Really bent fin 05 22v is it through bolted and..how to get part number to replace

[wnytige]

Here's an odd one.
We have a severely bent fin.. that we aren't clear on how it happened.
It's the rear most fin of the 3.
It seems very odd that the last in line was the only one damaged.
It could have been when we were anchored off in some shallow water and only that fin made contact with something.
The bottom where we often tie off is very very silty and don't often get close enough to shore to worry about contact.

Anyhow.... I took a picture tonight when we pulled the boat for other reasons.. like to clean the hull and get a fresh coat of wax on it.

Now I need to order a replacement and figure out how to remove it.
The HID is: TIX06401K203

Can you tell by the HID if it can be replaced from below or if I have to pull the tank?
When I replaced the steering cable last year I learned that the tank is really jammed in.
I removed all the retaining screws and wasn't able to lift it out.
Probably just couldn't find the magic angle to get it out.

This seems to be the year for dumb stuff for us.
bent-fin.jpg
Thanks all in advance for all your input.

[boardman74]

Tracking fins are almost always thru bolted. Chances are there are nuts inside the hull holding that fin on. So if they are under the tank it's going to have to be removed or at least manipulated so you can get under it.

[WakerideN]

http://www.bakesonline.com/detail.aspx?ID=1030

compare that to what you have for your good ones.

[h2osk8er00]

Call Tige direct.. I bent three of mine and had them all replaced... I think it happened when i was beached and the boat was getting rocked from the current... I'm not sure if they charged me right but I spent 80 bucks or so for all three... I thought that was the price for one and they had just mischarged me but sure enough they never came asking for more money... I think Lee is the guy you will want to talk to... Very helpful..

[tw_xi]

When I first got my 2001 2300v the rear 2 fins tips were almost touching the hull. It looked like someone pulled the boat out of the water with the fins on the trailers bunk boards. Mine were not thru bolted, just #3 philips lag screws. The hardest part was the silicone goo that was used to seal it held it tight, it took a bit of muscle with a pipe wrench to break it loose from the hull. I used a press, large hammer, and flat surface to beat it on to straighten mine, (mainly because I wasn't paitent enough to wait for parts). I would recomend try unbolting it from the under side before pulling the tank.

[wnytige]

Well..... I went through all of the work of draining the fuel tank... removing all of the interior stuff like seats some new wiring, the floor and the tank and hoses only to find that the fin was indeed through bolted and no interior nuts.... I was a bit nervous about unbolting and finding out that there had been nuts inside.

[COLOR="#FF0000"]Note to self and others.... DEFINITELY try to remove the cross-head bolts before wasting tons of time and energy!!![/COLOR]

I guess on the plus side I can now change the v-drive fluid/oil while all is ripped out and finish a few other odd projects.
We are also installing an electric return line water pump to make the heater run hotter at lower RPM's.. guess this is a good time to add that..

At this point the 3m 5200 is hanging on for dear life and I plan on trying the chemical softener route.

[h2osk8er00]

So how much were the tracking fins man? just curious.. I think I got hooked up but maybe not when I paid 85 bucks for 3 of them... but then I got raped when I had them installed... lol

[wnytige]

The fin was about $70 shipped... yup.. just one.. $85 for three is a smokin' deal.
I spent a crazy amount of time ripping the boat apart to get the tank loosened... yupper loosened.
The V-Drive oil lines were in the way of lifting the tank completely out.
At least is looked like it was just the lines... I hope I never have to find out for sure.
I was able to slide if forward far enough to see the tops of the bolts.. and that there weren't any locking nuts.
Watching me work to get 30ish gallons of fuel out of the tank would have been made a great Youtube video.
It was just one failure after another... but I did manage to fill all the cars in the driveway with non-ethanol fuel as I ran out of tanks to store it in.
The fin was really, really hanging on and did use the debond spray from West Marine.. the small pump
The sealer/adhesive was clear and not white as I expected.
It took about 10 minutes for the debond to soften the adhesion.
After that I used a wide blade putty knife and rubber mallet and it popped right off cleanly.
Note: Do not lay anywhere near the fin as it WILL find a way to fall on you.. or at the least cause you to flinch and smack your head on the trailer or ground or both.. ask me how I know..

If I had done the whole project from below without gutting the boat I expect I could have done all 3 fins in less than an hour.
Keep in mind that I now know that there aren't any extra nuts inside.

On the plus side... with all the interior and floor out it motivated me to the put the electric heater pump in and add some cool RGB LED lights around the floor.
We found that the heater core under the dash didn't put out much heat unless the RPM's were up.
HeaterCraft makes an add on 5/8" pump to create much better flow... We'll see if it really works later this week.

How's that for a run-on reply??? lol

[h2osk8er00]

Awesome man.. well at least others that use the forum search properly will know exactly what they need to do to replace theirs if it happens to them! All about paying it forward on this site! As for me paying 85 for three.. pretty sure Tige messed that up but I'm pretty sure they have gotten a couple over on me.. So it's not even close to even yet.. But I'm a tige man for life.. that's for sure.. Thanks for the update man!