cause and future corrosion problems. Are you doing all this work yourself? You are a brave man. Make sure you wear a good fitting respirator while working with the fiberglass and epoxy. I have never had any sticking swing keel issues with my M23, however, I did develop a slow leak which I believe originated at the keel hinge pin. I had my boatyard do the job which required removing the 360 lb keel. Much too big of a project for me. Good luck (and prayers), keep us all posted as to your progress. Mr. Bones Mpls ____________________________________________________________ Heavy rains mean flooding http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/563caf7bcc7ae2f7b48d0st03vuc