The stock pivot pin on my 1977 M17 was a 5/16" stainless bolt / nut arrangement that was inset into the sides of the keel far enough that the head and nut were not sticking out. It was badly bent when I removed it and the hole was ovalled, so I drilled the hole out larger, maybe 3/4", then filled it with epoxy and redrilled it for a new 3/8" stainless bolt and fiber locknut. The stopper pin was a flush mount 5/16" stainless bolt that apparently just threaded into the keel on the other side. This was also badly bent, and whatever it was threaded into (looked like lead) was stripped out and soft, so I did the same procedure as with the pivot pin. The only downside is that the bolt head and nut are not inset, but it sure makes it a lot easier when it's time to pull the pin to replace the pennant. As Tom said, this is with the older cast iron keel. The newer boats are different. Larry On Wed, 12 Dec 2007 11:08:07 -0800 "Tom Smith" <openboatt@gmail.com> writes:
I know Larry Yake used a bolt and locknut to stop his cast keel and as the pivot pin too if I'm not mistaken.
The nut/bolt combination hasn't seemed to slow him down any... tom
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